Liturgy and Belief

Lex Orandi, Lex Credendi is a traditional Catholic principle maintaining that the law of prayer is the law of belief. In other words, the way we pray—especially at Mass—expresses and shapes our faith in Jesus Christ and our relationship with Him as His disciples. What is the divine architecture of the Mass, in which we are invited to participate? What grace does Our Lord offer to us when we pray and prepare to receive Him in Holy Communion? With what blessing, understanding and mission do we go forth, when the Mass is ended? 

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Fr. Paul Check was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Bridgeport, CT in 1997. In January 2008, he succeeded Fr. John Harvey as the Executive Director of Courage, a role in which he happily served until December 2016. From 2016-2020, Fr. Check was Rector of St. John Fisher Seminary in Stamford, CT. In August 2020, Cardinal Raymond Burke appointed him the Executive Director of the Shrine of Our Lady of Guadalupe, La Crosse, WI.

The Universal Call to Holiness: Jesus Meets the Woman at the Well 

Real encounter with Jesus does not begin with our personal sanctity or perfection. It happens in the messiness of life. But once we've encountered Him, the Lord calls us to a life of transformation, conversion and evangelization. How can we, as women, best live out this call? 

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Heather Voccola serves as Executive Director of Mary and Elizabeth, an apostolate dedicated to the interior renewal of women. She has a Masters in Theology and a certification in direction through Heart of Christ Spiritual Direction. Heather currently teaches priests, religious, seminarians, and laity through Holy Apostles College and Seminary, Avila Institute, and Stella Maris Network. She serves as a supervisor in the spiritual direction program at St. Meinrad Seminary. Currently living a vow of chastity in the world within an intentional community of female missionaries, Heather has two adult daughters from a prior marriage and one son-in-law, and she will forever be grateful for the vocation of marriage and motherhood.  

Fr. Tadeusz Pacholczyk, Ph.D. earned his doctorate in neuroscience from Yale and did post-doctoral work at Harvard. He is a priest of the diocese of Fall River, MA, and serves as Senior Ethicist at The National Catholic Bioethics Center in Philadelphia. Father writes and speaks widely on bioethics and medical ethics. Since 2001, he has given several hundred presentations and invited lectures, and participated in debates and roundtables on contemporary bioethics throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe.

The Spiritual Fruitfulness of Living as Daughters of God

Women have a specific call and mission within the Church to be spiritual mothers. This call and ability flows from the reality that they daughters of God. Far from limiting their fruitfulness, their sufferings can be sources of grace and encouragement for others. This talk with focus on this truth and highlight how living out one’s vocation to holiness brings about joy in this life and eternal happiness in the next.  

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Sister Mary Faustina, SsEW is a member of the Sister Servants of the Eternal Word. Sister grew up in Kentucky and joined the community in 2011. She made her final vows in 2019 and currently serves the community as vocation director. 

Going Back to ’SCHL’—Retrieving the Sacramental, Catholic, Human, Liturgical Worldview

How the art, architecture, liturgy and ascetical spirituality of the Church provides the integrated blueprint for all of life.

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Fr. Thomas J Loya, is currently the pastor of Annunciation of the Mother of God Byzantine Catholic Parish in Homer Glen, IL. He is also the host of two radio programs; “Light of the East” which can be heard in more than 60 cities across the United States on several Catholic radio networks including EWTN Radio as well as “Beyond the Veil,” heard on Ave Maria radio. Fr. Loya completed his studies for the priesthood in both Pennsylvania and Rome where he attended the North American College earning an STB from the Angelicum University. He was ordained in 1982. Fr. Loya has served the Church in youth and young adult ministry and as an artist and design consultant. He has directed many retreats and has been a guest speaker at several conventions including World Youth Day 2002. Using his background in art, counseling, and Eastern Catholic spirituality, Fr. Loya applies the principles of The Theology of the Body to an understanding of all aspects of the human experience.

