Lent Retreat Speakers

The Retreat begins on February 17th!

Here’s a preview!

The Retreat is self-paced.

This means that you can participate wherever you are and whenever you have the time.

It’s like a do-it-yourself retreat, but you’re not doing alone — we’re doing it with you! We hope you’ll join us.

How to Hear God’s Voice in Prayer

by Beth Davis

Commiting to Lent

by Fr. Tom Pringle

Renewing & Healing Our Relationship with God

by Allison Gingras

To Whom We Belong

by Fr. Tom Pringle

Guided Prayer: A Meditation on the Wounds of Christ

by Beth Davis

Embracing Vulnerability to Overcome Pain

by Katie Sciba

Letting Go of Sin for the Hopeful Life

by Katie Sciba

“Lord, I believe. Help my unbelief.”

by Allison Gingras

Eliminating Self-Comparison for Grateful Reality

by Katie Sciba

— Why join the Pray More Lenten Retreat? — 

Reflect on God’s mercy and immeasurable love for us as He sent His son to die for our sins.

Deepen your faith and pray more this Lenten season from the comfort of your own home!

Why Join the Pray More Lenten Retreat?

Learn how to have a holy, prayerful and transforming Lent.

Reflect on God’s mercy and immeasurable love for us as He sent His won to die for our sins.

Slow down and reflect on your walk with Jesus and how you can strengthen your relationship with Him and get to know His word better.

Deepen your faith and pray more this Lenten season from the comfort of your own home or while you’re on the go!

Jon Leonetti is a nationally known Catholic speaker, best-selling author and radio host who conveys a message of lasting fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Through Jon’s keynote presentations and parish missions, thousands of Catholics each year discover the freedom Christ offers by way of his life and love.

Jon is the founder of SanctifyU, a first of its kind membership platform on the lives, teachings, and wisdom of the saints. Jon is the author of five books, including Mission Of The Family, Your God Is Too Boring and, The Art of Getting Over Yourself: And Why You’ll Be Happier When You Do. Jon’s first two books are published and featured in Matthew Kelly’s Dynamic Catholic Book Program. Jon’s writings, talks, and programs have been endorsed by Archbishop Joseph Kurtz, New York Times Bestselling author Immaculee Ilibagiza, Mark Hart, Chris Stefanick, Jennifer Fulwiler, Brandon Vogt and more.

Jon believes that our deepest longing for happiness and wholeness is fulfilled in the encounter with Jesus Christ. Through prayer, the Sacraments, family life, and the help of Mary and the saints, Jon wants to cultivate an intimate relationship with Jesus, and help others do the same.

With this message Jon has been featured and interviewed by the nation’s top Catholic websites, blogs, and radio shows, helping Catholics in all walks of life to fall in love and stay in love with the living God.

At home, Jon enjoys reading, sports, exercising, coffee and, most of all, spending time with his wife Teresa and their children. Jon has a masters degree in moral theology.​​

You can learn more about Jon here.

The Retreat is self-paced.

This means that you can participate wherever you are and whenever you have the time. 

“Can you drink the chalice I’m going to drink?”

by Scott Powell

Getting to Know Jesus Better this Lent

by Emily Stimpson Chapman

Trusting in God’s Will

by Ashley Stevens

Bringing Our Wounds to Christ

by Ashley Stevens

Coping with God’s (Seeming) Silence

by Emily Stimpson Chapman

Redemptive Suffering

by Pete Burak

Dealing with Unanswered Prayers

by Emily Stimpson Chapman

Believing Our Identity as “Beloved”

by Fr. Patrick Gonyeau

Overcoming Lies of the Devil

by Fr. Patrick Gonyeau

Every talk comes with a Transcript, Study Guide, and Downloadable Audio
& Video (with Closed Captioning too)

You can watch, listen or read through the talks however you’d like best! Alone or with a group!

Scott Powell

Ashley Stevens

— Why join the Pray More Lenten Retreat? — 

Reflect on God’s mercy and immeasurable love for us as He sent His son to die for our sins.

Deepen your faith and pray more this Lenten season from the comfort of your own home!

Why Join the Pray More Lenten Retreat?

Learn how to have a holy, prayerful and transforming Lent.

Reflect on God’s mercy and immeasurable love for us as He sent His won to die for our sins.

Slow down and reflect on your walk with Jesus and how you can strengthen your relationship with Him and get to know His word better.

Deepen your faith and pray more this Lenten season from the comfort of your own home or while you’re on the go!

