Christ Our Life Catholic Conference

Click on the Link Below to see what was in my own backyard (figuratively speaking).
Christ Our Life Catholic Conference

I spent this Saturday afternoon listening to Matthew Kelly, Renee Bondi, Mario Restrepo and Cardnal Arinze. I would love to have gone the whole weekend, but felt like listening to the speakers I did gave me a wonderful feel for the conference, while allowing me to still work and be with my family this weekend. If this type of conference occurs again, I am getting a group together (and remembering to bring a sweater) and spending the whole weekend! It was fantastic. It was wonderful that my friend gave me a free ticket and then right before the retreat the organizers had met their financial goals and were welcoming people to "fill the well" (Wells Fargo Arena) for free. I felt like that really was in the spirit on God. I don't think that the people who didn't attend knew what they were missing. The arena wasn't full of people, but the presenters really were full of the spirit. If people knew what was going on, there should have been standing room only - it was that good. I was going to recommend this conference to you (if it came to your neighborhood), but I think it was custom built for Des Moines.

Just a little recap:
Mario Restrepo talked about how he fell away from God and the church when he was 14, but at 49, while being held in a cave, kidnapped in Columbia, he had an experience with God. (I think it was like people who have "near death" experiences.) It was sort of a mystical dream, but it was like the rich-man who allowed Lazarus to starve outside his door, and then wanted him to warn his brothers to repent after he was in Hell. EXCEPT Mario got his message on earth and was allowed to change his world and live for God. It was very interesting.

Renee Bondi woke up one evening standing on the end of her bed and dove into the floor (like she was acting out a dream, but was actually moving). She is a quadriplegic, who uses her music ministry to share how God is with her despite the trials she faces. Her voice is FANTASTIC and her story very moving. She is a wonderful motivational speaker.

Cardinal Arinize spoke of the book the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Although his talk wasn't as inspiring as the others (more churchy), I do plan to do more reading of the CCC!

Matthew Kelly. I was introduced to him (ok - not personally, but his works) by Krista who shared his DVDs with me before we moved. After the move, I purchased one of his books. After his talk, I would like to buy more. (of course finishing the first book first) He talked about the 7 pillars of faith and how to live them in our daily life. I can't do it justice, but I think he has a book on this topic exactly! He also was very funny, which I wasn't expecting.

The best thing that he shared was the idea that everyone complains that Mass is boring, when really we need to ask ourselves (and God) what we should be doing to make the Mass more important to us. His very practical idea was to have a Mass journal. At the beginning of Mass, ask God what one thing He wants us to learn from the Mass to make us a better person during the next week. Our family did this the next day and it was WONDERFUL to see the kids come up with ideas about how God spoke to them and how they were going to live better. We are going to do this again next week - I love the idea for myself and my family.