The Elevate Conference: An Uplifting Experience for the Relevant Radio Family

The Relevant Radio® family includes many thousands of listeners from coast to coast. And there is a connection between us all, even though that connection is through our own personal radios, apps, or podcasts. So it is a special time, indeed, when more than 1,000 listeners can gather with the Relevant Radio hosts and staff and meet face to face.

The Elevate Conference took place on Saturday, June 22nd at the beautiful Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Doylestown, Pennsylvania. Our Lady of Czestochowa, also known as the Black Madonna, is an image of Our Lady that has been revered by the people of Poland for more than 600 years. The National Shrine in Doylestown is known as the American Czestochowa, and houses a reproduction of the Our Lady of Czestochowa icon in its main chapel. Having this revered icon of Our Lady looking down upon the Relevant Radio family during the Elevate Conference was a particular blessing.

 

The focus of the conference was to allow each attendee to deepen their relationship with the Lord, with the Relevant Radio hosts, and with their fellow listeners. And so several Relevant Radio hosts were on-site to offer talks on a variety of subjects that would help to bridge the gap between faith and everyday life. Drew Mariani kicked off the event by sharing the beautiful truth about Confession, mercy, and forgiveness.

 

 

Fr. Matthew Spencer, OSJ helped attendees better understand their personal call to holiness and what it means to live a Christ-centered life. As host of St. Joseph’s Workshophe shares each day how to discover our extraordinary God in the ordinary things of life, and his talk at the Elevate Conference helped listeners better see and navigate the path to holiness.

 

 

 

The #1 prayer request we receive from listeners is that their children return to their Catholic faith. Living in a post-Christian culture where many have rejected their Christian faith is often challenging, and listeners often want to know how to talk to their friend and family who take a relativistic stance on faith and morals. Patrick Madrid‘s talk Is Everything Up for Grabs? offered strategies for discussing faith and morals with his signature calm, reasoned approach.

 

With the Elevate Conference taking place the day before the Feast of Corpus Christi, it is no surprise that one talk was specifically devoted to the Eucharist. Monsignor Stuart Swetland, host of Go Ask Your Father™, spoke on Giving and Receiving Generously: The Eucharist as a Holy Exchange of Gifts. It certainly prepared us well for worshiping and receiving our Eucharistic Lord later that day.

 

 

 

 

With Our Lady of Czestochowa looking down on those assembled, it was the perfect setting for Fr. Richard Simon’s talk, Our Life, Our Sweetness, and Our Hope, centered on devotion to Mary. Giving a talk concurrently in Spanish at the St. Mary Chapel was John Morales, show host and managing editor for Relevant Radio en Espanol, .

 

 

 

Concluding the talks for the day, Sheila Liaugminas, host of A Closer Look™ spoke on the topic of marriage and family. Her subject was The First Society – Family as Foundation for a Just and Humane Culture, and she inspired those in attendance to follow the advice of St. Teresa of Calcutta, that if you want world peace, go home and love your family.

 

 

But the Elevate Conference was not just a time to learn about the Catholic faith – it was an opportunity to live it together. During the 3 o’clock hour (the Hour of Mercy) attendees participated in a Holy Hour with Eucharistic adoration, the Divine Mercy Chaplet, the Rosary, and priests available to hear Confessions. Hundreds of attendees went to Confession thanks to the presence of the priests from Relevant Radio as well as several local priests.

The Holy Hour concluded with the celebration of the Holy Mass. We were blessed to have The Most Reverend John J. McIntyre, D.D., V.G., auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia as the main celebrant for the Mass and music provided by the Savio Boy Choir from Philadelphia, making for a beautiful liturgy.

 

 

And, of course, the highlight of the Elevate Conference is the opportunity to meet and get to know our listeners! Relevant Radio hosts spent time meeting, chatting, and taking selfies with the many listeners in attendance. Just as it is nice for listeners to put a face with a familiar voice, it is a blessing for the Relevant Radio hosts to meet those who are listening on the other end of the microphone.

 

 

Thank you to the 1,000+ listeners who joined us for such a special day at the Elevate Conference! We hope to see you again next time!

Stephanie Foley serves as a Digital Media Producer at Relevant Radio®. She is a graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville, where she studied journalism, and she has worked in Catholic radio for 12 years. Stephanie is a wife, a mother of three boys, and in her free time she enjoys reading, running, and really good coffee. You can find more of Stephanie’s writing at relevantradio.com and on the free Relevant Radio mobile app.