Dr. Scott Powell is a teacher, theologian, and author. He is the director of the Aquinas Institute for Catholic Thought, an outreach to the University of Colorado Boulder, and is also an affiliate of the Benson Center for the Study of Western Civilization, Thought and Policy at the University of Colorado. He has taught at the Augustine Institute and the Saint John Vianney Theological Seminary’s Catholic Biblical School. He and his wife, Annie, founded Camp Wojtyla, a Catholic outdoor adventure program for youth based in the Colorado Rocky Mountains. Scott also co-hosts and produces the popular podcast “The Word on the Hill with the Lanky Guys” and has appeared in numerous Catholic productions, including “Symbolon,” “Beloved,” “Reborn,” “YDisciple” and the “Opening the Word” series. He has been featured on EWTN, “Catholic Answers Live” and several other Catholic outlets. He holds a doctorate in Catholic Studies from Maryvale Institute/Liverpool Hope University in England. Scott is also the author of “An Environmental Ethic for the End of the World: An Ecological Midrash on Romans 8:19 – 22,” recently published by Cambridge Scholars Publishing. Scott and his wife live near Boulder, Colorado with their three children: Lily Avila, Samuel Isaac and Evelyn Luca.

Emily Stimpson Chapman is an award-winning Catholic writer based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Her books include The Catholic Table: Finding Joy Where Food & Faith Meet (Emmaus Road, 2016); The American Catholic Almanac: The Patriots, Saints, Rogues, and Ordinary People Who Changed America (Image, 2014), These Beautiful Bones: An Everyday Theology of the Body (Emmaus Road, 2013), and The Catholic Girl’s Survival Guide for the Single Years (Emmaus Road, 2012).

Chapman writes regularly about faith, hospitality, and food at her blog, The Catholic Table (www.thecatholictable.com).

Pete Burak is the director of i.d.9:16, the young adult outreach of Renewal Ministries. He is a 2010 graduate of Franciscan University of Steubenville, and has a Master’s Degree in Theology from Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit, Michigan. Pete is a frequent speaker on discipleship and evangelization, and he is the co-director of Pine Hills Boys Camp. He is the co-founder of the Millennial Church Conference, a monthly columnist for Faith Magazine, and the host of the popular YouTube show called Cathlist.  Pete and his wife Cait have four children.

Ashley Stevens is a speaker, writer, wife, and mother of three. She was born near Philadelphia, PA, raised just outside Knoxville, TN and played soccer and converted to the Catholic faith at the University of Nebraska. While serving as a FOCUS (Fellowship of Catholic University Students) missionary shortly after getting engaged, she was T-boned by a Mack truck and nearly lost her life. They got married on the one-year anniversary of the accident to redeem the day and she’s since shared her story with The 700 Club, Busted Halo Sirius XM Show, The Omaha World-Herald, and blogs and podcasts to encourage those whose life isn’t going according to plan. Find out more about her at www.mountainsunmoved.com.

The Retreat is self-paced.

This means that you can participate wherever you are and whenever you have the time. 

The Prodigal Son: “Be Reconciled to God”

by Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers

Jesus is Doing Something New:
“Go and Sin No More”

by Fr. John Burns

“Searching for and Maintaining Peace”

by Tim Glemkowski

Experiencing God’s Mercy, Part I

by Amanda Texeira

God Wants Our Conversion, Not Our Death or Downfall

by Tim Glemkowski

Experiencing God’s Mercy, Part II

by Amanda Texeira

Jesus Came (And Comes) To Rescue You

by Fr. John Burns

Returning to the Lord With our Whole Hearts

by Fr. John Burns

Rich in Mercy

by Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers

Mary Lenaburg

Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers

Amanda Texeira

— Why join the Pray More Lenten Retreat? — 

Deepen your faith and pray more this Lenten season from the comfort of your own home!

Renew your hope as you wait expectantly & joyfully for God to work in your life and to answer your prayers.

Why Join the Pray More Lenten Retreat?

Learn how to have a holy, prayerful and transforming Lenten season.

Slow down and reflect on your walk with Jesus and how you can strengthen your relationship with Him and get to know Him and His word better.

Become more intentional with your prayer life.

Deepen your faith and pray more this Lenten season from the comfort of your own home!

Renew your hope as you wait expectantly & joyfully for God’s answers to your prayers.

