NUTLEY-The annual "Day of Reflection," sponsored and organized by the Women's Commission of the Archdiocese of Newark, will be held Saturday, April 4, 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., at Holy Family Parish, 28 Brookline Ave.
Johnnette S. Benkovic, the founder and president of Living His Life Abundantly International Inc.-a Catholic evangelization apostolate based in Oldsmar, FL, with outreaches in television, radio, print, and Internet/new media-will serve as the keynote speaker for the conference.
"Mary and the Holy Spirit" will be the theme of this year's reflection. Archbishop John J. Myers will celebrate Mass for the gathering at 10 a.m. to open the event.
Registration is $35 per person, while the cost for students is $25. Registration for senior citizens, along with a discount group rate (10 people or more) is $15 per person. There is no registration charge for clergy members and Religious. The registration fee includes lunch. Contact the archdiocesan chancellor's office at (973) 497-4008 for more information. Details of the event also are available online (Web site: www.rcan.org/womcom).
Benkovic's keynote presentation will be broken out into three distinct segments: "Mary, Our Spiritual Mother"; "Mary and the Trinitarian Life"; and "Mary's Women of Grace." She is noted as an engaging, dynamic speaker who encourages audience participation.
Involved in Catholic radio and TV programming since the late 1980s, Benkovic is the executive producer of "The Abundant Life," seen internationally on EWTN, a television program that discusses contemporary issues from a Catholic perspective. She is also the host of "Women of Grace Live," a one-hour, call-in radio talk show that airs five times a week, broadcasted nationally on various AM and FM radio stations, as well as internationally via short wave and satellite radio. Visit her organization's Web site (www.lhla.org) for details on her programs.
Benkovic is the founder of Women of Grace, a Catholic apostolate for Christian women that features a number of outreaches, including conferences, curricula and study groups. In addition, she is the author of several books including "Full of Grace: Women and the Abundant Life" (published by Saint Anthony Messenger Press); "Grace-Filled Moments" (Our Sunday Visitor); and "Living Life Abundantly: Stories of People Who Have Encountered God" (Saint Anthony Messenger Press).
After years of being a non-practicing Catholic, Benkovic experienced a deep conversion back to her faith in 1981and discerned a call to share the Gospel message through the media. Benkovic was married to her husband, Anthony, for 34 years; he died in 2007.
Members of the archdiocesan Women's Commission include Ann Burgmeyer, Marta Cabrera, Mary Elaine Connell, Christine Flaherty, Anna Groves, Catherine L'Insalata, Liliana Soto-Cabrera, Sister Margaret Thomas McGovern, O.P., Holly Lawmaster, Maureen Madigan and Pamela Muller Swartzberg, the chairperson of the commission.
