“Our Lord didn’t call people one by one and then send them back off by themselves,” said Beth Davis, director of ministry advancement for Blessed is She, a long-running Catholic women’s ministry. “He sent the disciples off two by two. We want you to go deeper, and we see going deeper really as happening most often in community.”
The ministry has an online presence at blessedisshe.net, and resources to help people grow and connect with in-person communities right where they live, Davis said.
Blessed is She has two pillars: prayer and community. “We want every woman to come into personal relationship with Jesus Christ in the Catholic Church through the beauty and truth and goodness of the Catholic faith,” she said.
Davis recently discussed the ministry with “Practicing Catholic” radio show producer Kayla Mayer for an upcoming episode.
Blessed is She now offers “Burn Revivals” across the country, including one recently held in Minneapolis, an event Davis called an opportunity to bring “that community online into real life.”
The revivals allow people to hear the word preached and then encounter the Word himself in the Eucharist, she said.
Women attending a Burn Revival are connected with prayer partners, hear preaching, experience a holy hour during which women can “give a deeper yes to Jesus,” and are offered confession, Davis said.
“That encounter with Jesus and the sacraments is really primary for us,” she said.
Asked for words of encouragement for women who are looking for community and haven’t yet found their place, Davis said she knows what that’s like. She said any woman looking for a community “in friendship, in community, in her relationship with Jesus Christ” or the Church should persevere and be patient, she said. “Keep putting yourself out there,” such as attending a Blessed is She brunch to reach out to someone, Davis said.
A Blessed is She app has a feature called “members near you,” Davis said. “These are friends, other Catholics who are desiring prayer and community,” she said. With friendship, like dating, “you have to be very courageous and you have to keep trying.”
To learn the meaning behind the phrase “Burn Revivals” and to hear the full interview, listen to this episode of “Practicing Catholic,” which debuts at 9 p.m. Sept. 1 on Relevant Radio 1330 AM and repeats at 1 p.m. Sept. 2 and 2 p.m. Sept. 3.
Produced by Relevant Radio and the Archdiocese of St. Paul and Minneapolis, the latest show also includes an interview with pro-life advocate Kelly Lester, the keynote speaker at the Sept. 7 fall banquet for Elevate Life, who describes her conversion story; and Nate Whipple who, with his wife, owns Karol Coffee, named after St. John Paul II, who describes the couple’s coffee roasting business.
Listen to interviews after they have aired at PracticingCatholicShow.com or choose a streaming platform at anchor.fm/practicing-catholic-show.
