Family Life Past Conferences

This was an amazing conference. Like every year, it was 'fun, faith-filled, family life'. It was our largest gathering of campers and commuters to date with close to 3000 people, from newborns to seniors. The weather cooperated, no fire bans, bugs were few, and children abounded with voices that filled the air with laughter, song, and joyful play. This is not to say there were no fussy, crying, children and frayed parents on occasion, but hey, that is part and parcel of family life also. 

Reconciliation throughout. Our Authentic Catholic Families are ready for it all, and when we fall, faithful Catholic priests wait in the confessional to catch us, challenge us onwards, and offer Christ's absolution. Oh, our beautiful, merciful, grace-filled faith. We are incredibly blessed every year by the shepherds tending the flock with such great love and care all weekend at this conference. Thank you!

The Masses were inspirational. The main celebrant for our Friday Mass was Bishop Gary Franken from the St. Paul Diocese who definitely began the conference on the right foot. Saturday Mass was Bishop William McGrattan from Calgary. Both Bishops were on point with their messages; their prayer and preparation certainly inspired by the Holy Spirit. That was followed by Fr. Paul Moret on Sunday, who, by the way, has NEVER missed one of these conferences. His annual Eucharistic Benediction is a beautiful time of healing for attendees as we touch the humeral veil. The humeral veil is worn by Father Moret and in recent years also by Deacon Ken Noster for additional support for this 2+ hour time of adoration. The humeral veil signifies that it is not the priest who is blessing the people, but Jesus Christ, truly present under the appearance of bread. They "conceal themselves" with the veil, which directs everyone's attention to Jesus, making him visible, front and center. The tradition of the humeral veil is a beautiful one and is a great reminder of Jesus' presence in the Eucharist and that it is He who blesses and heals us at Benediction. We closed the conference on Monday with a Divine Liturgy celebrated by the Edmonton Eparchy and choir. This was a beautiful celebration for our Ukrainian brothers and sisters, plus the many participants who experienced a Divine Liturgy for the first time.

Music: Full Expression of Faith. We were blessed all weekend by the Reinhart Family who continually strive in their musical gifts to be perfect as the Heavenly Father is perfect. Liturgical music at Mass is important, very important! It is not simply a performance by a soloist or choir, a background to accompany our prayer, a means to create a mood, or an incentive to shout and clap our hands. Music is integral to our liturgical worship. It serves a purpose that cannot be replaced by any other means of human expression. Liturgical music elevates worship, deepens our connection with God, and strengthens our sense of community.

The Reinhart Family spent countless hours in prayer and practice in order to lead us in our worship of God as both body and soul. Prayer rises from the depths of our hearts. Words alone do not suffice to express all that we wish to say. But music has the power to communicate the messages and emotions that words cannot capture. The selection of liturgical music beautifully enhanced the liturgical celebration as well as our time in adoration and Eucharistic Benediction. The subtle guitar accompaniment that matched the melody of the choir's voices and the participation of the congregation, helped us move beyond ourselves, allowing us to raise our hearts to God in praise and adoration and more full participation in the liturgy. 

Pope Francis clearly defined the purpose of music at Mass. He said that it is "first of all a matter of participating intensely in the mystery of God, in the 'theophany' that takes place in every Eucharistic celebration, in which the Lord makes himself present among his people, who are called truly to participate in the salvation realized by the crucified and risen Christ" (Homily at Santa Marta, December 12, 2013). 

In the words of the Letter to the Ephesians, we should "be filled with the Spirit, addressing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with your heart…" (Ephesians 5:18-19). This is the task of our musicians at Holy Mass.

When musicians are as proficient as the Reinhart's, there can be the temptation to applaud their professionalism following Mass, but to do so, is to negate their prayerful gift of ministry that helps us forget ourselves and focus on God in the praise and worship due only to Him.  

However, we will take the opportunity here to say thank you to the Reinhart family for not only their worship during Mass but also their uplifting praise and prayer before the talks in the Shrine.

Steve Ray shared his journey from devout Baptist and the issues that carried him over the "uncrossable chasm" into the Church. This talk led perfectly into his two presentations on the Holy Mass as a sacrifice and the Eucharist as the source and summit of our faith. Before becoming a Catholic, Steve admits that he and his family were serious "church hoppers" because as they inevitably found something they didn't like in their current church, it was as easy as going down the street to a different church the next weekend. Once he fully researched the Catholic Church, he told a priest he was Catholic and discovered the process was a little more complicated than that, and so was the commitment to full communion in the Church. Steve Ray said his children appreciate the stability and authority of the Church, even though it is tougher to be a Catholic. “The Catholic Church is tough because it says, this is the truth,” he noted. “We’re not going to change it for the next generation that comes along, just because a generation becomes lax in it’s morals…. God doesn’t change, neither should His truth change.”

Brian Holdsworth did one presentation for the adults: responding to the crisis of faith in our society and in the Church; how we evangelize and reach loved ones who are not sitting in the pew beside us and the empty space that is left; and what we need to do and focus on that we currently are not. We were asked to consider how we tell our story and also the importance of advancing an authentic Catholic culture regarding the good, beautiful and true that has diminished both in our culture and sadly in many Catholic liturgical celebrations. This was a challenge for us to consider whether our worship and focus is elevated to God and he shared several statistics regarding how the more traditional forms of worship correlate to a decreased number of empty spaces in the pews. Brian also spoke to the young adults (18-35) and youth (15-17) regarding the influence and proper use of media in their lives. 

Ken and Janelle Yasinski blessed us once again with some excellent advice on evangelizing their children within the family and evangelizing the world through the witness of their family. Their weekend challenge to families was to go home and start a family Rosary group within our own community, friends and family. The Yasinski's began this as a family, inviting some friends to bring a dish and share a meal and pray the Rosary as families. There is a start and end time to the evening and specific intentions that they pray for and their initiative has increased in numbers of families far beyond their expectations. If all of us began this in our own communities, we would see the powerful fruits of evangelization the world and church need and this conference called us too.​ Ken also spoke to our young adult (18-35) group.

Brendan McCauley is a dynamic young Catholic speaker who was humourous, emotional, and intentional in his powerful message on the dignity of every single human person and God's love and mercy for every single human soul. God alone called us into being and holds us in the palm of His hand with great tenderness and the knowledge of who He created us to be. Man is His highest creation and we should look with more awe at one another than the way we gaze in awe at God's creation all around us - such as the most beautiful sunset, powerful waves crashing on the shore, or majestic mountain range. We are worthy of nothing less than His love. With love as our motivation, we bring God's truth to soul's who don't know they are loved by their Father who desires their highest good which is to live in all eternity with Him. By the resounding applause and appreciation Brendan received following his talk, it was very apparent we ALL needed to hear that message and need to "pay it forward". Brendan also spoke to the young adults (18-35) and Youth (15-17) groups.​

Toddler Town: Sam, Brendan, and Kaitlyn (3-5)
The Seeds of the Word (6-8)
Our Lady of Victory Camp (9-11)
FacetoFace Ministries (12-14; 15-17)
St. Mary's University (Young Adults 18-35)
Dean's Dance (Youth Dance)
Volunteer Kitchen Staff (provided food to all volunteers and ministries all weekend)
Vendors and Food Trucks