Its that time again. The Original annual conference in South Bend Indiana is just around the corner. It used to be around Memorial Day weekend, but they keep moving it up in the month. I think because the numbers aren't what they used to be so it is getting pushed aside for other events. They used to fill the entire Joyce Center arena, now they are lucky to fill 1/3 of it. This year it is on Mother's day weekend. Very fitting for Mary, but a little inconvenient for family activities. I had planned to be with all my grandbabies and children in Southern Illinois on Mothers day this year because I assumed the conference was the following week. No such luck. Well, we have not missed a conference since we started going in 2006, so we need to go. Lots of great speakers are on the dockett for this year. Here is a link to information from Queen of Peace Ministries. http://www.queenofpeaceministries.com/queenofpeace/ When you are done reading this page, click on CONFERENCE in the left sidebar. It is a beautiful weekend. We started going there way before we made it to Medjugorje. It fueled the fire in our hearts to try to get there. We thought there was no way we could afford to go, but many folks there told us that God would provide if we were meant to go, and it happened in 2010! It wasn't our savinngs that took us, it was money we had no idea we would be receiving. The power of prayer and perseverence. Now the conference is a source of renewal for us of that wonderful trip. If there is any way you can go to this conference, you should! It will light a fire in you. If there is a way to drag a family member there that normally would not otherwise go to something like this, do it! It is a great first step toward a conversion. My husband now looks forward to it every year. The only way I got him to go the first time was by telling him it was on the Notre Dame campus!!! For a sports lover, that was all the power I needed. Promise the sports, deliver the Mother! Not to mention the Basilica with its vast treasures in its back chapels (take a tour, you will be shocked), and of course the Lourdes Grotto replica, with a stone from the actual grotto at Lourdes embedded in the wall. If it is possible to get there for the rosary procession to the Grotto on Friday evening, you should. It is well worth a day off work to travel on Friday. If you have never seen the campus, it gives you that first experience. You will hear a first speaker and then you will walk a mile with the blessed sacrament leading you, through the most beautiful campus you have ever seen. So far we also have taken my son and my mom to this conference. They loved it. KATHLEEN, take your husband and kids. Just do it! If you have never been on the Notre Dame Campus, you are in for a HUGE spiritual surprise! GO GO GO! http://www.queenofpeaceministries.com/queenofpeace/
MomsCalling, It's been over 25 yrs. since I've been to Notre Dame. The occasion? It was the 1984 National Charismatric Convention, and yes, the Joyce Center Arena was full. Two memories come to the fore whenever this subject comes up. One is arriving 15 minutes late to an assembly in the arena. Sustained praise had been going on the whole time and it was so powerful! The Presence of God was so, what shall I say, THICK, it was like cutting through a jungle with a machette! The second memory involved Fr. Mike Scanlon. He was speaking to us "under the tent" in the evening; suddenly, he looked westward toward the setting sun and exclaimed, "Here comes the Holy Spirit!" And boy, did He ever! His entrance was like a wave of joy that washed over us all! Truly amazing! God is so good!
