Prayer Breakfast gathers the faithful to encounter God
June 14, 2016
HOUSTON — The Prayer Breakfast is set for Thursday, July 28, at 7:30 a.m. at the Hilton Americas, located at 1600 Lamar St., Houston. Bishop Michael Sis, sixth bishop of the Diocese of San Angelo, is set to be the keynote speaker.
The Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston Prayer Breakfast was created to unite the Greater Houston community annually in expressing trust in and dependence on God through prayer. As a forum to encourage people of all backgrounds in their journey of faith, the Prayer Breakfast reaffirms the desire of each participant to integrate their faith and daily life. This yearly gathering acknowledges the need for all persons to be supported in prayer as they strive to encounter the living God and thereby discover lasting meaning and hope.
Inspired after attending the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast in Washington, D.C., Houston lawyer and Archdiocesan Development Board Member Brock Akers brought the idea to the Archdiocese. That was the beginning of the annual Prayer Breakfast in Houston, created to unite the Greater Houston-Galveston community annually.
The first Prayer Breakfast, held at the River Oaks Country Club with more than 400 attendees, was held in July of 2010. Scott Hahn, a Roman Catholic theologian and author, was the first speaker.
On July 13, 2011 the Archdiocese held the second Prayer Breakfast and, due to the large response from the previous year, moved the event to the Hilton-Americas in Downtown Houston, the hosting location ever since. 
Previous keynote speakers include Father James Martin, S.J., author of "The Jesuit Guide to (Almost) Everything" and culture editor of America Magazine; Archbishop J. Peter Sartain of Seattle, who addressed what it means to practice holiness in our everyday lives at home, work, among family and within the Church; Archbishop José Gomez of Los Angeles, who spoke softly but intensely of the challenges to our faith today and beyond; and Daniel Cardinal DiNardo, who highlighted about the papacies of two popes from the moment of their elections — St. John Paul II and Pope Francis — and their approach to leading the Catholic Church.
This year, the theme for the event is "Jesus Christ the Leader." Bishop Sis plans to discuss the faithful's call to leadership.
"I believe the participants in the Archdiocesan Prayer Breakfast have to meet the challenge of leadership on a regular basis at work, in the family and in the broader community," he said. "There are many who write and speak about leadership, from a variety of perspectives. Not all of those perspectives are Christian. Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Lord of the universe, and He leads us as our Good Shepherd. The way He exercised leadership did not match the style of most worldly leaders. Since He is the model for our lives as Catholic Christians, we will do well to identify the principles of leadership that we can take from His example and apply them to our own situations."
Tickets for the Prayer Breakfast are available online at www.archgh.org/prayerbreakfast.
One can purchase an individual ticket, tables for 10 people each, or sponsor a priest or sister to attend the event. Due to limited seating, there will be no walk-up registration on the day of the event.