Behold the Amazing Gift (cf. 1Jn 3:1)

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A native of Springfield, Minnesota, Fr. Stephen Boyle was ordained a priest of St. Michael's Norbertine Abbey in California in 1990, having studied Philosophy and Theology at the Angelicum in Rome. In view of a teaching apostolate, he obtained a Mathematics degree from U.C. Irvine, while coaching sports at St. Michael’s Prep and helping in parishes on the weekends. In 2000 he was sent back to Rome to work at the Norbertine Generalate where he had lived as seminarian. Before returning to his home abbey in 2019, he obtained a License in Spirituality from the Angelicum.

Father Philip Bochanski, a native of suburban Philadelphia, studied at Saint Charles Borromeo Seminary and was ordained a priest of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia in 1999.  In addition to several parish assignments in the archdiocese, he has served as a high school religion teacher, chaplain to cloistered nuns, and a spiritual director for seminarians. 

In 2009, Father Bochanski began serving as chaplain for the Philadelphia chapter of Courage International.  In 2015 he was appointed as Associate Director of the Courage apostolate, at which time he moved to the Diocese of Bridgeport, where the apostolate is based.  He was appointed Executive Director of Courage International at the beginning of 2017 and will continue in that role until June 2023. He will then move to Philadelphia where he will serve as the Vicar General and Moderator of the Curia for Archbishop Pérez.  

Father Bochanski is the author of six books, five sets of audio lectures, and numerous articles and book chapters, on various topics including church history, spirituality, evangelization and pastoral care. His most recent book, Wisdom of the Desert Fathers: Ancient Advice for the Modern World, was published by TAN Books in April 2020. 

Father Bochanski currently serves as a consultant to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops Subcommittee for the Promotion and Defense of Marriage.  In December 2019, Pope Francis awarded him the Cross Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice1, a medal given in recognition of sustained and exceptional service to the Church. 

Leyden Rovelo-Krull is the daughter of immigrant parents who settled in New York City and has worked in both corporate and legal sectors, giving voice to Latino issues through participation in community outreach and organization. She graduated Summa Cum Laude with a degree in Legal and Policy studies from the Jesuit Fordham University. Mrs. Rovelo-Krull ran the offices of a Latino-founded, international multi-media social platform before following God’s call into religious formation. She taught RCIA and adult faith formation for over twelve years. 
 
Currently she serves as the Director of Hispanic Ministry in the Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph after leaving her work with a non-profit, bipartisan association. Mrs. Rovelo-Krull spearheads the efforts of many different ministries in the diocese, but calls the parishioner volunteers who make them succeed, the real heroes. 
 
One day she dreams of living full-time in her RV roaming the country and teaching the faith. She lives in Kansas with her amazing husband and wonderful mother. She is plotting how to sneak a puppy into the house. 

Dr. Matthew Ramage is Professor of Theology at Benedictine College where he is co-director of its Center for Integral Ecology. His research and writing concentrates especially on the theology of Joseph Ratzinger/Pope Benedict XVI, the wedding of ancient and modern methods of biblical interpretation, the dialogue between faith and science, and stewardship of creation.

In addition to his other scholarly and outreach endeavors, Dr. Ramage is author, co-author, or translator of over fifteen books, including Dark Passages of the Bible (CUA Press, 2013), Jesus, Interpreted (CUA Press, 2017), The Experiment of Faith (CUA Press, 2020), and Christ’s Church and World Religions (Sophia Institute Press, 2020). His latest book, From the Dust of the Earth: Benedict XVI, the Bible, and the Theory of Evolution, was published by CUA Press in 2022.

When he is not teaching or writing, Dr. Ramage enjoys exploring the great outdoors with his wife and seven children, tending his orchard, leading educational trips abroad, and aspiring to be a barbeque pitmaster.  For more on Dr. Ramage’s work, visit his website www.matthewramage.com. 

