Conference will encourage Catholics to focus on Christ

By Andrew Junker, The Catholic Sun
August 2, 2007

Prayer, talks, Mass and confession are all ways to boost one’s spiritual life.

This year’s Arizona Marian Conference will provide these opportunities and more the weekend of Aug. 24 in an atmosphere that organizer Helen Zec promised would be uplifting.

“It’s prayer, and the focus is on our Lord in the Eucharist,” she said of the biannual conferences.

This year’s three-day conference will feature daily Mass, presentations by both clergy and laity, and a concert, all focused on this year’s theme, “I have come to remind the world that God exists.”

The theme comes from one of the messages reportedly delivered by Mary in Medjugorje, said Fr. Doug Lorig, pastor of St. Maria Goretti Parish in Scottsdale. He will be speaking at the conference and has been associated with it and the Mir Center of Arizona, which hosts the conference, for more than a decade.

He felt a connection to this year’s theme because of a scene that played out not that far from Medjugorje years ago. Thirty Franciscan friars were martyred by Communist authorities who told the priests that they were “unnecessary” because God didn’t exist.

Though that climate of persecution is far removed from present-day America, Fr. Lorig said the message still rings true.

“The culture acts as if God does not exist. It just ignores Him,” he said. “What does that mean? It means that my life will be lived differently than the culture.”

Zec said the speakers keep attendance between 1,300 and 1,500 each year.

This year’s conference will be held at the DoubleTree Paradise Valley Resort in Scottsdale. Other local speakers include Fr. Jack Spaulding, pastor of St. Timothy Parish in Mesa, and award-winning Catholic musician Tom Booth.

Tom Peterson, president and founder of VirtueMedia, a pro-life apostolate, and Roy Shoeman, a Jewish convert to Catholicism and author of “Salvation is from the Jews,” will also speak.