Prolific Catholic author, speaker to present on ‘Living Joy’ at 2026 Women’s Ministry fall events
Meg Hunter-Kilmer is relieved not to have to follow anybody else’s model of what it means to be a Catholic woman.
“Each of us gets to be who God made us to be,” said Ms. Hunter-Kilmer, keynote presenter for the diocese’s fourth annual Ladies Night Out on Friday, Nov. 20, and Fall Retreat on Saturday, Nov. 21, 2026, in the Cathedral of St. Joseph, 2305 W. Main St. in Jefferson City.
Both events will include inspiring talks, prayer, fellowship, food, and fun.
The theme will be “Living Joy: A Life Rooted in Christ.”
“Whoever you are and wherever you are, you can bring your whole self to God,” said Ms. Hunter-Kilmer. “No matter who you are, there is a space for you in the Church, just like in the heart of God.”
The Ladies Night Out, including dinner, will be from 6:30 to 9 p.m. on Nov. 20 in Cana Hall at the Cathedral.
The doors will open at 6 p.m.
The $25-per-person cost includes dinner.
A variety of women in the diocese will offer a concert of praise and worship music.
The Fall Retreat will be from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Nov. 21 in the Cathedral.
The doors will open at 9:30 a.m.
The $15-per-person fee includes lunch.
Ms. Hunter-Kilmer is an author, speaker, and University of Notre Dame campus minister, who travels the world telling people about the fierce and tender love of God.
She has written seven books about Scripture and the Saints, which combined have sold over 85,000 copies.
She has given keynote presentations at the National Catholic Youth Conference, the National Eucharistic Congress, and the Columbus Catholic Women’s Conference, among many others.
“We’re going to be talking about the wild, fierce and tender love of God,” she stated.
“We’ll be rooting ourselves again and again in the God who loves us as we are, the God who may be calling us out of some situation or pattern in our lives, but who continues to love us through all of that,” she said.
Source of identity
Ms. Hunter-Kilmer said she understands that this is a busy time of year, and it’s hard for most women to get away for a day.
“Do it anyway,” she advised.
She pointed to St. Bernard of Clairvaux’s dictum that “we need to be not channels of God’s grace but RESERVOIRS of God’s grace.”
“The only way we can continue pouring out the way we are is by being filled up,” she stated. “You need to take some time to sit back and find your identity in God, so you’re not looking for that identity in what you do and achieve and accomplish.
“Even the service you are providing is not your identity,” she said. “You need to understand that you are good because of who you are and not what you’re doing.”
She advised those who attend either or both events to bring their Bible, “because we’re going to be cracking it open and really looking at who Jesus is.”
Knowing Jesus and knowing oneself changes everything.
“There’s a deep anxiety and desperation that comes with living a life where your value is based on external things, what people think of you, your job, your status, the value of your house or 401(k) or whatever,” she said.
“But if you’re able to root yourself instead in who God is, then if you ever become disabled or suffer a tragic loss or lose your job or go through a divorce — all these things that are so destabilizing — you find yourself standing on the Rock who says you are good as you are,” she said.
“That helps you survive when everything else is out of control, being held by the one who hung the stars in the heavens.”
Spirit of surrender
Ms. Hunter-Kilmer hopes everyone who attends either or both events will spend some time ahead of time “asking the Holy Spirit to speak to your heart in a particular way that you need him to speak to you now.”
She noted that God’s invitation to be in a new relationship of peace and joy with him, “based on us trusting and making ourselves vulnerable to him,” can be scary.
“You have to let go of some of the things that may really matter to you,” she noted. “So, pray for a spirit of surrender and for God to be sovereign on the day of this conference.”
Ms. Hunter-Kilmer emphasized the importance for Christian women to spend time surrounded by other women who are seeking to live in alignment with God’s will.
“I think it’s also important to get out and see the some of the diversity of the Church,” she said. “Different ages, different personalities, different ways of dressing, different liturgical preferences.
“This helps us understand that there’s a place for us all, and we all belong,” she said.
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