ear Christian Women of St. Cloud
Congratulations to St. Cloud Diocesan Council of Catholic Women for hosting an excellent Province Conference on June 24 and 25 at Alexandria. You organized everything well, helping events to move smoothly with excellent speakers. I will try to recall the main themes of the speakers.
Dr. Edward Sri spoke on the challenges of the Rosary, emphasizing that it is a prayer for all Catholics.
Repetition is the language of love. Distractions are normal; so do not quit feeling discouraged.
Reflect on the different mysteries of the life of Jesus as you pray.
Dr. Sri also spoke about “Men, Women, and the Mystery of Love,” a book he wrote reflecting on Pope John Paul II’s Love and Responsibility.
He pointed out some key aspects of the theology of the body. We find ourselves when we give ourselves to others. Or as he quoted Mother Teresa, “Unless a life is lived for others it is not worth living.”
Man and woman are really different and in sharing of each other they come to appreciate each other. In the joining of their bodies, a couple gives their bodies to each other. Because of the sin of Adam and Eve, we are somewhat afraid to entrust our heart to each other as God intended.
He noted that it is difficult to stand up against the current of our culture, which does not treat marriage with respect. The strength of love in marriage is sometimes greatest when a partner stumbles, and the response of caring. Women are more emotional, sentimental, go through more major bodily changes, and need tenderness in marriage – and so do men! He exalted motherhood and said our
culture tends to look down on motherhood. In conclusion, he said that much of what he said is written in his book cited above.
Msgr. Greg Schaffer spoke about his missionary work in Guatemala, where he had worked almost since he was ordained in 1961. He went for a five-year commitment, but fell in love with the people and is still there! He told about a native “Celestino” who said, “I am an animal,” to live in these conditions. Msgr. said it is difficult to have self-esteem in poor living conditions. He felt the task of a missionary is to listen to them, help them to improve their own conditions for a source of self-esteem and pride in themselves, to help them know who they are: humans made in the image of God, making us all brothers and sisters!
In the evening we had a delicious banquet, with enjoyable entertainment led by Irene Schmidt. Peter Noll who is a lobbyist spoke on how lobbyists try to shape and form legislation, and that we are to let lobbyist know our views. Kathy Langer gave an excellent perspective of poverty, where it exists, what we are doing to help people out of poverty. It is a huge, seemingly endless task. The final speaker was Dorie Twist who told about the work of Douglas County Crisis Center.
Fr. Greg Lieser, Moderator, St. Cloud Diocese
