Our mission is to foster an appreciation for the personal dignity of women, to encourage women to know and love God, and to inspire them to use their feminine gifts for the transformation of family and society.
The CWC is an event for healing, for spiritual direction, for receiving tools for everyday living and resources for education. CWC is presented by Pilgrim Center of Hope’s Ministry of Conferences.
All women are welcome. You don’t have to be perfect to begin anew in Christ!
This website is in the process of being updated. Please sign up for our emails (form below) to ensure you will receive the latest!
We especially thank the following for their support toward the costs of CWC.
Saturday, October 31, 2020
St. Matthew Catholic Church
10703 Wurzbach Rd., San Antonio, TX 78230
IN-PERSON PACKAGE INCLUDES:
- Access to in-person CWC 2020 Conference
- Boxed Lunch
- Spiritual Resource Attendee Bag – Rosary bracelet w/ card, one issue of Magnificat and Word Among Us devotional magazines, mini-event program booklet
- Link to watch recording of Conference, good for 30 days following the event
- Follow-up Series Women of Hope – Continue your journey with recorded, inspirational talks presented by current & past CWC speakers. Sent to you weekly for 14 weeks following the conference. That means we’ll extend your CWC journey through January!
NOTE: Must provide valid email address through the registration process to receive conference recording and video series.
LIVE-STREAM PACKAGE INCLUDES:
- Access to live-stream CWC 2020 Conference
- Link to watch recording of Conference, good for 30 days following the event
- Follow-up Series Women of Hope – Continue your journey with recorded, inspirational talks presented by current & past CWC speakers. Sent to you weekly for 14 weeks following the conference. That means we’ll extend your CWC journey through January!
- CWC 2020 Rosary bracelet w/prayer card (while supplies last/U.S. Residents only) – Mailed to you in advance of conference if registered by 10/15/2020. (After 10/15, will be mailed within 2-weeks following the conference.)
NOTE: Must provide valid email address & postal mailing address through the registration process to receive all resources offered.
| Samaritan Woman | $100 | Includes registration for (1) woman to participate in the conference AND includes ONE Donation allowing Pilgrim Center of Hope to invite a woman in financial need to participate. By selecting this registration, you are a Missionary of Hope spreading what Pope Francis calls the Joy of the Gospel – and exclaiming like the Samaritan Woman, “Come see!” (Jn 4:29) |
| Individual In-Person | $65 | Individual Registration for (1) woman to attend conference. Includes Saturday boxed lunch. |
| Individual Virtual Ticket | $50 | Individual Registration for (1) woman to participate in the conference virtually. |
| In Financial Need | $YourContribution | Women in financial need are encouraged to apply for a scholarship to participate. You are welcome here! Use link to form below, or call Pilgrim Center of Hope to be mailed a form 210-521-3377. Deadline to apply: 10/23/2020 |
| Clergy, Seminarians & Religious Sisters (“Nuns”) | Complimentary | Please call Pilgrim Center of Hope at 210-521-3377 to register. |
FEARLESS WOMEN!
We are each given a unique mission to fulfill in our daily lives. This year, we selected Saint Joan of Arc to help us recover our sense of vocation and fearlessness as daughters of God.
You can order our 2020 CWC Signature Tee while registering for the event.
- $25 to include shipping if not attending the in-person event; shipping to U.S. Residents only
- Sizes are regular t-shirt size.
- Sales end 10/9/2020
EXPERIENCE HEALING.
