Saturday Keynote | Dr. Jo Ann Paradise

That They May Be One

We live in such a divided world. We live in a divided Church. Often our own families are divided.  And yet we hear the words of Jesus, “I pray… so that they may all be one, as you, Father, are in me and I in you, that they also may be in us.” It seems to be a broken human tendency to blame others for the division. How seriously do we hear the call of Jesus to die to self—to die to the need to blame? We will explore the spiritual journey that seeks to root out the source of our division. This journey demands a purity of heart that lets go of blame, offers and seeks forgiveness and desires reconciliation.  This path to the fullness of life is not just for our own sake but that the world may know and believe that in Christ alone we are one.

Dr. Jo Ann Paradise is the National Consultant for Our Sunday Visitor Publishing and Program Editor for Encounter With Christ, sacrament preparation program. She served as a catechetical leader in the Diocese of Pittsburgh for 32 years, a teacher at the grade school and high school levels in Catholic schools as well as an adjunct faculty member of several universities.  Jo Ann holds a BS in Education from Carlow University, an MA in Theology from Duquesne University, and a D.Min in Spirituality from the Graduate Theological Foundation.

Thank you to Our Sunday Visitor for their sponsorship of Dr. Jo Ann Paradise as a Keynote Speaker at the 2019 Gulf Coast Faith Formation Conference.