Basi, Wills to headline 2025 Women’s Ministry winter events at four parishes in the diocese
Will focus on each woman’s unique calling within her vocation
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Kathleen Basi and Katie Wills are Catholic composers, musicians and evangelizers who understand music’s power to be a gateway to the soul.
“Music reaches deep into people and expresses faith and emotion in ways beyond words,” said Mrs. Basi, a member of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish in Columbia.
“Things you can’t say out loud, things you might be uncomfortable expressing in words, you can sing about,” she said.
Mrs. Basi and Mrs. Wills be the presenters for four “Ministry on the Move” events for women in the Jefferson City diocese from Jan. 31-Feb. 3, 2025
The theme for these times for reflection, music, prayer, and faith-sharing will be: “Women of God: Uniquely Gifted, Uniquely Called.”
The events will be held:
- Friday, Jan. 31 at 5:45 p.m., in Immaculate Conception Church, Loose Creek;
- Saturday, Feb. 1 at 9 a.m., in Holy Family Church, Hannibal;
- Sunday, Feb. 2 at 1:30 p.m., in Our Lady of Lourdes Church, Columbia; and
- Monday, Feb. 3 at 5:30 p.m., in St. Patrick Church, Rolla.
All women are invited to any of these events, which are hosted by the individual parishes, with speakers provided by the diocesan Women’s Ministry Office.
Admission is free.
Mrs. Basi and Mrs. Wills will also give a concert of liturgical music at 7 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 1, in the St. Thomas More Newman Center in Columbia.
Most of the music will be by Catholic women.
“Some of it is ours, some of it is what we hope everyone will know and sing along with,” said Mrs. Basi.
Both presenters urge women to make the effort to attend one of the events.
“You’re going to love meeting Katie,” said Mrs. Basi. “She’s the real deal! Every time she opens her mouth, she does it again. She is always genuinely praying and putting things in God’s hands.”
“Kate is the real deal!” Mrs. Wills responded. “She really makes the effort in everything she does to live out her faith. That’s such an inspiration.”
‘Vocation’ and ‘vocation’
Mrs. Wills, who lives in New Jersey, and Mrs. Basi, are both wives, mothers, liturgical composers and ardent purveyors of the Catholic faith.
Between them, they have over two dozen published songs, 50 years of service in music ministry, and eight children.
Both are active members of the National Association of Pastoral Musicians (NPM) and the Liturgical Composers Forum.
They were participating in an event in St. Louis together when God prompted them to speak to each other about the work they do in the Church.
They found that they have much in common and have arrived at similar places in life by quite different paths.
Both believe in inviting all women to honor God’s call in whatever form it manifests.
“Generally, when we in the Church are talking about vocation, we tend to focus on Priesthood, Religious Life, Consecrated Single Life, or Marriage,” said Mrs. Basi.
“But every human being is called by Baptism to the vocation of Christian Life, which is priest, prophet and king,” she said.
“And each of us is called to a ‘little v’ vocation, a unique call that circles back and uplifts and develops and holds up that universal call,” she said.
Both presenters will share how they came to discover their own “call within a call.”
“We’ll talk about ‘what does it mean to be called, and how can we hear God’s calling?’” said Mrs. Wills. “And we’ll talk about some of the challenges that we faced, how God walks with us and how he equips us for that calling he places in our lives.”
Participants at each event will also get to share their own stories and their own faith in small groups.
“Building that quietness, building that time for God — he’s calling you make time for that,” said Mrs. Wills.
She and Mrs. Basi led a retreat this past fall for Mrs. Wills’s home parish in Scotch Plains, New Jersey.
“People were so grateful for the stories that we shared,” said Mrs. Wills. “Just our life experience, that we were able to be open and be vulnerable and honest.
“It allowed a space where God was able to reach them in their lives — to let them know they were not alone in whatever they are going through, and allow them to be vulnerable and facilitate a lot of good conversations,” she said.
“Not that our whole retreat was about that!” Mrs. Wills continued. “But it did give them an avenue for God to reach them where they are and for them to realize that they’re not alone in what they’re walking through.”
“Come aside and rest”
Both presenters emphasized the necessity of setting aside time to recharge and grow in relationship with God.
“Giving yourself that gift can do so much to smooth out the path of a busy life,” said Mrs. Basi.
“There is nothing greater,” said Mrs. Wills. “That time we spend with God, the time we spend in prayer, is the foundation for everything we do in our lives.”
Furthermore, women of faith need to spend time with other likeminded women, even when they’re busy.
“We are not meant to walk the faith journey alone,” said Mrs. Basi. “We need community. We need people we can get together with when things are hard.
“And faith has to be at the center of that,” she stated. “It’s not about drinking wine and complaining. It’s ‘How do we address this through the lens of faith? How do we live this as disciples of God?”
Both suggested that anyone who attends should pray for openness to whatever God wants them to receive.
“A simple, heartfelt prayer can suffice,” said Mrs. Wills. “‘Lord, what do you have for me? What do you want me to get out of this?’”
She noted that when Jesus sent the 72 disciples out to preach in towns and villages ahead of him, he sent them two-by-two.
“Women discipling one another — it’s a very scriptural thing,” she said. “We live our faith lives and often minister within the context of faith communities.”
Mrs. Basi’s testimony will include having lived through difficult things and recognizing after the fact what was accomplished through those difficulties.
“The moving into the light beyond the darkness is such an important thing for us to see and anticipate,” she said.
Full details and registration for the Women’s Ministry Winter Events can be found at: diojeffcity.org/womens-ministry-upcoming-events.
