Morning Mini-Conference Keynote – 10 AM

Lisa Brenninkmeyer
Founder and Chief Purpose Officer, Walking with Purpose Bible Studies for Women
Keynote address: Strong and Beautiful

What Lisa will talk about:
It is the desire of every woman’s heart to radiate strength and beauty to those around her. However, women are often bombarded with an image of the “strong and beautiful woman” that presents them with an almost impossible standard. So, what does it mean to be both strong and beautiful? In her opening keynote, Lisa will answer this question by helping us understand the true meaning of these words as Jesus Christ has revealed them. Through a reflection on the Scriptures and the teachings of the Church, Lisa will help us understand what it means to be a truly strong and beautiful woman of God, what that looks like in our everyday lives, and how we can grow ever more fully into this identity for the sake of our loved ones and the world.

Learn more about Lisa:
Lisa Brenninkmeyer is the founder and chief purpose officer of Walking with Purpose, a Catholic women’s Bible study program. Raised as an evangelical Protestant, she entered the Catholic Church in 1991. She has written 11 Bible studies, as well as the book, “Walking with Purpose: Seven Priorities that Make Life Work.” Lisa led Bible studies for women and children in Europe and Mexico while living internationally. She founded Walking with Purpose in 2008 after moving back to the United States, because she desired to see women develop a personal relationship with Christ. Her longing to see women transformed as they realize how much God loves them inspires her speaking and writing. Lisa holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from St. Olaf College. She lives with her husband, Leo, and their seven children in St. Augustine, Florida.

• Click here to view/purchase Lisa’s books

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Afternoon Mini-Conference Keynote – 2 PM

Mother Clare Matthias, CFR
Mother Superior, Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal
Keynote address: The Strength and Beauty of God

What Mother Clare will talk about:
At CWC 2021, we will be exploring the true meaning of a woman’s strength and beauty as God has revealed them and made possible for us through His grace. In the closing keynote, Mother Clare will turn our gaze to the Source of our strength and beauty, God Himself. God is all powerful, so it is in Him that we find our strength. God is Beauty Itself, so it is in Him that a woman finds her beauty. Mother Clare will lead us in a reflection on the splendor and the power of God and how it is that in relationship with Him a woman becomes ever stronger and ever more beautiful, in order to reflect His glory in the world.

Learn more about Mother Clare:
Mother Clare Matthias, CFR is the author of the popular book Discerning Religious Life as well as the Avow small discussion group program. Mother Clare was born in Germany and spent her childhood moving from base to base with her family, as her father was serving in the U.S. Military. She attended Franciscan University in Steubenville, Ohio where she studied theology and history. Mother Clare has been a member of the Franciscan Sisters of the Renewal since 1998. The two-fold apostolic mission of the community is hands-on work with the poor and evangelization. Mother Clare has served in the past as formation director for candidates and postulants, Community Vicar, and Vocation Directress. She lives at Our Lady Queen of Angels Convent in East Harlem. The CFR Sisters currently have three convents in New York City, missions in Leeds, England; Drogheda, Ireland; and, most recently, in Atlantic City, NJ.

Link to buy Mother’s book, Discerning Religious Life: https://vianneyvocations.com/product/discerning-religious-life/

Links to buy Discernment of Spirits Comic:

• (in color) https://vianneyvocations.com/product/discernment-of-spirits-comic-color/
• (in black and white) https://vianneyvocations.com/product/discernment-spirits-comic-bw/

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Richara Krajewski
Pastoral Associate, Discipleship and Youth Ministry, St. Raymond Parish, Philadelphia
Talk Topic: When I am Weak, Then I am Strong: A Meditation on 2 Corinthians 12:1-10

What Richara will talk about:
The world tells women that to be strong is to be without weakness, need, frailty or imperfection. But in God’s eyes, the opposite is true. God particularly delights to manifest His power precisely through our weaknesses. In this breakout session, Richara will lead us in a reflection on 2 Corinthians 12, St. Paul’s great meditation on our weaknesses as the privileged place for the manifestation of God’s strength. In this passage we find the astonishing truth that we become strong when we allow Jesus to dwell in and work through our weaknesses. Richara will help us understand God’s great desire to draw close to us in our weaknesses and how to surrender our weaknesses to Him in order to become women who radiate the strength that comes from God alone.

Learn more about Richara:
Richara Krajewski is a joyful servant of Christ and His Church. Since 2016 she has worked as a Pastoral Associate at St. Raymond of Penafort Church where she is privileged to share the love of Jesus with youth, families, and anyone looking for the Light. Richara is a graduate of Rutgers and the University of Pennsylvania, and has worked in education, and pro-life before her role at St. Raymond. She is an active pro-life speaker, a mother, and a spiritual daughter of St. Francis de Sales.

