SCRANTON – Each spring we throw open our windows and allow fresh air into our homes – the same can be said of this year’s Catholic Women’s Conference, “Refresh Your Faith” to be held Saturday, June 8, 2024, in Nazareth Hall at Marywood University.
There will also be a special talk by Father Justin Cinnante, O. Carm., on Friday evening, June 7, 2024, with options for the talk only, the talk with dinner, and optional overnight accommodations. It is time to throw open the windows of your soul and let in the beauty of Christ’s love for us and renew our faith.
Keynote speakers Father Justin Cinnante, O. Carm., Father Giuseppe Maria Siniscalchi, CFR, and Jackie Francois Angel, doing double duty as a keynote speaker and provider of inspirational music, will inspire and ignite your love of Jesus. Mary Clare Hallman, Diocesan Secretary for Parish Life, will host the day’s events.
Father Justin Cinnante was an antsy child who preferred praying the rosary over doing math problems.
Inspired at a very young age by the book, “The Lives of Saints,” Father Cinnante stated, “God has a plan for everyone. The vocation for all of us is to be holy, to become a saint.”
After being ordained as a priest in 2007, Father Cinnante served as a diocesan priest for ten years before he felt called to the Carmelite order. He leads a healing ministry at his parish, The Church of the Transfiguration, in Tarrytown, N.Y., and is a chaplain at Iona Prep and Iona University in New Rochelle, N.Y.
Father Guiseppe Maria Siniscalchi, C.F.R., thought about the priesthood as a young man but chose to further his education and attend law school.
After graduation from Boston Law School, he moved to Miami, Fla., where he worked as a public defender. He again started thinking about the priesthood, enough so that he ended a long-term relationship with his girlfriend and considered joining a religious order. Once more, he backed away.
“I kind of panicked and ran away. I moved back to my hometown and worked there for five years in a law firm and went through a period of real darkness,” he acknowledged. “I was trying to deny this call.”
Double tragedy struck in 2001 – his mother’s cancer diagnosis and 9/11.
“They both made me really think,” he said, “what is the most important thing I can do? What do I have that can make the best contribution to the world? I remember one night saying, ‘I got to face this,’ and when I started to face it, more peace came in, more joy.”
His first encounter with the Franciscan Friars of the Renewal in New York left an impression – a bad one.
“I mean they were living in bad neighborhoods and the friaries were in kind of bad shape, kind of rough food and they were walking around with beards and sandals or bare feet,” he recalled. “But then I heard a voice. God speaks to us in ways we can understand. He just said, ‘Shut up, you’ll be back.’ ”
He returned in 2002 and was assigned to Newark, N.J.
“I’ve come here to give everything I have,” he said. “I didn’t come here to hold anything back.”
Jackie Francois Angel, keynote speaker and provider of inspirational music, always knew she was made for something “more” and “larger than life.” She thought that fame and money were the answer. She aspired to be an actress since she came from a musical family and had been performing since the age of five.
At the age of eighteen she attended a Youth Conference and fell in love with God.
She realized that her faith was not just about rules and avoiding sin, but about a love story.
She also discovered her passion for sharing God’s love through music and ministry.
This changed her life and led her to become a Catholic speaker, author, and singer-songwriter.
Mrs. Angel says’ “His plan for me to be “great” was not about me, but about Him.”
The conference will feature a celebration of Mass with the Most Rev. Joseph C. Bambera, Bishop of Scranton, the divinely inspired music of Jackie Francois Angel, and opportunities for the Sacrament of Reconciliation. The day will conclude with Eucharistic Adoration, led by Fathers Cinnante and Geraci along with the music of Jackie Francois Angel. Participants will also enjoy a continental breakfast, buffet lunch and the opportunity for shopping in the Catholic Vendor Marketplace.
The cost to attend the full day Saturday conference is $55. Student tickets (under 22 year of age) are $20, and women religious are welcome free of charge.
The special Friday evening talk with Father Justin Cinnante ranges from $20 for the talk only to $40 for a buffet dinner and Father Justin’s talk with additional options for overnight accommodations.
For more information and to register, click here.