WAVERLY (SNR) – Johnnette and Jack Williams from EWTN will lead a marriage retreat March 11-12 at Our Lady of Good Counsel Retreat House in Waverly.
The 24-hour retreat day, called “No Greater Love,” will include presentations, activities, discussion, and prayer.
Johnnette Benkovic Williams, founder of Women of Grace, and her husband Jack Williams, general manager of EWTN Radio, invite couples to enrich their marriages and fortify the sacrament at a joyful and faith-filled couples’ retreat. It is meant for married couples to attend together, and engaged couples are also welcome.
The 24-hour retreat begins Friday with Mass at 6:30 p.m., followed by a wine and cheese reception at 7 p.m., and an 8 p.m. talk. It concludes Saturday with a 4 p.m. Vigil Mass and 5 p.m. formal supper. Couples are invited to stay overnight at the retreat house, or commute from home. If participants cannot attend in person, they may register to watch online and have lifetime access to the recordings.
Benkovic Williams is the founder and president of Women of Grace, a Catholic apostolate for women featuring a number of outreaches including conferences, media, study groups and more. She is the author of several books, including recent releases: “Graceful Living: Meditations to Help You Grow Closer to God Day by Day” and “The Rosary: Your Weapon for Spiritual Warfare.” She was married to her first husband Anthony, for nearly 34 years and was widowed in 2007. She was married in 2018 to Jack Williams. She is the mother of three adult children, two of whom living, and two adult children through marriage, and she has 10 grandchildren.
Williams is the general manager of EWTN Radio. After a radical conversion in 1981, he traveled college campuses in the United States and Australia as part of a charismatic, evangelical campus outreach. He spent a decade providing sports talk radio programming and live high school sports coverage in Des Moines.
After entering the Catholic Church in 2002, Williams began an hour-long Catholic program every weekday on a local evangelical radio station. He was later a member of the team that transformed that station into a Catholic radio station. Williams joined EWTN in 2014. In addition to his responsibilities as general manager, he can be heard Monday through Friday at 2 p.m. CT on EWTN “Open Line.”
Upcoming retreats at Our Lady of Good Counsel Retreat House in Waverly will be March 2, an Ash Wednesday Recollection for Men and Women; March 13 and March 24 4-Day or 8-Day Ignatian Retreats and March 25-27, “The Holy Spirit in Daily Life” with Father Brian Connor.
