January’s Southwest Liturgical
Conference offers
opportunity to explore the Liturgy
LARAMIE – From Jan. 14 to 17 the Diocese of Cheyenne will
be hosting the 42nd annual Southwest Liturgical Conference.
Hundreds of individuals comprised of parish lay people, liturgical
ministers, musicians, clergy, religious educators, youth leaders,
worship and environment personnel, and anyone interested in learning
more about how we celebrate Eucharist will attend the conference.
In other words, this conference is for everyone, those who participate
in liturgy want to know more.
The Southwest Liturgical Conference is an annual conference that
came into being 42 years ago during the Second Vatican Council.
It is the oldest and largest interdiocesan coalition of theologians,
leadership, and parish personnel in existence.
“In the 42 years that I’ve been involved with Southwest
Liturgical Conference, this is the first time Wyoming has hosted.
It may never be in Wyoming again,” said Msgr. James O’Neill.
Lincoln Wood, pastoral associate at St. Paul’s Newman Center
emphasized that the conference will provide workshops and information
that will interest every Catholic in Wyoming.
“People will learn how to get more out of liturgy to feed
themselves spiritually,” he said. “We have exceptional
keynote speakers. Father Hugh Tasch, for example, is truly a mystic.
We have five keynote speakers who could hold a conference all on
their own.”
Wood, who has been instrumental on the 15-member steering committee
for the conference, said that the group examined what is needed
in the diocese and decided a focus should be on music and how to
help rural musicians.
The conference planning has included people from around the entire
state, as each member of the steering committee has enlisted support.
He emphasized there are no repeating workshops. Nearly 40 workshops
will focus on topics and matters relating to liturgy, prayer, worship,
music, and catechesis.
Wood expected the conference to draw around 600 people from the
region, with about half coming from Wyoming.
Individuals from 31 dioceses in ten states will converge in Wyoming
to dive into the mystery of Eucharist and prayerfully study the
rituals of Roman Catholic worship and tradition.
The theme for this year’s conference is “Put Out Into
the Deep: Going Deeper into the Eucharist through Mystagogy.”
It is taken from the Gospel of Luke 5:4 and calls us to a more fruitful
understanding of life and faith.
To set the pace, the conference begins Jan. 14 with evening prayer
at St. Mary’s Cathedral which is followed by a progressive
reception to some of Cheyenne’s historical sites that are
legendary to the Old West.
Thursday evening offers a jam session for those who love good music
and are ready to relax after a day of being filled with the spiritual
enlightenment.
Many vendors and representatives from religious supply companies
throughout the region will be on site with various products, resources,
gifts or suggestions for your individual and parish needs. In short,
this event is full of great keynote speakers, workshops, liturgies,
and shopping opportunities.
It is a terrific chance to build community, not only with familiar
faces but with many, who like you, share an excitement to enhance
what connects us all throughout the world as Catholic Christians.
Discover the spirituality of Eucharist; the “source and summit,”
the very heart of who we are. Explore how Eucharist is more than
what we do on Sundays but rather something we live daily, transforming
our hearts, our communities our Church and our world.
Registrations forms are available at parish offices or can be obtained
by contacting Sandy or Myra at St. Paul’s Newman Center at
307-745-5461 or email at newman@newmancenter.org,
Father Cliff Jacobson at 307-358-2388, or via website at www.swlc.org.
Keynote speakers
Sister Joyce Ann Zimmerman, director of the Institute for Liturgical
Ministry in Dayton, Ohio, is presenting Paschal Mystery Rhythm:
Living the Eucharist which challenges participants to a certain
way of living the Eucharist, of being Eucharist.
Father Hugh Tasch, O.S.B. from Conception Abbey, Missouri, will
lead the people through the Spiritual Power of Our Eucharist Prayer.
Dr. Margaret Mary Kelleher, associate professor at Catholic University
in Washington D.C., will explore the Eucharist as a ritual action
in which the Church performs its identity as the Body of Christ.
Father Michael Driscoll, associate professor at Notre Dame will
focus on good celebrations that foster and nourish fait0h.
Father R. Kevin Seasoltz, O.S.B. from St. John’s Abbey in
Collegeville, Minnesota, will show participants how to take the
presence of Christ with us when we leave worship.
In addition, nearly 40 workshops will focus on topics and matters
relating to liturgy, prayer, worship, music, and catechesis.
Southwest Liturgical Conference
Jan. 14 to 17
Holiday Inn
Cheyenne
Registration is $95 through Dec. 15
or $110 after that date. Registrations forms can be obtained by
contacting Sandy or Myra at St. Paul’s Newman Center at
307-745-5461 or email at
newman@newmancenter.org,
Father Cliff Jacobson at
307-358-2388, or via website at www.swlc.org. |
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