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Kate Wicker
Catholic speaker, author of Getting Past Perfect: How to Find Joy and Grace in the Messiness of Motherhood
Talk Topic:  Finding Strength and Beauty in the Day to Day of Motherhood

What Kate will talk about:
In the day to day life of motherhood, it is often difficult to feel strong and beautiful. Raising children – no matter our age – can often expose our greatest weaknesses, bring us to our knees in exhaustion, and doesn’t feel very glamorous. So how does a woman discover and live her strength and beauty in the midst of the everyday messiness of motherhood? In this talk, Kate will lead us in a reflection on the true meaning of strength and beauty as it relates to motherhood, helping us to oust the lies that often make us question our abilities and leave us wondering about the value of our vocation. Through stories and practical suggestions, Kate will help us discover the truth of our strength and beauty as mothers, a truth that often needs to be uncovered like the buried treasure.

Learn more about Kate:
Kate Wicker is a wife, mom of five, popular speaker, and the author of Getting Past Perfect: How to Find Joy and Grace in the Messiness of Motherhood (a 2018 Catholic Press Association award winner) and Weightless: Making Peace with Your Body. Kate has her journalism degree and has been freelance writing for nearly two decades. These days, when she’s not playing the role of Uber driver, cook, and dispute resolution expert, Kate speaks around the country and is a regular contributor to Catholic Digest, Take Up & Read devotional journals, Relevant Radio’s Morning Air Show, and Athens Catholic Radio. She has also been a guest on many other television, radio, and podcast programs, including Catholic TV’s “The Gist,” EWTN’s “At Home with Jim & Joy,” the Jennifer Fulwiler Show, the Busted Halo Show, and Huffington Post Live. She has written for numerous regional and national media, including Atlanta Parent, Catholic Exchange, CatholicMom.com, the Catholic News Agency, Children’s Ministry Magazine, Crisis Magazine, Family Fun, FathersForGood.org, Pregnancy, Pittsburgh Parent, WhattoExpect.com, and Woman’s Day. In addition, Kate appeared in Danielle Bean’s Momnipotent DVD series and the Catholic Conference 4 Women Relationships and Motherhood Matters online presentations, which are used in parishes nationwide.

• To learn more and view/purchase Kate’s books, please visit KateWicker.com.

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Dr. Jem Sullivan
Associate Professor of Catechetics, School of Theology and Religious Studies, The Catholic University of America.
Talk Topic: Living the Beauty of Faith: Images of Woman in Sacred Art

What Jem will talk about:
Women are often given impossible expectations when it comes to beauty, creating tremendous pressure and insecurity when we feel that we do not measure up. Whether it is our height, weight, measurements, clothes, make-up, or hair, the world’s messages are relentless about what we should look like in order to be beautiful and therefore, lovable. But what if feminine beauty has a different source? Join Catholic author and educator, Dr. Jem Sullivan, as she walks with us through classic works of sacred art to discover the truth about a woman’s beauty, where it comes from, and how we can live the beauty of faith.

Learn more about Jem:
Dr. Jem Sullivan, wife and mother, educator and author, holds a doctorate from the Catholic University of America. An educator for two decades Jem has served the Church’s educational mission at the elementary, high school, undergraduate and graduate levels. At present, Dr. Sullivan serves as professor in the School of Theology and Religious Studies at The Catholic University of America. She is the author of three books from Our Sunday Visitor and she writes for a variety of Catholic publications on faith and culture, including art essays in Magnificat and Catholic News Service. She is a featured guest commentator on the USCCB’s daily Scripture reflections. Jem has served as host of EWTN documentary specials on the arts and beauty as a means of evangelization and the Trinity Dome Mosaic at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, Washington, D.C. Previously she served as a volunteer docent at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., leading tours of the museum’s masterpiece collections.

• Click here to view/purchase Jem’s books

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Delia Larrauri, MD, FACOG  
Ob/Gyn and Creighton Model and NaProTECHNOLOGY® Medical Consultant
Talk topic: Reverencing the Strength and Beauty of a Woman’s Body: Authentic Women’s Healthcare and Fertility

What Delia will talk about:
In this breakout session, Delia will lead us in a reflection on the strength and beauty of a woman’s body. From her medical expertise, she will help us understand the way that our fertility works along the different stages in our lives and how this process reveals God’s particular plan for women. Delia will also introduce the revolutionary, life-affirming women’s healthcare movement, NaPro TECHNOLOGY, which treats the various issues a woman can encounter related to her reproductive health all while honoring the sanctity of each human life, the dignity of women and the sacramental integrity of marriage.

Learn more about Delia:
Dr. Larrauri graduated medical school in her home country, Venezuela, at Universidad Centroccidental Lisandro Alvarado. While at medical school she married Jorge, who is also a doctor, now a Trauma and Critical Care surgeon. In 2006 she moved to Philadelphia, where she completed her residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Albert Einstein Medical Center. She completed the Creighton Model and NaProTECHNOLOGY® Medical Consultant training through the Pope Paul VI Institute for the Study of Human Reproduction in 2017. Dr Larrauri is certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. Dr. Delia and Dr. Jorge have two children.

• Click here to learn more about the Philadelphia Gianna Center where Delia practices

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