Powerful, witty, charismatic and joyful are words that can describe Colleen Eicher, and her over forty year ministry, known as Catholic Laity Speaks.
It began in 1972, when Colleen and Harry Eicher, and their young family returned from duty with the United States "Peace Corps" After the death of her mother, Colleen experienced a metanoia and a dark night of the soul. Reaching out through the trials of this time, she began a relationship with our Lord Jesus Christ that she believes is meant for each one of us. Over the next year she received a profound understanding of Sacred Scripture. With the combination of the God-given understanding and the joy of her relationship with her Lord, Colleen accepted the call to share the Word of God. Scripture.
From 1973 until her passing into eternal life in 2014, Colleen shared in both Catholic and Protestant parishes about the joy and victory of life in Christ. She shared with great power and depth. Her lessons are honest and described as being “right down the middle of the Catholic Church.”
Since 1979, Catholic Laity Speaks has been based out of Tucson, Arizona where the Eicher family made thier home. Initially, she was involved with the parish of St. Ambrose and was under the spritual guidance of Fr. Gilbert Padilla and Fr. Charles Santoro, O.P.. Prior to this time she had been very active in the Diocese of Orlando, Florida; including being the head of evangelization ministry for the Church of the Nativity in Lake Mary, Florida.
The Colleen Eicher Ministry has been growing expanding fueled by the fire of the Holy Spirit. In May of 1983 both Colleen and Harry Eicher were professed as Third Order of the Carmelites (St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish, Tucson). By 1984, the ministry had been extended to the Phoenix area. In 1990, the holy spirit led her to radio ministry in the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic states. Colleen Eicher also held scripture studies in Arizona, California, and Texas.
My initial contact with Colleen occurred well before I entered the Franciscan Order. At the age of eighteen, I could hardly have appreciated what a tremendously formative impact her ministry would have had upon me for the rest of my life. Now, however, from the perspective of many years of studying Catholic doctrine and ministering in Catholic settings, I find that her fundamental approach to Scripture and Faith still shapes my understanding of what it means to stand before God, “free to worship Him without fear, holy and rightesous in His sight” (Lk 1:74ff). Moreover, I would add that the more one studies the Fathers of the Church and doctrine of the saints, the more clearly they will see how even Colleen’s most original teachings nonetheless express the orthodox faith of the ages, the traditional Catholic understanding of the sacraments and a challenging, practical exegesis of Sacred Scripture.
No one has been more important to me in the development of my spirituality and vocation than Colleen. She first assisted me in identifying God’s call to the priesthood and the religious life and has supported me in unceasing prayer and with reliable instruction ever since. Is it ironic that a Carmelite laywoman should have been the primary spiritual formator of a Franciscan priest? No, it just shows that God has a great sense of humor”
+ Pax et Bonum,
Rev. Fr. Francisco Nahoe, OFM Conv.
Holy Family Friary
Castro Valley, CA