Modern Saints: Missions from God 
A SmartCatholics Online Event

Each century, the Church gives us real-life examples of holiness. Saints are missions from God to the modern world! Join this online conference and community to find out how you can live your own mission of holiness today.

How you can live your mission of holiness today

On October 22-23, 2020, the ‘Modern Saints: Missions from God’ Online Conference brings you a range of veteran speakers and new voices.

Many Catholics today don’t ‘get’ the special witness that modern saints are. But when we do, we begin to see our own journey!

Keep reading…

Questions? Leave a comment! →

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Catholic experts
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Real-life examples
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Sacred Scripture
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New voices from the JPII generation
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Practical advice
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The Church in the modern world
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Short stories
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Saints to relate to
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Fellowship in community

Sign up for your access pass

October 22-23, 2020

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Catholic veterans & new voices

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Live & recorded video

"What is it about the Saints that I love?

“I love how they are able to intercede for us. I love how Jesus uses/used them, and communicated with them. I love how imperfect they were when they were alive on earth. Their imperfections make them relatable. I love how the Saints inspire me to become more holy. I love how their stories draws me closer to Jesus. And sometimes I am just in awe that Jesus spoke to them. ” – Brigitte

“Each saint is a mission, planned by the Father to reflect and embody, at a specific moment in history, a certain aspect of the Gospel. ”

Pope Francis, Gaudete et Exultate

Welcome Letter from Dominic

Every saint is a mission from God! These missions are messages for us right now.

In a nutshell, the Church gives us saints in each century for a specific reason: to help us have tangible examples of holiness from our cultures. As much as we love the saints great and small from history, the saints from our time are oursThey’re meant for us. 

They walked our streets, saw our headlines, thought about similar futures, lived through the same World Wars. Modern models of holiness.

This is the challenge that our ‘Modern Saints’ event seeks to answer; what is the ‘certain aspect of the Gospel’ that the saints lived? If we don’t know, then we won’t understand the ‘point’ of the saints’ lives.

Most Catholics like you and me are struggling just to get by.

We punch in to Mass on Sundays (usually!), donate to Peter’s Pence, and hit ‘like’ for the parish live stream.

‘Life in Christ’ doesn’t mean much to us.

So it’s strange when the Pope gets excited to tell us that some of us Catholics made it to Heaven.

Some surprising men and women fought hard against popular influences, demonic temptation, and their own weaknesses, and made it through. They allowed the living, bursting life of God to fill every cell of their being. And when they passed, they entered a deeper, richer, wilder life – Heaven.

Every single one of us is called to live that same life of holiness, whether in Bangladesh, Boston, or Brisbane.

Every human being is called to plug into Christ right now. To literally go online with Heaven. That’s the definition of sainthood – someone who ‘got it’, and checked in to what ‘holiness’ means.

But there’s another problem. Holiness usually sounds like being weak, flippant, and petty. But the lives of our saints don’t show that. They were powerful. Exciting. Challenging. Troubling. Confusing. Welcoming.

They were truly alive.

We are called to this same kind of exciting, passionate, life. Called to be unlikely, surprising heroes. Each of us has a unique and individual path, with our own skills and interests, and dreams.

Just like the saints, you and I have a mission. The very fact that we’re alive and privileged to be baptized into Christ means we were born with a job to do. A job that is the only way we will find holiness.

But if you’re like me, and most of us, we need to find out what that mission is. We need to hear these saints’ stories in a way that’s relatable to who we are today.

And the best people to learn from are the ones who made it to Heaven ahead of us.

 

Today, our recent saints are examples to us of how we should be. Right now.

This is what the conference aims to show us.

  • What does it mean to be a saint today?
  • How do the saints of the last 100 years show us sanctity with a smartphone?
  • With international travel and Instagram trends?
  • With gang warfare, government pressure, and Twitter?
  • With broken families and young love and social media?

“The saints surprise us, they confound us, because by their lives they urge us to abandon a dull and dreary mediocrity.” Pope Francis

Event Workbook

Schedule of Events

Your $10 access pass lets you watch all these videos during the conference. Join the community to RSVP, ask questions, and chat with fellow attendees.

Note: The schedule is in in New York (EST) time.
Here’s a timezone converter tool

 

Join Special Workshops

Only for conference attendees, our special ‘5 Minutes and 5 Days with a Saint’. 

Meet the Speakers

Press a face to learn more. More coming soon!

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"We need heroes today."

“We need to know our Catholic history, champions, and the miraculous depth of the Catholic Church. This will open peoples’ eyes to the great champions and examples in recent times.”

– Steve Ray

"Cheerful, confident Roman Catholicism is the only thing that can save the world. "

As a convert, I speak from experience… The most urgent ills pressing upon us are a failure of masculinity to protect the innocent, the beautiful and the good [Good]. 

– Shannon McGurk

"Grow closer to God and become more like Jesus"

“Learn about the men and women who became witnesses of God’s love and mercy in the last century. Through this knowledge, it is possible for you to be inspired, encouraged, and empowered to live similarly in your own life in the here and now.”

– Christina Semmens

"This is such a fantastic opportunity

“to learn more about modern saints that show us what sanctity really looks like and remind us that it really is possible.”

– Madeleine Carrington

"The saints act as guides for us"

“They beckon us along the path to the Kingdom of God. We are called to not only recognize saints, but to also emulate them. By getting to know the saints and their missions better, we too can learn to lead saintly lives.”

– Robert LeBlanc

"Show me your friends and I will show you who you are"

That phase applies to this conference. If you want to be a Saint, it is best that they become our friends. During this conference you will be introduced to a number of good friends. Please join us.

– Allan Smith

"Discovering the wisdom of the saints"

“Discovering the wisdom of the saints through this conference is sure to propel us forward, through the tough times ahead, with courage and confidence in the perfect providence and care of God.”

– Chantal Howard

"Growing in holiness is hard."

“Having good examples to follow and a supportive community is incredibly helpful. You will get both at the Modern Saints Online Conference.”

– Marek Rudak

"The saints are people we can learn from"

“The saints are people we can learn from on how to be holy in the everyday experience. And the more current they are to our times, the more relatable they become!”

– Sr. Nancy Usselmann

"Discover fresh ways to be a disciple of Jesus Christ"

“This conference will enable Christians to heed the call of the New Evangelization and discover fresh ways to be a disciple of Jesus Christ.”

– Efran Menny

"We all need to look to modern saints for inspiration!"

“In a hurting world, let’s all answer the universal call to holiness!”

– Rachel Ullman

Meet your hosts 

Meet the Sponsors

Would you like to sponsor this event? Learn more →

Support a Catholic mission

This event is supporting The Pontifical Missions Society in the United States.

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– Dominic de Souza

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