Conference speakers remind women of Savior’s deep love for them

At the 2024 Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference, nearly 3,000 women were reminded how deeply loved they are by their Savior as they received the gift of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament and spent time adoring Him. The conference also offered talks from five speakers and live music before concluding with a 4 p.m. Vigil Mass.

“This Wonderous Gift,” the theme of this year’s conference on Saturday, Feb. 17 at the Ohio Exposition Center, was an invitation for women to contemplate the Real Presence of Jesus Christ – body, blood, soul and divinity – in the Eucharist and receive the gift of Himself.

A total of 2,822 women, including more than 100 religious sisters from at least 12 communities, were in attendance. Forty-three priests were on hand for confessions in addition to three members of the clergy who spoke at the conference.

Delaware St. Mary Church served as the host parish, and 100 women from the parish volunteered at the conference. There were also 59 vendor booths.

The day kicked off just after 7 a.m. with breakfast, music and the exhibitor hall open. At 8 a.m., Jennifer Rice, the conference emcee, welcomed women and offered opening remarks.

Rice, a mother to triplet teenage boys, is the director of missionary discipleship at Hilliard St. Brendan the Navigator Church. She has a master’s degree in theology and previously served as the parish’s pastoral associate for eight years.

Claire Dwyer, the day’s first speaker who is from Phoenix, is the author of the book “This Present Paradise: A Spiritual Journey with St. Elizabeth of the Trinity.” She gives talks and retreats around the country on the life and teachings of St. Elizabeth of the Trinity, serves as a spiritual director, and also writes and edits for the Avila Foundation.

Dwyer reflected on the life of the 19th-century saint who was canonized by Pope Francis in 2016. St. Elizabeth of the Trinity was a French Carmelite nun who died at age 26, five years after she entered the Carmelites, but a deep awareness of the life of the Trinity within her.

She contrasted St. Elizabeth of the Trinity with the well-known French Carmelite St. Therese of Lisieux. Dwyer noted that, while St. Therese of Lisieux promised to spend her heaven doing good on earth and let fall a shower of roses, St. Elizabeth of the Trinity saw her mission in heaven to be hidden and interior.

Dwyer also noted that, while some people are more familiar with or have a devotion to St. Therese, there are many saints. They often “choose us,” she said, and a saint prays for individuals on earth long before they learn who the saint is. She invited women to follow St. Elizabeth’s example and go deeply into the interior life of God within them.

After Dwyer’s presentation, Heather Khym, the co-host of the Abiding Together podcast and author of “Abide: A Pathway to Transformative Healing and Intimacy with Jesus,” took the stage. Khym, who resides in British Columbia, is also the co-founder of Life Restoration Ministries with her husband, Jake.

Khym told the women that their call is to do the “very things” that Christ did. The mission of Christians is laid out in Matthew 10:8 and includes curing the sick and raising the dead.

Khym said this is “what the Christian life is all about,” which is what Christ wants to do in and through His people. However, when people prioritize “things” instead of Jesus, they lose their way.

She noted that the enemy, the devil, likes to distract and plants seeds of doubt in people’s minds, leading many to question if they can trust God.

Khym said the enemy can cause some to wonder, “What if He doesn’t give me what I really desire?” Fearing that God will not grant the desires of the heart can make a person hesitant to trust or fully enter into a relationship with Him. 

However, Khym said she had “good news” for everybody gathered: “Jesus is coming for you,” and He “wants to save you.”

She said the enemy tries to distract them into believing that is “just a story,” similar to a fairy tale. In reality, however, Jesus wants to be the “most real thing” in their life.

Khym said there are circumstances in everybody’s life that are beyond their power or control. She asked the audience: Do they believe that God can? Do they believe that God will?

She shared the story of her father who was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer when she was 16 years old. Khym, her family and her father prayed for his healing. After being told he only had a few months to live, doctors found all of the tumors and cancer gone, and he was miraculously healed.

Khym said, however, when “the opposite” of what people pray for happens, they think God does not listen or care, or He cares more about the person whose prayers were answered. She said the enemy has an interpretation that is not true.

She said the “father of lies” will come in, and despair will start to “bubble up.” In reality, when prayers are not answered, she said, suffering can be offered as a gift, and a person might never know how God is using that gift or “what God is weaving together” through it.

She also noted that “if circumstances aren’t changing,” then “He’s changing me.” There are many things a person cannot do alone, such as heal relationships, Khym said, adding that individuals need to allow themselves to feel desperation so God can enter in.

Many people instead enter into sin or seek comfort in other places.

“We substitute for the savior all the time,” Khym said.

She recognized that it “is hard to be that exposed” before God, but everybody needs to take their broken and wounded places to the Savior rather them turning away from Him and numbing those areas with something such as food. Jesus, who disguises Himself as bread, is the true source of healing and nourishment.

Khym also referenced the Christian message of “carrying a cross.” People can often think that carrying a cross is the end of the Christian story.

However, Khym reminded them, when a person carries a cross, it is so they can die on it and have new life. Maybe that “new life” will not take shape until a person is in heaven, but Khym said she thinks there lots of places on earth that God wants to resurrect and bring new life to.

