Tuesday, May 22, 2012 Closing Celebration of the Eucharist

On Tuesday, May 22, 2012 the NACC National Conference closed with our final Celebration of the Eucharist.  Our celebrant was NACC Board Member and Episcopal Liaison Archbishop Paul Coakley, STL, DD, Archbishop of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.  At this Liturgy, we moved quite literally from a time of mourning to a time of dancing.  After Archbishop Coakley's homily, the names of the members of the NACC who had passed away in the last year and were honored with a candle and flower.  It was very moving for our attendees and symbolized how fragile our lives are.  We concluded our celebration with the song "I Danced in the Morning" by Sydney Carter and said goodbye to our friends and colleagues.  Deacon Thomas Berna, BCC is pictured with Archbishop Coakley.  The candles and flowers honoring our deceased friends are also pictured in this photo.

Conference Table Discussion

Plenary Speakers Share A Moment Together

Speakers John Dear, SJ and C. Vanessa White, D.Min. at the Tuesday morning Plenary session at the NACC 2012 Conference

Tuesday May 22, 2012 Plenary Speaker John Dear, SJ

Tuesday, May 22, 2012 saw the last day of our NACC National Conference.  We were blessed to have John Dear, SJ as our plenary speaker in the morning on the topic of "Blessed are the Peacemakers".  He shared his own journey with us and it was both a moving and stimulating presentation.  His challenges to the attendees brought much discussion at the tables.  We are grateful for his presence.

Bishop Blase Cupich, Monday May 21 Plenary Speaker

Most Rev. Blase J. Cupich, STD, Bishop of Spokane, Washington, joined us on Monday on the topic of "A Reconciling Church:  Recapturing Our Mission and Our Future".  After a very thought-provoking talk, members of the NACC engaged in table conversation around this topic and around the following questions:  "What gifts and skills do we, as chaplains, bring to the table that can help to reclaim the focus of our Catholic mission for those who follow?" and "Within the Catholic Church, how can chaplains model reconciliation as prophetic and visionary?"  Even if you were not at the conference, please spend some of your own time reflecting on those questions.  You can see from the pictures below, that these were very engaging questions for our attendees as well.