Unload your heavy baggage at Jesus’ feet. Encounter Him in our Adoration & Healing Service. Receive his peace in the Sacrament of Reconciliation. Enjoy the medicine of sisterhood and laughter!
| AM | 7:30 | Doors Open, Check-In & T-Shirt Distribution Open |
| 8:15 | Mass (regular St. Matthew Saturday Mass) | |
| 9:15 | Welcome | |
| 9:30 | Rosary | |
| Break | ||
| 10:00 | Mary Lenaburg – “Gratitude Changes Attitude: Choosing Joy No Matter What” | |
| 10:45 | Break with Music for Praise & Worship | |
| 11:00 | Meg Hunter-Kilmer – “The Only True Joy Comes from A Life Handed Over” | |
| 11:45 | Lunch – Shift A (for safe physical distancing) | |
| PM | 12:15 | Lunch – Shift B (for safe physical distancing) |
| 12:45 | Welcome Back w/Music for Praise & Worship | |
| 1:00 | Mary Lenaburg – “Trust In the Lord with All Your Heart” | |
| 1:30 | Cast the Net Invitation | |
| 1:45 | Meg Hunter-Kilmer – “Eucharist: The Greatest Love Affair” | |
| 2:15 | Break with Music | |
| 2:30 | Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, MSpS – “Jesus is our Hope!” | |
| 3:00 | Eucharistic Adoration:Time with the Divine Healer | |
| 3:45 | Mary Jane Fox – “Go Forth in Hope!” | |
| 4:00 | (Confessions available in McDonald Center) | |
| 5:00 | (Vigil Sunday Mass available at St. Matthew’s Church) |
Schedule is subject to change.
FIND DIRECTION.
Speakers at this conference speak to all women. Come and gain an appreciation for your personal dignity, receive encouragement to know and love God, and inspiration to use your unique gifts for the transformation of your family and society.
Archbishop Gustavo Garcia-Siller, MSpS
His Excellency was installed as Archbishop of San Antonio on November 23, 2010 at St. Mark the Evangelist Catholic Church. Born in San Luis Potosi SLP, Mexico, he grew up sweeping floors and washing windows in the family furniture store until he was 16 years old. He earned a Masters degree in Theology & Divinity from St. John’s Seminary in Camarillo, CA, and his Masters in Philosophy from Instituto de Filosofia, Guadalajara, Mexico; as well as a Masters in Psychology from ITESCO, a Jesuit University in Guadalajara, Mexico. He professed as a member of the Missionaries of the Holy Spirit (MSpS) and was sent to the United States. In 1984, he was ordained a priest. He was ordained bishop for Chicago in 2003.
We are excited to have Archbishop Gustavo with us once again to shepherd us in our spiritual journey. He is widely loved and appreciated by conference attendees as a spiritual father who teaches, encourages, and challenges us to live the Good News of Jesus Christ.
Mary Jane Fox
Mary Jane Fox and her husband Tom had a reawakening of their Catholic faith in the 1980s. While on a trip through the Holy Land, they were directed by a local priest to take a silent walk along the Sea of Galilee. There, Jesus unmistakably spoke to them each. In 1986, they left their respective careers in the travel industry and hotel management to work full-time for St. Matthew Catholic Church. For the first seven years, their main ministry was door-to-door home visitation; in the first few years, they visited over 10,000 families. With their bishop’s blessing and help from friends and benefactors, Pilgrim Center of Hope was founded in 1993.
Mary Jane will guide us through this conference from her wealth of experience in ministry and as a woman striving to "come to Jesus" in all things.
Mary Lenaburg
Mary Lenaburg is a highly sought-after international speaker and best-selling author. She has learned through her experiences that healing and hope live in fiery moments of grace and no matter what you are facing, God remains. Always. Mary has a heart for encouragement and healing, sharing to groups of all ages the truth that God’s mercy is bigger than your greatest shame.
Mary’s first book, "Be Brave in the Scared: How I Learned to Trust God During my Most Difficult Days," was published by Ave Maria Press in 2019, "In Be Brave in the Scared," Mary tells the heart-rending story of how caring for her severely disabled daughter Courtney affected her self-image, her marriage, her family life, and her faith. With audacious authenticity about the challenges we all encounter, Mary writes about control, blame, exhaustion, fear, acceptance, self-sacrifice, trust, and choosing joy no matter what you are facing.
Mary and her husband have been happily married for 31 years, finding joy among the ashes having lost their daughter in 2014. They live in Northern Virginia with their grown son Jonathan. She continues to embrace her father’s advice: “Never quit, never give up, never lose your faith. It’s the one reason you walk this earth. For God chose this time and place just for you, so make the most of it.”
