St. John Neumann Parish
5455 Bee Cave Road
Austin, Texas 78746
Join us for a fun and interactive weekend of diving into key themes from John Paul II’s book Love and Responsibility and its practical application to dating, marriage and building health relationships! As with other NCSC weekends, there will be various pre/post events to visit with fellow attendees and see Austin and the surrounding area!
Come explore questions such as:
This event is co-hosted by NCSC and CatholicATX.
Kerry Cronin, PhD is the Associate Director of the Lonergan Institute at Boston College and the Faculty Fellow in BC’s Center for Student Formation. For over 20 years, she has taught in the Boston College interdisciplinary Perspectives Program, a Philosophy and Theology program in the “Great Books” tradition. Additionally, she works extensively with undergraduates in retreat programs at BC and is a regular speaker on college campuses, addressing topics of student culture and formation.
Since April 2004, when she led a panel discussion on campus titled “Take Back the Date,” Cronin has been speaking to packed student audiences on such topics as “The Imperfect Art of Dating,” “Dating 101,” and “Sex and the Single Student.” She has also taken her message off campus, delivering talks at over 70 colleges and universities. The title of this 2011 talk summarizes her direct approach: “10 Reasons Why You’re Not Dating and What to Do About It.”
Most recently she was featured on the 2018 documentary The Dating Project. Her message is relevant not only to college students but to singles of all ages who find themselves wondering how to navigate the current dating crisis in today’s culture. She will be joining us for a frank discussion on current cultural trends and how we can help restore relationships in a technologically-driven society.
David H. Delaney, PhD is Director and Senior Fellow at Mother of the Americas Institute in San Antonio, Texas, a think tank for the new evangelization. He received his doctorate in systematic theology at The Catholic University of America where he focused on St. John Paul II’s theological anthropology, especially his theology of men and fatherhood. He is also Professor of Systematic Theology forming seminarians, deacon candidates and laity in the Archdiocese of San Antonio. Dr. Delaney developed the curriculum for a Master’s degree program in marriage and family life at the Mexican American Catholic College, in San Antonio, Texas. He has also developed a new marriage formation program, entitled The Great Mystery, for which he has published a book and accompanying couple’s guide. The Great Mystery is aimed especially at helping dating couples to discern whether they are being called to marry one another.
Dr. David Delaney’s dissertation topic was on masculinity and fatherhood in the thought of Karol Wojtyła/John Paul II. He’ll be presenting an overview of the background of Love and Responsibility, as well as an overview of the various chapters, after which he’ll focus on some key points from chapter one and discuss love vs. use, joy vs. pleasure, and ends vs. means.
Anastasia Northrop has been studying and promoting St. John Paul II’s work on love and marriage for eighteen years. Founder and Director of the National Catholic Singles Conference, she has been particularly involved in applying John Paul II’s message to the single life, relationships, and vocation formation since 2004.
Along with organizing various other events, writing articles, and networking internationally with those disseminating John Paul II’s work, she has given talks and promoted study groups in the United States and several countries in Europe and South America. Having studied at the International Theological Institute in Austria, she completed her Masters in Catholic Applied Theology with an emphasis on Marriage and Family through Maryvale Institute in Birmingham, England in 2015. She is the author of the study guide for the text of the Theology of the Body entitled The Freedom of the Gift, and a contributing author to Freedom: 12 Lives Transformed by Theology of the Body (Ascension Press, 2009).
Her focus for this weekend will be the second chapter of Love and Responsibility on “The Person and Love,” in which she’ll explain the various aspects of love and how they relate. She will also be integrating aspects from the Theology of the Body and The Jeweler’s Shop (a play by Karol Wojtyla about three couples and their relationships), as well as touching on the topics of freedom and vocation.
We are excited that Kay will be coming all the way from Canada to be with us and enrich our retreat weekend with her musical gift! Check out her website and Facebook page to hear some of her music and encounter her mission. She’s all about uplifting culture through beauty and art!
See Social Events page for more opportunities to socialize on Thursday evening and Sunday!
Early-Bird Registration (by October 12th) – Individual: $95 / Married Couple: $175
Regular Registration (after October 12th) – Individual: $125 / Married Couple: $225.
Registration includes dinner on Friday, morning coffee with light refreshments and a catered lunch on Saturday, plus access to all of the sessions and exhibitors. (Those registered for the weekend may also register for Social Events scheduled before and after the conference.)
If you have any trouble with registration or would like to register by phone, please call 512-766-5798. (If you have real financial need and cannot afford the whole registration, please email us about possible partial scholarship funds.)
Cancellation Policy:
Refund requests must be made in writing and sent by email to Mirjana Northrop at natcatsingles@gmail.com. A 50% refund is available through October 12th, after which date no refunds are available.