Rev. John Burns is a priest of the Archdiocese of Milwaukee. Ordained a priest in 2010, he has served as an associate pastor and pastor in Milwaukee as well as an adjunct professor of moral theology at the Sacred Heart Seminary and School of Theology. He is currently studying for a doctorate in moral theology at the Pontifical University of the Holy Cross in Rome. His doctoral research focuses on the intersection of psychology and grace in the work of healing through forgiveness.

Fr. Burns directs retreats and missions in the Archdiocese, works in multiple capacities with both the Men of Christ and Women of Christ annual conferences, and contributes to the young adult renewal ministries of ARISE and Cor Jesu. Beyond the Archdiocese, he is a speaker at Franciscan University of Steubenville’s annual conferences as well as Focus’s SEEK Conference.

Fr. Burns is a regular guest on Relevant Radio’s The Inner Life and has appeared on EWTN’s Life on the Rock and Bookmark. He works extensively with the Sisters of Life and Mother Teresa’s sisters, the Missionaries of Charity, and has given retreats, conferences, and spiritual direction for the sisters in Africa, Europe, and the United States.

Mary Lenaburg is a writer, speaker, wife and mother sharing her witness and testimony to groups of all ages about God’s Redeeming love and that faith is the courage to want what God wants for us, even if we cannot see where the path leads. Acceptance + Trust = Unimaginable Joy.

Mary’s first book, “Be Brave in the Scared: How I Learned to Trust God During my Most Difficult Days” will be published by Ave Maria Press on May 10, 2019. It is available to order on Amazon, Barnes and Noble and wherever books are sold.

Mary and her husband have been happily married for 30 year, finding joy among the ashes having lost their disabled daughter Courtney in 2014. They live in Northern Virginia with their grown son Jonathan.  She continues to embrace her father’s advice:  “Never quit, never give up, never lose your faith.  It’s the one reason you walk this earth. For God chose this time and place just for you, so make the most of it.”

Jon Leonetti is a nationally known Catholic speaker, best-selling author and radio host who conveys a message of lasting fulfillment in Jesus Christ. Through Jon’s keynote presentations and parish missions, thousands of Catholics each year discover the freedom Christ offers by way of his life and love.

Jon’s the author of three books: Mission Of The Family, Your God Is Too Boring and, The Art of Getting Over Yourself: And Why You’ll Be Happier When You Do. Jon’s first two books are published and featured in Matthew Kelly’s Dynamic Catholic Book Program. Jon’s writings and talks have been endorsed by Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz, New York Times Bestselling author Immaculee Ilibagiza, Mark Hart, Chris Stefanick, Brandon Vogt and more.

Jon believes that our deepest longing for happiness and wholeness is fulfilled in the encounter with Jesus Christ. Through prayer, the Sacraments, family life, and the help of Mary and the saints, Jon wants to cultivate an intimate relationship with Jesus, and help others do the same.

With this message Jon has been featured and interviewed by the nations top Catholic websites, blogs and radio shows, helping Catholics in all walks of life to fall in love and stay in love with the living God.

At home, Jon enjoys reading, sports, exercising, coffee and, most of all, spending time with his wife Teresa and their children Joseph and Gianna. Jon has a masters degree in moral theology.

Here’s What You Get When You Register:

The Retreat is self-paced.

This means that you can participate wherever you are and whenever you have the time. 

Here’s a preview of the retreat! 

Let Your Servant Go in Peace: Responding to God in Prayer

by Dr. Scott Powell

Jesus and the Storms of Life

by Beth Davis

Our Deepest Identity

by Beth Davis

God’s Ways Are Not Our Ways

by Fr. Chase Hilgenbrinck

“Whoever serves me must follow me”

by Fr. Thomas Quinn

Facing our Goliaths: The Most Famous Old Testament Story We’ve Never Heard

by Dr. Scott Powell

Extravagant Love

by Beth Davis

Palm Sunday

by Fr. Thomas Quinn

Dr. Scott Powell

— Why join the Pray More Lenten Retreat? — 

Deepen your faith and pray more this Lenten season from the comfort of your own home! 

Renew your hope as you wait expectantly & joyfully for God to work in your life and to answer your prayers.

— What would the Saints say about this? — 

“Lent is about a relationship, the most important one, with God and our neighbor.”

– Fr. John Lombardi

Why Join the Pray More Lenten Retreat?

Become more intentional with your prayer life.

Reflect on God’s mercy and immeasurable love for us as He sent His son to die for our sins.

Deepen your faith and pray more this Lenten season from the comfort of your own home!

