When God told Sonja Corbitt he wanted her to learn how to rest, her first response was emphatic. “I am not tired!” But she said, “I realized I was not at rest. Rest in the Bible is not inactivity, the rest is God himself.”
Corbitt, Stephanie Burke of the Avila Foundation and Bishop Michael F. Burbidge spoke to 475 women who braved a surprise snowstorm March 12 to attend the diocesan women’s conference at St. Joseph Church in Herndon, on the theme “True Presence to Calm the Present.”
“I knew a little snow would not keep the strong and faithful women of the diocese away today,” Bishop Burbidge said before Mass.
“Snow is a sign of grace. It’s going to be a good day,” Burke added.
Corbitt, a Catholic convert from Tennessee who was raised Southern Baptist, spoke about how she learned to listen to God and to find rest in him. Her talk, titled “Just Rest: Receiving God’s Renewing Presence in the Deserts of Your Life,” was based on her latest book of the same name, a study of the Exodus.
Corbitt, who calls herself the “Bible Study Evangelista” on social media, developed a Scripture study method called LOVE the Word, a modern take on the ancient monastic prayer practice of lectio divina.
She spoke about becoming familiar with God’s ways, including “the way of the desert” and “the way of the Word,” and learning to listen to God’s voice through praying with the Scriptures.
“Have you read the daily readings today?” she asked. “There was a word in there for you — did you miss it?”
She noted that many people have things in their past that need healing, and urged attendees to turn to God with their needs. “Ask him and then wait,” she said. “Risk it, just trust him. When you feel lonely and unloved, don’t go to the refrigerator or the wine bottle — go to him. He knows what you need. Follow the patterns of your life and cooperate with him.”
Burke spoke about healing from a troubled youth in which she felt “unlovable and unredeemable.” After a failed first marriage, she turned her life over to God, and signed up for Catholic Match, where she met her husband, Catholic convert and author Dan Burke, the former president of EWTN News and founder of the Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation.
She said she has learned that it is “radical vulnerability the Lord calls us to, and that’s where he will meet us.
“You, my sisters, are called to be healed, because when you are healed, you heal others,” said Burke. “Hurt people hurt others, but healed people heal others.”
Bishop Burbidge said in his homily that “We are called to day-by-day conversion and transformation and the sacred season of Lent helps us in this process. Today, do not merely tell the Lord what you are going to do for him the rest of Lent. Request what you want him to do for you.
“Jesus assures us there will be no unanswered prayer,” he said. “His response may not be exactly what you anticipated or desired, yet, he will give us exactly what we need. So with every prayer request, conclude by saying, ‘Thy will be done.’ ”
He encouraged attendees to “remove anything in your life not of God so you may love him with all your heart and soul, and remember, with his grace, to be reconciled with one another, especially those who have hurt or offended us. If we live this way, we will know the Lord’s peace — and have our best Lent ever.”
Attendees Kathryne Link and her daughter, Margaret Lehmann, parishioners of Our Lady of Angels Church in Woodbridge, said they found the presentations inspiring and appreciated the speakers’ deep personal sharing.
Miriam Polo-Petros and her mother, Loan Nguyen, parishioners of the Basilica of St. Mary in Alexandria, said they appreciated the reminder to seek God’s word in the daily Mass readings.
“We need to do that more,” Nguyen said.
After lunch, Bishop Burbidge conducted a listening session as part of preparations for the October 2023 Synod of Bishops in Rome, dubbed the “Synod on Synodality.” The term refers to an examination of how the church is listening to its many constituents and engaging in dialogue.
