DETROIT – “We hope for better things; it will rise from the ashes.”
The famed city motto of Detroit, coined by Fr. Gabriel Richard following the Great Fire of 1805, could not be more fitting for the Rising from the Ashes Revival, which was held at Huntington Place in Detroit on July 22.
And while the 5,200 people who attended the conference could clearly see the “Rising” signage above the main stage, Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger of Detroit summed up the conference's real message:
“Hope.”
“My number one thing I hope people take away from today is hope,” Archbishop Weisenburger told Detroit Catholic. “Because I find that that sense of a loss of hope today — we see it in the political world, we see it in the world of the economy, we see it in the world of values — there seems to be something of a loss of hope. And yet for those who embrace the Gospel of Jesus Christ, there's very, very good reason for us to be truly a people of hope, and that changes our perspective on everything.”
Throughout the day, the thousands of attendees will hear from renowned Catholic speakers such as Bishop Daniel E. Flores of Brownsville, Texas (and a former auxiliary bishop of the Archdiocese of Detroit); Fr. John Riccardo, founder of ACTS XXIX and a priest of the Archdiocese of Detroit; Sr. Mary Grace, SV, of the Bronx, N.Y.-based Sisters of Life; and Jeff Cavins, creator and founder of the popular Great Adventure Bible Study.
Nationally known musicians, such as Matt Maher, Sarah Kroger, Steve Angrisano and Sarah Hart, are set to perform, along with local artist Santiago Fernandez, at a concert at the end of the revival, wrapping a day of spiritual revival, praise and worship.
The daylong conference on the banks of the Detroit River comes amid archdiocesan restructuring, renewed interest in the faith in the wake of the National Eucharistic Revival, and the city's 325th anniversary, when French explorers and missionaries first celebrated Mass, not too far from where the revival took place.
This story will be updated.
