Maine Catholic Women's Conference draws nearly 200 women from across Maine

“We want to be transformed by our minds, not be conformed to the world.”

That was the message of keynote speaker Amber Ezeani at the 12th Maine Catholic Women’s Conference held Saturday, May 17, at the St. John’s Community Center in Brunswick.

The goal of the conference is to gather women from across the state to celebrate the joy of being a Catholic woman in Maine and to give them an opportunity to form Christ-centered friendships with other Catholic women.

This year’s theme was “When Women Pray” and during her talks, Ezeani, host of the upcoming Theology of Heart and Home podcast, talked about the importance of developing a relationship with Jesus through prayer.

“Prayer is a relationship. It’s not just a practice. It's not the practice of just going to Mass on Sundays, even every day of the week. It's not the practice of just saying the Rosary. It's not the practice of all of those wonderful prayers you've been taught. It is, at its very essence, a relationship with the king of the universe, the God who made you, the God who knit you in your mother's womb,” she said. “No saint gets to heaven based on having a really great list of amazing things they did. They get into heaven because they said yes to a relationship with him. It is about a relationship with Jesus Christ.”

Ezeani gave the women some advice on what to draw from in their prayer, which included reflecting on the lives of the saints, saying that is “how we learn to live a life of virtue, especially in times of distress or fear,” meditating on Scripture, and studying the teachings of Jesus.

“There is nothing like the living, breathing word of God speaking to you, in front of you. It is his love letter to you. We want to open it, put those in the oratory of our hearts, put Scripture into the oratory of our heart,” she said.

Nearly 200 women from across Maine attended the conference, saying they enjoy coming together with other Catholic women to celebrate their faith and to spend a day focused on Christ.

“I come here almost every year. It's such a blessing for me. I just like to recharge myself and spend a day with the Lord. This is my day with you, Lord, my date,” said Pamela Houde, who attends St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Fryeburg.

“I came today because I wanted the unity of Catholic women, because in today's society, like our speaker mentioned, it's very secular. And I like to be with like-minded women,” said Valerie Litalien, who attends Holy Trinity Church in Lisbon Falls.

“I wanted to come to be with other women of faith and just, in this space, to find other ways to learn about God and the Holy Spirit moving within our lives,” said Kathleen Hale, from Corpus Christi Parish in Winslow

“I find this to be very eventful. I find it also to be very nutritious when it comes to my faith. There are always good things to take from it: different ways of praying, different ways of worshipping, and just different ways of socializing with other women,” said Fran Gruber, also from Corpus Christi Parish. “God has to be part of my life.”

“I'm really excited to be here at this women's conference. I'm so excited that it's in All Saints Parish in the Midcoast area because, one, it brings us all together in solidarity of faith, of walking together on our journey in anticipation to witnessing what God is doing in each other's lives across this diocese,” said Val Flanagan, an active member of All Saints Parish in Brunswick.  “I'm excited it's here at St. John's because we've really worked hard to pray and to invest in a community building area because we want to build community. We want to build the body of Christ.”

In addition to Ezeani’s presentations, the women’s conference featured small group faith sharing, eucharistic adoration at nearby St. John the Baptist Church, the opportunity for the sacrament of reconciliation, a presentation by Pietra Fitness, which seeks to combine Christian prayer with strengthening exercises, and a closing Mass celebrated by Bishop Emeritus Robert Deeley.

During the Mass, Bishop Deeley spoke of the need for each of us to work together to bring peace to our world, echoing the message of the new holy father, Pope Leo XIV, and he said the way to ensure we are doing that and doing what God desires of us is to stay close to him through prayer.

“Our God leads us through the dark places in our world by walking right beside us. Is that not why he sent his Son to dwell among us? And we connect with him through our prayer,” Bishop Deeley said. “Jesus stays with us and is always within hearing. We find him in our prayer. That means we find him in the sacrament of confession, where we name our sinfulness and ask for mercy and grace to overcome our selfishness. We find Jesus in the Eucharist, where his real sacramental presence becomes our food as he unites himself with us and walks with us in life. We find him in the guidance in the teaching of the pope, the bishops, and our pastors. And we find his word, his assurance of his presence in our lives, in the Bible, in God’s word.”

Many of the women who attended the conference said they come back year after year. They said the conferences, including this year’s, give them a lot to take back with them at the end of the day.

“Prayer is a relationship. It needs to be consistent and honest. The relationship has to show connection, listening, sharing, trust, proximity, feelings, desires. One has to experience the joy of being known for who you are, unconditional love, which you receive only from your mother and God,” said Patricia Quinn from St. Catherine of Sienna Parish in Norway.

“I just feel very encouraged. I feel inspired. I feel held accountable,” said Flanagan. “Some of this stuff is not new to me, but I'm not doing it. So, it's nice to be reminded gently and encouraged by my fellow sisters in the faith.”

“I have been able to think about how to add a daily prayer practice to my schedule and thought about how to increase my relationship with God,” said Becky Alley, from All Saints Parish, who volunteered at the conference.

“I have taken away so much. [Ezeani’s] talk today was about prayer, about the importance of consistency and being honest,” said Hale. “I took a lot of notes.”