Our conference started with Mass and ended with a Mass. But it doesn’t really end – at least it doesn’t have to.

During Bishop Rice’s homily, he encouraged us to make a resolution so that the blessings of the weekend will stay with us and make a difference in our lives at home. Some young people made a very specific and powerful resolution this weekend: to be open to the call of religious life.

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Today’s Gospel was about Martha, Mary, and the Lord. Bishop Rice began the homily discussing how we, at different times in life, can find ourselves feeling more like Martha or Mary. When we are like Martha, life is busy and we are pulled in opposite directions. Sometimes we look at the world and feel swamped or overwhelmed. But, there are times when we are at the feet of Jesus like Mary. Some of us feel that we have to struggle to find this balance between Martha and Mary.

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Our final session of the morning, before our closing Mass, was about calling down the power of the Holy Spirit to change our lives. And as we prayed, not just for ourselves, but also for our brothers and sisters, our host Dan Harms challenged us to appreciate the power that’s already within us, by virtue of our Confirmation.

“I never appreciated Confirmation until after I was in my vocation,” he said. “When I don’t have the strength to be the friend, husband, brother, that I am called to be, the Holy Spirit comes and gives me peace.”
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We thirst to be free, to be loved, for an authentic life. As we read in Romans 6, the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life. How do we cast off the sin that keeps us in death? Jackie Francois-Angel’s talk on Sunday morning invited us to ask the Holy Spirit into our lives.

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