Arise retreat geared to help women ‘walk with Jesus’ in Lent and beyond

Women attending the Arise Women’s Lenten Retreat listen to speaker Mary Bielski on March 2 at St. John the Evangelist Church in Enochsburg, a campus of St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Decatur County. (Photo by Jennifer Lindberg)

By Jennifer Lindberg

ENOCHSBURG—It’s a typical mom moment that Laura Zeck shares at an Arise Women’s Lenten Retreat at St. John the Evangelist Church in Enochsburg, a campus of St. Catherine of Siena Parish in Decatur County, on March 2.

Her little girl naps, and she needs to wake her up. She strokes her hair gently and tells her, “We have to get up.”

It’s a simple moment that happens every day in a mom’s life, but it is filled with meaning for Zeck.

It reminds her of how Christ comes to us: gently, soothing, and telling us to get up and go about our lives with him at the center, she said.

It’s also a deep reminder of why she and two other women picked the passage of Jesus raising Jairus’ dead daughter as the theme for their women’s conference: “He took the child by the hand and said to her, ‘Talitha Koum,’ which means, ‘Little girl, I say to you, arise’ ” (Mk 5:41).

The passage shows that Christ can come into any situation that appears blocked, deadened or impossible and give it new life. It’s proclaiming this arising in all areas of a woman’s life that led to the women’s retreat at the Batesville Deanery faith community’s campus in Enochsburg.

It’s also a direct result of the E6 Catholic Men’s Conference of All Saints Parish in Dearborn County started in 2016, said Father William Ehalt, St. Catherine of Siena’s pastor.

After seeing the success of the men’s conference just down the road, Father Ehalt was approached by his director of religious education Kelly Bedel to host a women’s conference. He was all in.

“This is a way for women to walk with Jesus, and this year to participate in the Lenten journey as we approach Easter,” he said.

He told the crowd of 170 women who gathered for the conference that the day was about being instruments of the Lord’s peace.

Bedel, Zeck and Julia Strasemeir of St. Ann Parish in Jennings County became those instruments to bring women a day of peace filled with joy, learning and fellowship.

The trio of friends wanted a retreat or conference that wasn’t a plane ride or a road trip away. They also care for small babies and children, and going too far away from home wasn’t a realistic option.

“One day we said, let’s just do it ourselves,” Bedel said. “Surely, we aren’t the only women seeking this.”

She was right. The conference almost doubled its numbers in its second year from 90 women to 170 women.

Theresa Eckstein of St. Anthony Parish in Morris said she wished there had been a conference close to home when she was raising her three children.

“Just to have a day alone with Jesus, with someone else taking care of the kids, is important,” she said. “You have no time for yourself when you are raising little kids, and this gives you the day you need.”

The women heard from nationally recognized speakers Mary Bielski and Nell O’Leary. Bielski has spoken to more than 100,000 young adults in her career and has appeared on ETWN with the message of the transformative power of the love of Christ. O’Leary is known for her content work with Word on Fire, Ascension Press and the ongoing National Eucharistic Revival. She led the women through various forms of prayer with a message of God’s deep love and desire for them.

In the end, Bedel said the response to the conference humbled her, and the parish wants to continue it.

“Taking any time for ourselves can often feel ‘selfish’ or be filled with guilt,” Bedel said. “But time and time again, we see that you can’t pour from an empty cup. Sure, we will try to fill our cup with more coffee [or whatever your preferred quick fix is] and power right through to the next item on the to-do list, but it isn’t getting to the root of things.

“We need to fill our cups with living water, and what better way to do that than taking part in a day to be drawn closer to Jesus through prayer, fellowship, engaging speakers, adoration and confession?” Bedel asked. “And meet other women who are seeking the same thing!”
 

(Jennifer Lindberg is a freelance writer who is a member of St. Mary Parish in North Vernon.) †