Highlights from the 2022 Divine Mercy Conference in Buffalo
Sponsored by the Marian Fathers of the Immaculate Conception and the Disciples of Divine Mercy in the Holy Face of Jesus from the Diocese of Buffalo.
An extraordinary day! One-thousand people attended our first Buffalo Conference in six years -- a sellout! Attendees came from across the United States and Canada, and from as far away as Guam.
Special thanks to our many volunteers and to Kathy Wabick and the Disciples of Divine Mercy in the Holy Face of Jesus.
Our setting today: the magnificent Our Lady of Victory National Shrine and Basilica!
Father Chris Alar, MIC, is already signing books! He'll be signing all day!
The Basilica is packed! Thanks be to God!
Friends Wendy Lim and Elsie Lim from Our Lady Queen of the World Parish in Toronto, Canada, are attending today’s conference. “Divine Mercy is the key to everything,” Wendy says. “We are big fans of Fr. Chris Alar and all the online talks.”
Our opening speaker was Stephen K. Ray, host of the popular, award-winning film series on salvation history, "The Footprints of God." Stephen is also the author of the best-selling books Crossing the Tiber, and St. John’s Gospel. His talk was entitled “St. Paul and Mercy.”
“I’m going to talk about a man who speaks about Divine Mercy more than even Fr. Chris Alar: Saint Paul,” he quipped. “No one besides Jesus has had more impact on Western civilization than St. Paul.
“I never used to think of Paul as a mercy guy,” he said. “You don’t see him with a flower like Joseph. He talked tough in his writings. I like to think it was tough love.
“Paul was a brilliant, educated university man. The Apostles smelled of fish, but he smelled of books.
“His conversion is described three times in the Acts of the Apostles, just to show how important it was.
“God had mercy on Paul long before he was born. He predestined Paul, just like He has a plan for each and every one of you.
“The English word 'mercy' is mentioned 241 times in the Old Testament. But it was associated with justice and the law, with God’s covenant established with Israel.
“In Paul’s writings mercy is an attribute of God. Grace is God's means of implementing it. Paul uses the word ‘mercy’ 12 times in the letter to the Romans, and 7 times in his final letter to Timothy.
"Mercy is the greatest of the attributes of God," Stephen concluded. "But never take that mercy for granted. Mercy needs to be accompanied by repentance on our part.”
Our second speaker was Kelly Wahlquist, founder of the national women’s ministry WINE: Women In the New Evangelization and the Director for the Archbishop Flynn Catechetical Institute in the Archdiocese of Saint Paul and Minneapolis. She is the author of Created to Relate: God’s Design for Peace & Joy, and creator and editor of Walk in Her Sandals: Experiencing the Passion of Christ through the Eyes of Women; Gaze Upon Jesus: Experiencing Christ’s Childhood through the Eyes of Women; and Called by Name: 365 Daily Devotions for Catholic Women. Her talk was entitled, “Letting the Peace of Christ Rule in Your Heart in a World That Wants to Rule All of You.”
“How many of you remember the Baltimore Catechism?” she asked, to a sea of raised hands. “Why did God make me? ‘To know him, to love him, and to serve him in this world and to be happy with him forever in the next.’”
“You were created to share in the blessed life of God. That’s what God is: pure love.”
To drive home her point, Kelly played (above) the 1971 Coca-Cola commercial “I’d Like to Teach the World to Sing (in Perfect Harmony)". “Did the creators know how scriptural based that song is?” she asked. “Perfect harmony – that is Heaven! But instead of a Coke, the 'real thing' is Jesus Christ!”
“How do we let the peace of Christ rule in our hearts?” she asked. “It starts by becoming a true disciple of Jesus. We must follow, listen, and serve.”
"I just love to listen to Divine Mercy being sung,” says Carol Avery of Depew, New York (right), who enjoyed the performance by Fr. Bill Quinlivan, a priest of the Diocese of Buffalo and pastor of St. Martin of Tours and St. Thomas Aquinas parishes, who has recorded 10 CDs of original music. Listen here.
Father Chris Alar, MIC (above, assisted by long-time volunteer Dina Pacillo of Derby, New York) and Kelly Wahlquist (below) sign books!