Meg Hunter-Kilmer
Meg Hunter-Kilmer is a hobo missionary.
After 2 theology degrees from the University of Notre Dame and 5 years as a high school religion teacher, she quit her job in 2012 to live out of her car and preach the Gospel to anyone who would listen. 50 states and 25 countries later, this seems to have been a less ridiculous decision than she initially thought. 😊
Renee Polka
We heard your love for Renee after she spoke at the September 2019 conference, and we are happy to announce that she will emcee our 2020 event!
Renee is a member of Pilgrim Center of Hope’s Speaker Team. She has a background in education, linguistics, and fundraising. She currently works in the non-profit sector raising funds for community health and wellness initiatives.
In 2015, Renee attended the Theology of the Body Institute for the Head and Heart Immersion course with Christopher West, and has taken continuing education courses in theology with Father Nathan Cromly of the St. John Institute. She teaches CCD at St. Brigid Church, and considers praying novenas her primary love language.
When she is not planning weekend trips with friends, you can find her reading overdue library books, bargain hunting at garage sales with her parents, or endlessly listening to podcasts.
Update: Fr. Clay Hunt, a priest in the Archdiocese of San Antonio, has faculties solely directed to Prison Ministry which is his special assignment. Fr. Clay Hunt will not be speaking at the Catholic Women’s Conference.
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MAKE IT A GIRLS’ WEEKEND!
Some area hotels are providing special rates for the conference. For details or questions, please contact the individual hotel.
Hotels
Make it a ladies’ weekend away!
The following is our featured hotel for 2020 Catholic Women’s Conference attendees. Details and services are responsibility of the establishment; please contact them directly.
Drury Inn La Cantera
15806 IH-10 West, SAT 78249
Near La Cantera Parkway
Phone: 210-696-0800
Rates:
$109 plus tax Single/Double
$129 plus tax Triple/Quad
Good for nights: Fri, 10/30 & Sat 10/31
Cut-Off to book: 10/8/2020
PREPARE YOUR HEART
The CWC Prayer
Lord Jesus, thank you for the constant love you have for me. Thank you for the gift of life and the gift of faith.
Today, take me into your Sacred Heart and renew my life. I open my heart to your grace, to be healed where healing is needed. Replace any wounds or worries with your peace and joy. Send your Holy Spirit into my life. Guide me to be the woman you have created me to be: your beloved daughter, disciple, and friend. Make me a woman of faith, hope and charity. Please remove any obstacles which keep me from living this way.
Lord, pour out your grace upon this year’s Catholic Women’s Conference, upon the planning efforts, and upon many women – that they may hear your invitation and respond. May the Conference be a time of spiritual renewal, healing, reconciliation and joy for all who attend.
Thank you, Lord Jesus. For all this, I pray in your sweet Name.
Mary, Mother of God, Our Lady of Hope, pray for us.
Amen.
Hail, Mary…
How can I bring a CWC to my local area?
We encourage you to build up and strengthen the women’s conferences already taking place in your area or local diocese. Contact your diocesan office to see what is available.
If your area does not yet offer a CWC, we are here to help! Contact us!
Having offered the Catholic Women’s Conference for 19 years, and having mentored rural communities and other dioceses to begin their own event, we at Pilgrim Center of Hope are confident that many women are ready to bring a CWC closer to their own community.
How can my parish host a mini CWC for our local women?
So glad you asked! Pilgrim Center of Hope recently announced its new Speaker Team, enabling you to call on PCH for a mini-CWC at your parish, or other parish-based events; like Evenings/Mornings with Mary, Socials with the Saints, and Spiritual Pilgrimages.
Plus, PCH will be offering a new “Meet the Master” Saturday morning reflection series at our peaceful Center, and continuing the beloved monthly Socials with the Saints in both afternoon and evening times.
Yes, this all means more opportunities to encounter Jesus! And still more is on the horizon!
