5 Reasons to Attend the 2020 Columbus Catholic Women's Conference

Written by Lori Crock, and reposted with permission, from the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference blog.

It’s that time of year again! It’s time to register for the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference!

The mission of the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference is to provide opportunities for women to deepen their relationship with Jesus Christ, to grow in their realization of their dignity as Catholic women and to strengthen their commitment to be disciples of Christ.

Registration is open and we invite you to prayerfully consider joining us for the 13th year of women coming together to celebrate our Catholic faith on Sat., Feb. 15, 2020, from 8 a.m. – 4:30 p.m. at the Ohio Expo Center. Here is why we love sharing the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference with you …

1. The Sacraments

The annual Catholic Women’s Conference opens with Holy Mass celebrated by the Bishop Robert E. Brennan. It is awe-inspiring to celebrate the Holy Eucharist with 3,000+ women from all over the Columbus diocese and beyond! The Sacrament of Reconciliation is available throughout the day with more than 40 priests in attendance. Every year so many women tell us that the Sacraments are a highlight of their day.

2. Inspiration

The nationally-recognized speakers and the variety of vendors add a dimension of learning and spiritual growth opportunities. This year we are pleased to welcome these speakers whose varied messages and backgrounds will hopefully move our hearts in new ways:

• Fr. Donald Calloway, MIC

• Fr. Ubald Rugirangoga

• Heidi Hess Saxton

• Sr. Miriam James Heidland, S.O.L.T.

• Emily Jaminet and Michele Faehnle

• Anna Mitchell, Master of Ceremonies

More than 100 vendors grace the halls to share their ministry and mission and to sell faith-inspired merchandise. Many religious communities attend and it is such a blessing to meet the sisters, to see their joy, and to learn more about their mission and charisms.

3. Devotions

We pray the Holy Rosary before Mass in the early morning. Adoration is available throughout the day in the Adoration chapel and we adore Our Lord in the main hall as a community during the afternoon; this is a powerful time of prayer and thanksgiving in the presence of Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament.

4. Friendships

The Conference is the perfect time to join with fellow parishioners and family members for a life-changing day of prayer, faith-sharing, laughter, food and fellowship as we experience God’s amazing grace together.

It is beautiful to see the joy in a day of celebrating our faith on a mini retreat with friends and family. Invite a friend from your parish, reconnect with friends from around the diocese or from out of town, invite your mom, sister, daughter, aunt, niece, grandmother. Reignite your faith and be inspired by the events and surprises of the day and by each other!

5. Music

Each year we are blessed to host a special musical guest who shares their talent with us in the morning and during the community Holy Hour. This year, Lancaster native Sarah Hart will be with us. You can hear her story and music here.

Dear Sisters in Christ, we look forward to seeing you at the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference on Feb. 15, 2020! May God’s peace be with you this Advent and Christmas Season!!

Our Lady of Good Help National Shrine - A Place of Hope and Healing

Lori originally wrote this post for the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference blog, January, 2019.

I was very excited to recently learn about the National Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help located in Champion, Wisconsin, 17 miles north of Green Bay.

This is the site where our Our Holy Mother appeared to a young Belgian-born woman, Sister Adele Brise, 160 years ago in 1859. The apparition was formally approved on December 8, 2010, by Bishop David Ricken, becoming the first Marian apparition approved by the Catholic Church in the United States. In 2016, the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) officially designated these grounds as a National Shrine.

The National Shrine is open every day of the year, and welcomed 160,000 visitors last year, and continues to welcome pilgrims from around the world, including Australia, Indonesia and the Philippines.

Much like the apparition sites of Lourdes, Fatima and Guadalupe, the National Shrine is the site of numerous miracles and graces to this day.

National Shrine Marketing and Development Director Corrie Campbell said that when people visit the Shrine of Our Lady of Good Help, they experience an “overwhelming peace, healing grace and a heaven-like feeling that can often be quite emotional. Many carry this in their hearts for their entire lifetime. Many young people come and experience the joy of hope and healing in this holy place which is so needed in our times.”

Adele Brise

The story of Our Lady of Good Help began in the Fall of 1859 when Our Holy Mother appeared three times to Sister Adele Brise and asked her to teach the children in the area about their Catholic faith.

Our Holy Mother had already appeared twice to Adele between two trees – one a maple, the other hemlock – along a rural trail. When she appeared for the third and final time, young Adele asked, “What more can I do, dear Lady?” Mary’s direction was simple: “Gather the children in this wild country and teach them what they should know for salvation.”

“But how shall I teach them who know so little myself?” Adele asked.

Mary replied, “Teach them their catechism, how to sign themselves with the sign of the Cross, and how to approach the sacraments; that is what I wish you to do. Go and fear nothing. I will help you.” Adele devoted the rest of her life to spreading Mary’s good news.

The Great Fire

In 1871, there was a great fire in the area and the families that Adele visited gathered at the site of Our Holy Mother’s visits to pray the Rosary for the safety of their community. The fire raged and burned everything around them, but the fire stopped exactly at the line of Shrine location.

The National Shrine Today

Today the National Shrine enjoys the help of 200 volunteers—most of whom had their lives touched by Our Lady of Good Help in some way as many are the great grandchildren of those who experienced Our Holy Mother’s intercession during the great fire.

The National Shrine offers Masses and the Sacrament of Reconciliation and hosts many special events during the year. They recently opened a new prayer and event center. In remembrance of Our Holy Mother’s care during the fire, they host an overnight rosary event on October 8 and 9 with a procession and an an all-night prayer vigil in which the Rosary is prayed every hour, on the hour.