After the lunch break, our speaker was Teresa Tomeo, author, syndicated Catholic talk show host, and motivational speaker with more than 30 years of experience in TV, radio, and newspaper, 20 of which were as a secular reporter/anchor in the Detroit market. Her weekday morning radio program, "Catholic Connection," is co-produced by Ave Maria Radio in Ann Arbor, Michigan and the EWTN Global Catholic Radio Network. Teresa’s talk, “Listening For God and Discovering Divine Mercy in Our Lives,” was based on her new book.
“Are we listening to God, or for God?” Teresa challenged the audience. It can be difficult, given an omnipresent secular media.
“There is cancel culture all around us, denying reality all over the place,” she said. “For example, denying the child in the womb. Tip-toeing around the fact that this is a baby. This is life. We’re getting a skewed version of reality. It’s amazing how people believe what is in the headlines. We want to see the world the way we think it should be, rather than the way it is.
“Media can be used for good, God’s good,” she said. “The Church is all about balance.”
Listening for God means surrendering to His will. Teresa cited the TV remote control to make a point.
“Who’s holding the remote?” she asked. “Are you the one in control, or is God? He has to be the one in control, not us. Put yourself in God’s mercy. It’s God’s way, not my way. Recognize His voice.”
How do we develop listening for God skills? Teresa listed, among others, the sacraments, especially going to Mass and Confession, and reading the lives of the saints. “The saints are proof that we will get through this,” she said.
Her favorite saint, Teresa of Avila (she was named after her), talked to God every day. “She put herself in the hands of God,” Teresa noted. “What do you want me to do, Lord? Let me know. Whatever I find myself in, I am Yours.”
Teresa also said that reading the Bible every day is a must: “That’s your basic instruction before leaving earth.”
The Very Rev. Chris Alar, MIC, provincial superior of the Congregation of Marian Fathers and director of the Association of Marian Helpers, wrapped up our lecture series with a rousing talk on “Spiritual Warfare and Eucharistic Miracles.”
Father Chris reminded the audience of the first Eucharistic miracles: the Wedding feast at Cana, turning water into wine (foreshadowing the Precious Blood) and the multiplication of loaves (foreshadowing the Body of Christ). The disciples – the first priests – were present on both occasions.
“God wants to distribute His Body and Blood through the Church,” he said. “God allows miracles to happen for us to see His love and mercy.”
“What do all Eucharistic miracles have in common?” Fr. Chris asked. “The blood has hemoglobin – the blood type is AB positive, common in the Middle East. The DNA is of human origin. There’s an X chromosome – provided by Mary – but no Y chromosome, so there is no earthly father.
“The AB blood type is the universal recipient of all blood types,” Fr. Chris continued. “Christ’s Blood can take your sinful, broken blood and receive it into His Body.”
He recounted the story of Eucharistic miracles in Lanciano, Italy, in the eight century, and more recently in Argentina in 1996, involving a Host that developed coagulated human blood and heart flesh.
“Where are all these amazing stories on the nightly news?” he lamented.
Last month, Fr. Chris noted, there was a Eucharistic miracle in Mexico, where the Host in a monstrance started beating like a human heart. It was captured on video.
“If I am a doubting Thomas, that’s all I need," he said.
To those who still claim they never have nor never will experience a Eucharistic miracle, he reminded everyone present: “It happens at every Mass!”
Kudos and thanks to our extraordinary emcee of the conference, longtime volunteer Richard Paolini!
Listen to the opening of our sung Divine Mercy Chaplet.
Welcome to the Most Rev. Michael Fisher, Bishop of Buffalo, celebrant of the Vigil Mass for Sunday, closing our Conference!
The Very Rev. Chris Alar, MIC, gave the homily.
Father Chris noted that the readings today focused on humility. Sunday, Aug. 28 is also the feast of St. Augustine, Bishop and Doctor of the Church, and Fr. Chris recalled his words:
“It was pride that changed angels into devils; it is humility that makes men as angels.”
“We say humility is the mother of all virtues and the foundation of holy living,” Fr. Chris continued. “But what is humility? Simply knowing the truth, and what you are.
“Humility is less about recognizing how lowly we are, but about how great God is. He’s the best. He’s the source of all good. God is God, and we’re not.
“I’m me. I’m a sinner. But I have been redeemed by Christ. And with God’s grace I can improve. That’s the definition of humility.”
God loves us too much to not improve, Fr. Chris concluded, and the Sacrament of Confession is the best road to humility.
Father Chris delivers the homily, with two of our speakers, Teresa Tomeo and Kelly Wahlquist, in the front pew.
That's a wrap! Thank you everyone for an extraordinary Conference filled with enrichment and blessings!
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