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A man prays at the annual Charismatic Renewal Conference at St. Mary’s Cathedral Sept. 21. (Photo by Debra Greenblat/Catholic San Francisco)
Sept. 23, 2019
Nicholas Wolfram Smith
Hundreds of Catholics gathered Sept. 21 at St. Mary’s Cathedral for prayer, community and spiritual guidance at the Archdiocese of San Francisco’s annual Catholic Charismatic Renewal Conference. Now in its 22nd year, the conference took “Never Thirst Again” as its theme and offered sessions in English, Spanish and Vietnamese.
Richie Almendrala, who helped organize the conference, said participants “all share the same belief of being renewed by the Holy Spirit, and it’s a way every year to celebrate the Holy Spirit.”
John Murphy, another conference organizer, said the turnout had been excellent: About 500 people attended, drawn from across the Bay Area as well as places like Stockton and Sacramento.
This year’s theme, Murphy said, explored how “once we’ve found Jesus and have opened up to him, our spiritual lives are fulfilled and we really don’t need to be looking for anything else.”
Beginning their day with a rosary in the morning, conference participants had the opportunity to attend talks, workshops, praise and worship music and prayer sessions. Later in the day, people could go to a healing service and a Holy Hour. The closing Mass at 7 p.m. was celebrated by Father Ray Reyes, pastor of St. Augustine’s in South San Francisco and archdiocesan vicar for clergy.
The conference’s keynote speakers were Father Jose Maniyangat from Jacksonville, Fla., Father Joseph Freedy from Pittsburgh, Penn., Father Jorge Arias, parochial vicar at St. Timothy and St. Matthew parishes in San Mateo; and Horacio Trujillo from Tijuana, Mexico.