Local Conference Offers Divine Mercy With Prayer
By Kathy Dotson, kathy@ospreyobserver.com
To many people, the world can be a confusing and stressful place. So when life starts crashing in around you, instead of giving up, why not turn to God’s divine mercy? At the Divine Mercy Conference in Tampa on Saturday, March 6, participants will learn how to deepen their knowledge and ability to live the Divine Mercy message: God loves all of us and He wants us to know that His mercy is greater than our sins, and we should let His joy flow from us to others.The conference, sponsored by the Eucharistic Apostles of the Divine Mercy, will be held at St. Lawrence Catholic Church’s Higgins Hall. The day will be devoted to prayer, a healing service, masses, music, Eucharistic adoration, confessions, book signings from national speakers and more. Valrico resident, Dr. Bryan Thatcher, emcee and founder of the Eucharistic Apostles of the Divine Mercy, said one of the aspects of the conference is that the day will be one of better understanding of God’s mercy and faith and how to live it at home and the workplace. “Everyone will better realize that the beauty of life helps bring people to a deeper healing through the Great Physician,” says Thatcher. Over the course of the day, speakers will share ways to better understand and live God’s mercy and how to go forth and be witnesses of this mercy. Scheduled to speak at the Tampa conference are Immaculee Ilibagiza, a Rwanda genocide survivor and author of Left to Tell and Our Lady of Kibeho, who will share how she survived the genocide and her story of forgiveness; Fr. Donal Calloway, MIC, Marian Fathers Vocation director; Fr. Kazimierz Chwalek, MIC, Marian Fathers Evangelization and Development director; Dr. Robert Stackpole, STD, author and director of the John Paul II Institute on Divine Mercy; Marie Romagnano, RN,BSN,CCM, CLCP, founder of Healthcare Professionals for Divine Mercy; Dave and Joan Maroney, co-founders of Mother of Mercy Messengers; Annie Karto, singer/songwriter and Nativity Catholic Church pastor, Fr. Arthur Proulx, who will speak on God’s mercy and its relationship to the Eucharist. The Divine Mercy Conference begins at 8 a.m. at St. Lawrence Catholic Church’s Higgins Hall located at 5221 N. Himes Ave. in Tampa. For more information on the conference and to register, visit www.thedivinemercy.org/tampa or call 1-800-462-7426. The registration fee is $35. All funds raised will assist the Marians’ efforts in Rwanda as well as local Catholic charities.