A passionate convert to the Faith, Vicki is an avid reader who loves diving into the beauty and truth found in Catholic spiritual traditions. She has blogged on spiritual reading and sacrifice for over ten years and is the author of How to Read your Way to Heaven: A Spiritual Reading Program for the Worst of Sinners, the Greatest of Saints, and Everyone in Between, and The Lost Art of Sacrifice: A Spiritual Guide for Denying Yourself, Embracing the Cross, and Finding Joy. Her commentary has been featured on such sites as the National Catholic Register, Catholic Exchange and Big Pulpit. Additionally, she has been a guest on EWTN Live, EWTN Bookmark and Women of Grace with Johnnette Benkovic, to name a few. 

A native of Pittsburgh, PA, Canon Matthew Talarico was ordained to the priesthood by Cardinal Raymond Burke in June of 2007 for the Institute of Christ the King Sovereign Priest. Canon Talarico studied at the international seminary of the Institute of Christ the King in Florence, Italy. He is currently serving as Rector of the Shrine of Christ the King in Chicago, as well as the Provincial Superior for the Institute’s American Province which includes apostolates in nineteen dioceses coast to coast.

The title “Canon” for the priests of the Institute refers to the specific lifestyle and mission which the Institute of Christ the King has received from the Church. The priests live in community with oblate brothers and chant together various parts of the Divine Office, such as morning Lauds and evening Vespers. The Institute is consecrated to Our Lady of the Immaculate Conception and is inspired by the spirituality of St. Francis de Sales, the Doctor of Divine Charity.

You can learn more about the Institute at www.institute-christ-king.org.

Dr. Timothy Lock is a Catholic father, husband, Franciscan tertiary, clinical psychologist, and educator.  He is the founder and director of the Goretti Center for Healing and Forgiveness and full-time Director of Psychological Services at St. Joseph’s Seminary (Dunwoodie). Dr. Lock also serves on the Board of Directors of Courage International. 

In 1990, John founded Emmaus Ministries, an outreach to men involved in prostitution in Chicago. He served as Executive Director of this work until 2010 at which time he and his family moved to Ohio and entered a long period of elder care for John’s aging and dying parents. Our Sunday Visitor published John’s book “Streetwalking With Jesus: Reaching Out In Justice and Mercy” in 2011 and in 2014, the Greens opened Cafe O’Play, a place of respite and fun for families. In 2021 John went on staff with the Evangelical Catholic assisting Catholic parishes in developing sustainable movements of evangelization and discipleship. Carolyn and John were married in February of 1993. For many years Carolyn toured the midwest as part of the singer/songwriter duo “GreenChoby”and released 5 recordings of original music. She has been a singer-songwriter, worship leader, urban missionary, online fitness coach, and entrepreneur. But most importantly, she has been a wife to her husband John for over 29 years and a mother to four children, now aged 20, 18, 16 and 14.

Kathryn Jean Lopez is a senior fellow at the National Review Institute where she directs the Center for Religion, Culture, and Civil Society. She is also editor-at-large of National Review and she is a nationally syndicated columnist with Andrews McMeel Universal. Lopez has been published by a wide variety of publications including the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, America, Stars and Stripes, The National Catholic Register, and First Things. She is also a columnist for Our Sunday Visitor’s Newsweekly , and she is on the editorial advisory board of Angelus where she contributes regularly. She co-authored the book How to Defend the Faith without Raising Your Voice and she contributed to the book When Women Pray: Eleven Catholic Women on the Power of Prayer.

Lopez was awarded the annual Washington Women in Journalism Award for Outstanding Journalism in the Periodic Press from CQ Roll Call in 2016 for writing about Christian genocide and persecution. She speaks frequently on faith and public life, at several venues including college campuses, and on radio and television. A product of New York City Catholic education, she serves on a number of Catholic boards and is a member of Cardinal Timothy Dolan’s Pro-Life Commission. At the opening Mass of the Year of Faith in Rome in October 2012, Pope Benedict XVI presented Lopez with a message to women throughout the world.