Genet Redden, a member of Reynoldsburg St. Pius X Church, attended the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference for the sixth time and related to Khym’s story of her father’s cancer diagnosis.

Redden has stage 4 breast cancer, she said, and she did not tell her friends because she did not want to burden them.

Redden, who is originally from Eritrea (a country in eastern Africa), came to the United States in 1997. She said the cancer treatment is working, and Khym’s story gave her hope. Even with her diagnosis, she exudes the joy of Christ.

“I’m so happy,” she said. “God is with me. God’s by my side. That’s a hardship for me, but there is a hope.”

Redden said her diagnosis has increased her faith and made it more real, and she feels God close to her. Spending time in Adoration at the conference was healing for her, she said.

Redden attended the conference this year with one of her daughters and other Eritrean women in her parish. She said coming to the women’s conference is a blessing to her and renews her faith.

“I love it so much,” she said of the conference. “I love the prayer. I love the closeness to God. It makes my day blessed.”

Father Timothy Anastos, who serves as the associate chaplain at the St. John Paul II Newman Center at the University of Illinois, Chicago, spoke about what the Eucharist reveals. He is one of 50 national Eucharistic preachers who are commissioned to enkindle the flame of Eucharistic faith and devotion in the United States through Eucharistic preaching.

He said Jesus the Bridegroom wants to be close to His people. He told the women that the Bridegroom delights in them looks at them with the same gaze as a groom on his wedding day.

Father Anastos also said that the Bridegroom wants to be held by them. He recalled a time in college, before he was ordained, when a priest asked him to carry some of the consecrated hosts. The priest said, “Tim, will you hold our Lord for me?” He was struck by the words and never forgot them.

“The intimacy and love our Lord has for you is revealed in the Eucharist,” Father Anastos said.

He reminded the women that the Bridegroom never forgets His love for them, He remains with them and He has prepared a place for them. The priest urged each person to stay close to the Eucharist.

His talk was followed by Adoration and an opportunity for confession. The Eucharistic Lord was processed around the room before thousands of women gathered.

Marie Miller provided music during Adoration and throughout the day. She is a singer, songwriter and instrumentalist who has opened for artists including the Backstreet Boys and performed for Pope Francis during the World Meeting of Families.

In the afternoon, Miller sang some of her hits, including “You’re Not Alone” and “The Way of Love,” which was written about St. Therese of Lisieux. She also performed her new song, “Woman,” based on the Gospel story of Jesus meeting the woman at the well.

Archbishop Timothy Broglio, the archbishop for the Military Services USA, was also a featured speaker at this year’s conference and celebrated Mass. Archbishop Broglio is from Cleveland and serves as president of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops.

He reflected on the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John, known as the “Bread of Life discourse,” when Jesus instituted the Eucharist. Archbishop Broglio said the concept was difficult for Jesus’ followers to accept then, and it is difficult for many to accept now.

Nonetheless, he told the audience that the Eucharist is the place where they become one with God. He said people need to experience a need, a hunger.

“We must hunger to be satiated by the only food that transforms and offers eternal life,” he said.

Archbishop Broglio said fasting is an invitation to cultivate a hunger for eternal life. He told those gathered that they should be hungry to be nourished and transformed.

Today, he noted, immediate gratification is expected. With services such as Amazon Prime at their fingertips and fast food readily available, he said, people think “this world is the goal,” and they forget that they are on a journey to eternal life.

Archbishop Broglio pointed out that sacrifice can become a foreign concept in today’s world.

However, “the Lord holds out what is best for us,” he said.

Father John Burns served as the final speaker of the day. A priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee and author of several bestselling books, Father Burns works in healing and renewal ministry with communities of women religious.

Father Burns explored the concept of “woman.” He said confusion swirls around the definition of woman. Going back to the Garden of Eden in the Book of Genesis, Father Burns noted how the enemy hated the woman from the beginning.

He also explored the “bridegroom theme” in the Gospel of John. He said God spoke of the bride many times in Sacred Scripture.

In Jewish culture, a marriage began with a betrothal ceremony in which a couple was legally married, although they did not live together yet. Wine was given to seal their betrothal. The ceremony was followed by a period of purification, Father Burns said.

Per custom, a father arranges for his son the bridegroom’s marriage and sets the price for the bride’s purchase. The father prepares rooms for the couple and decides when his son can bring the bride back. The bridegroom leaves his bride with a friend to guard her from other suitors until he returns.

In the same way, Father Burns told the audience, they are betrothed to God, although they do not live in union with Him yet. He said St. John the Baptist, and arguably St. John the Evangelist, is the friend Christ left to watch over His bride.

A person consents to a marriage with God at every Mass when they receive the Eucharist, he said, just as a betrothal was set for a bridegroom and bride in sharing the cup of wine.

God the Father is preparing rooms for His bride in heaven, and the Church awaits the day when the Father’s son, Christ the Bridegroom, will return to take His bride to their prepared room. Father Burns said everything will end with a wedding feast, and now is the time of “grand preparation.”

He said the Church must remember her “everlasting bond” with God. The world is broken and hearts are confused, he said, because they do not understand their identity as the bride of Christ, and many mistakenly seek fulfillment in things of the world.

Father Burns reminded the women that God does not fail on His word.

“The greatest love possible is offered to you,” he said.