Parishioner Brandon C. Reflects on the 2022 Word on Fire Good News Conference
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A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of attending the Good News Conference run by the Word on Fire Institute in Phoenix. It was a three day conference, where the overarching theme was “beauty”.
The first day the main presenter was Bishop Robert Barron. He had a meet and greet session, and celebrated mass. After mass he gave a wonderful keynote speech on the beauty of the tradition of the church.
The main point of his talk was when you’re evangelizing, it can be beneficial to lead with the beauty of the church, and then moving to the good, and finally the truth of the faith. He presented an interesting perspective, saying that true beauty is undeniable. Presenting someone with the beauty of the Sistine Chapel, or traditional music, or even beautiful works is undeniably attractive. And then once showing someone the beauty of the catholic tradition, you can present the good and the truth of the faith.
“True beauty is undeniable.”
The second day the main presenter was Father Mike Schmitz. Once again there was a meet and greet, he celebrated mass and then gave a keynote speech.
The mass was for All Saints Day, and he gave a wonderful homily. He had two main focus points, the first being: all it takes to become a saint is to never stop saying yes to God. If you are able to completely surrender yourself to Gods will (a second running theme of the weekend), you will be able to say yes to Him at every turn of life. And this is what makes the saints who they are. The second point of his homily was the importance of growing as a community. He said how it can be difficult if not impossible to do truly amazing acts on your own. But if we can come together as a community of faith, sainthood is possible for each and every one of us.
“All it takes to become a saint is to never stop saying yes to God.”
That evening he gave a wonderful keynote speech on the beauty of hope. The talk revolved around keeping hope through struggle. He started with the story of Genesis and continued with a few present day examples. He talked about how especially in times of struggle its important to keep your faith strong, and to surrender yourself to God.
The final day there were a couple other keynote speakers. The one who stood out the most was a women named Britt Fisk, whose talk was on the beauty in losing control. Britt came out and said how she felt out of place talking on the same stage as some of the giants of the modern day Catholic church. She then proceeded to give the most moving talk of the entire weekend.
Britt said how like most of us, she lived her entire life trying to be in control of everything, and one day it all started to fall apart. She told her story of having a disabled child, and then being diagnosed with cancer in the middle of the pandemic. She talked about how in these moments, where life seems to be spiraling out of control, those are the most important moments to turn everything over to God. She talked of how her faith was what got her through those challenging times. She ended her talk with a video of her daughter walking (which doctors had said would never be possible for her), and left the stage to the loudest and longest ovation of the weekend.
It was a wonderful weekend to hear from some great men and women of the church. It was a nice reminder to see the beauty in everything, and to surrender yourself to Gods will.
