In her numerous books and other writings and at conferences around the United States, Notre Dame Sister Melannie Svoboda makes it her mission to help the faithful find God in seemingly ordinary things.

On Nov. 8, at the Upper Room Spiritual Center’s 19th annual Spirituality Conference, Sister Melannie shared the sensibility she nurtures that contact with God can be as close at hand as helping the homeless family around the corner or reaching out to the unemployed person behind us in the supermarket line.

Speaking to some 200 faithful from around the Diocese at the event in Lakewood’s Georgian Court University, Sister Melannie unfolded her theme – “Everyday Epiphanies! Finding God in the Ordinary and Near at Hand” – in two general sessions and a smaller workshop.

During the morning general session, she presented a talk on the concept of “Biblical Wonder” and the important role the sense of wonder felt by human beings has played down through the ages. In her workshop, she offered insight on how to keep peaceful even during stress-filled times.

Sister Melannie  has served as a high school and college teacher, novice director and provincial (president) of her congregation, and also ministered in the Jesuit novitiate in Detroit for six years.

A freelance writer whose articles have appeared in many publications, including America, Catholic Digest, Living Faith and Country Woman, Sister Melannie spoke on “Biblical Hospitality: Welcoming the Mystery of Life.”

In a compelling presentation, she explored the meaning of hospitality through the framework of the Bible and how it allows us to open a pathway to the mystery of God as it comes to us through other people and events in her everyday life.

In a brief telephone interview following the conference, Sister Melannie, author of 12 books including Traits of a healthy spirituality, A Christian Perspective on Pain and Suffering;  Gracious Goodness and Gospels on the Go, spoke about how often the Scriptures focus on the importance of hospitality to the most defenseless among us.

“When we read the Scriptures, we see the emphasis on (helping) the widow, the stranger, the orphan – the most defenseless among us,” whom we meet today, she said in the poor, the unemployed and the infant at risk of abortion.

These contemporary examples, she said, raise questions which “encourage us to look back to the Bible for perspective.”

She noted that with Advent approaching it is appropriate to turn to the Scripture once again to see the hospitality offered to the Holy Family as they journey to Bethlehem, find rest only in a stable and then flee to Egypt.

The Scriptures, she said, show us how we carry our history and our approach to hospitality with us even today.

Father William Bausch, a retired priest of the Trenton Diocese, himself a noted author and presenter, also spoke during a workshop, offering his insights on Pope Francis.

The afternoon session also included a concert by the singing group One Voice under the direction of Jack Hudak, music director of St. Justin Parish, Toms River.

Capuchin Father Michael Crosby was announced as the featured speaker for the 20th annual Spirituality Conference Nov. 14, 2015 at Georgian Court University. For more information about the Upper Room, visit www.theupper-room.org or call 732-922-0550.