Learn how to have a holy, prayerful and transforming Lenten season.

Fr. Chase Hilgenbrinckis originally from the Bloomington-Normal area where he grew up serving as an altar boy at Holy Trinity in Bloomington, IL. He was also a very gifted athlete as well. Fr. Chase made the United States Under 17 National Team in high school and was named a high school All-American before moving on to play at Clemson University. While at Clemson, he was a four-year starter helping the tigers to the 2001 ACC championship and four NCCAA tournament berths including two elite eight appearances. 

After Graduating in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in Spanish and international trade, He signed with the Chilean first team division soccer league.  On a second division club in 2006, he helped the team achieve promotion to Chile’s top flight while winning the league title. Father played the 2007 season in the first division while completing his fourth and final year in the Chilean league.  In two of those years he was selected the league’s most valuable player at the left full-back position.  He also spent time with the Colorado Rapids and played for the New England Revolution in the United States Major League Soccer.

He ultimately left it all to enter the seminary to become a Catholic priest and was ordained for Diocese of Peoria by Bishop Daniel R. Jenky on May 24^th 2014. After ordination Father served as the Parochial Vicar in Moline and Silvis, Illinois as well as a chaplain at Alleman High School in Rock Island. In 2016 Father Chase became the Assistant Chaplain at the St. John Catholic Newman Center at the University of Illinois in Champaign, the nation’s largest Newman Center. Father now mentors the Newman Hall resident advisor team and serves as the spiritual leader for the Koinionia and freshman retreat programs.  He also helps to lead and mentor the student athletes participating in the Catholic Illini Athletic Intramural teams.

While his life has been filled with many incredible experiences as a professional athlete there has been nothing in his life that has been as rewarding as serving our Lord and His people as a Roman Catholic Priest.

Beth Davis is the Director of Ministry Advancement for Blessed is She. In this role she writes curriculum and directs retreats, provides support to parishes and small groups, and develops community from the ground up. She served as a youth minister for eleven years in Flagstaff after earning her degree in Special Education from Western New Mexico University. She is passionate about teaching women how to develop an intimate relationship with Jesus and speaking hope to weary hearts. Find out more about Beth and Blessed is She here: blessedisshe.net

Dr. Scott Powell is a teacher, theologian, author, and the director of the Aquinas Institute for Catholic Thought, an outreach to the University of Colorado in Boulder. Scott has spent the last decade speaking and teaching theology and the Scriptures to groups of all ages. He and his wife Annie are the founders of Camp Wojtyla, a Catholic adventure program for youth based in the Colorado Rockies. Scott also co-hosts and produces the popular Catholic podcast, “The Word on the Hill with the Lanky Guys,” and he has appeared in numerous Augustine Institute Studio productions, including Symbolon, Beloved, Reborn, YDisciple and the Opening the Word series. He has been featured on EWTN, Catholic Answers Live and numerous other Catholic outlets. He holds a PhD in Catholic studies from Maryvale Institute/Liverpool Hope University in England. Scott, his wife Annie and their three children — Lily Avila, Samuel Isaac and Evelyn Luca — live near Boulder, Colorado.

Allison Gingras is the founder of Reconciled To You where she blogs, shares and speaks about the Catholic faith in our everyday life and the many opportunities life presents to discover the grace of God!  She shares these with great enthusiasm, passion and a sense of humor.  Allison is a WINE Specialist overseeing and facilitating social media for WINE: Women in the New Evangelization.

Fr. Thomas P. Quinn is from Montclair, New Jersey, where he grew up with his four younger sisters. From a young age he was heavily involved at his home parish, most especially in assisting the priests as an altar boy. After graduating from Catholic grammar and high schools, Fr. Tom began university studies in history at Caldwell University, a local Dominican college, where he worked for the theology department and also became involved in the college’s music program. Upon completion of his undergraduate degree, Fr. Tom began historical studies on the graduate level at the Newark campus of Rutgers University, concentrating on European History as well as the history of technology, the environment, and medicine.

Whilst undertaking graduate studies, and experiencing a deeper conversion to the Lord, childhood desires for the priesthood returned, and he entered Immaculate Conception Seminary at Seton Hall University, the local major seminary for the Archdiocese of Newark. Fr. Tom was ordained in 2015 and currently serves as a parochial vicar at Saint Michael’s Parish in Cranford, NJ, where he leads the RCIA program, an apostolate for young families, young adult activities, and adult spiritual formation.