From October 1-9, we are all encouraged to pray the National Novena to Our Lady of Good Help for her intercession. The National Shrine also sponsors a 21-mile walking pilgrimage in the area. Please visit their event calendar for more information.

May we all prayerfully consider making a pilgrimage to this holy and wooded location in Wisconsin to grow closer to Jesus through Our Holy Mother. Our Lady of Good Help, pray for us!

Rosary Beads

I always enjoy reflecting on the incredible Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference experience. This year was different for me as a Vendor sharing SoulCore, but just as spiritually moving in a different way.

The day was about faith and fellowship. 

As a Vendor, I didn’t listen to the speakers that day (I did listen on CD later!), but I was blessed to participate in Holy Mass and Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. 

Adoration of the Blessed Sacrament. Photo by Tomorrow's Memories by Christi.

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The rest of the day was devoted to sharing the SoulCore mission of prayer with gentle movement and talking with so many faith-filled sisters in Christ about how praying the Rosary vocally in community is so moving.

The varied and wonderful vendors at the Conference. Photo by Tomorrow's Memories by Christi

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It was a joy to meet women from all over our diocese and beyond, hearing their stories, sharing their excitement about praying the life of Christ through the mysteries of the Rosary, and growing closer to Jesus with SoulCore Rosary prayer and movement.

Sharing our love of prayer. Photo by Memories by Christi.

We have a common love of Jesus, Our Lady and prayer.

At the Vendor table, I had the nearly 6-foot alabaster Rosary and the candles that I take with me when I visit a parish to lead the Rosary with SoulCore.

The Rosary especially attracted many women to the table who wanted to touch the beads, admire the beauty, talk about how much they love to pray the Rosary and some even inquired if I would sell the giant Rosary beads!

Prayer transforms our hearts.

Our senses can be a powerful way to experience Jesus in our lives. Touching the beads can remind us how Jesus and Mary touch us with their love, and how much grace and peace Jesus desires to give us through prayer.

The tactile experience of having the beads in our hands can unite us with Jesus through Mary silently, gently and powerfully.

We are called to share His Love with others.

In a related story about Rosary beads ... a few days before the Conference, a friend shared how she almost always has her Rosary beads in her hands throughout her day. She said she isn’t always praying the Rosary, but the beads comfort her and remind her to give rosaries to others -- which she does often!

What a powerful sign of our Lady and her Son working in her heart and leading her to evangelize the world by giving away rosaries!

The grace-filled day at the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference inspires me to to do more for Christ. The prayers of the Rosary unite us, strengthen us and teach us about the Way, the Truth and the Life who we are all called to emulate by being His love to others.

Jesus and Mary, pray for us!

Columbus Catholic Women's Conference 2017

It is with great excitement that I invite you to the Columbus Catholic Women's Conference.

Every year this event gets even larger -- and this year we are in a new venue, Cardinal Hall.

The speakers will inspire us and it is always wonderful to reconnect with old friends and make new friends.

I am excited to be involved in the Conference as a SoulCore vendor this year, so please stop by our booth and say hello and find out more about this Catholic Lay Apostolate that combines Rosary prayer with gentle movement.

Please see the Women's Conference blog for an announcement about SoulCore.

A Season of Renewal

Christmas is a time of renewal in many ways. 

We renew our relationship with the Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the humility of Jesus’ birth. We are renewed by God’s great love for us in the act of sending his only Son to us as the Incarnate Word.

Our spirit is renewed by special times with family and friends during the Advent and Christmas seasons.

We are renewed by a change in routine — some time off from work, maybe some travel, more prayer time, and carefree timelessness with those we love as other activities slow down for a while.

All of this renewal is good for the soul and can spiritually strengthen us to move into the new year with a fresh perspective and a desire to grow in holiness and healthiness.

At our parish, St. Joseph-Plain City, OH, we’ll be offering a Women’s Day of Renewal on Sat., Jan. 14 from 9-noon with the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, SoulCore Rosary prayer, a talk and small group sharing, and concluding with fellowship and lunch. 

Please join us for a beautiful morning of spiritual renewal and fellowship to prepare our hearts and minds for what God is calling us to do in the new year. All women are welcome -- any parish, any denomination, teens and adults.

Please email Lori to reserve your registration at lori@movestrongkbs.com by Jan. 9.

Columbus Catholic Women's Conference 2016

I was able to attend the Columbus Catholic Women's Conference yesterday. 

The theme was Mercy Changes Everything in line with Pope Francis' designation of this year as a Year of Mercy. The day started with all of us praying the Rosary and celebrating Mass with Bishop Campbell presiding.

There were four excellent speakers, music, Eucharistic Adoration with Exposition, Confession (40 priests!) and time for fellowship, shopping and eating.

I can sum up this day in one word: Hope.

There were nearly 3,000 women present from all over Ohio; this is the largest Catholic Women's Conference in the nation .

That gives me hope because that means that 3,000 women made this a priority in their lives and came to grow in their faith, share, learn and refill their spiritual tank to continue to be Cod's hands and feet in the world.

3,000 doesn't count the number of women who listened in on St. Gabriel Catholic Radio AM 820 or who streamed it live on the internet.

The Holy Spirit is working in these women's lives -- all in different, yet beautiful ways.

Today I feel strengthened and renewed to try to do God's will in my own life.

My husband Al will be attending the Columbus Catholic Men's Conference next weekend. I encourage you to share information about these annual conferences with family and friends.

Blessings, Lori