Memories of the 2018 Convention
Two of the Speakers were
Most Reverand Frank Caggiano
NCCW 2018 Keynote speaker
Thank you for the wonderful opportunity to attend the National Council of Catholic Women Convention in Pittsburgh. The theme was ‘Reflecting God’s Joy: Missionary Disciples- Mission Possible’. Our keynote speaker was the Most Reverend Frank Caggiano, Bishop of Bridgeport. CT. The timing of our convention seemed difficult as recent news of church scandals there in Pennsylvania. Bishop Caggiano addressed and tied it to our theme of mission possible.
He began his keynote speech by saying “How can we be God’s messenger to make the mission possible? This can be done one person at a time, one day at a time.” The title ‘father’ means to protect life, to defend in in our family. For priests to be ‘father’ means to counsel, to be good shepherd, not a wolf among the sheep. His quote of Bishop Fulton Sheen: “To be joyful messenger of God’s message is to not be silent.” Leaders must be held accountable.
Now can we move forward, move past the hurt, reach deep, and find hope in our hearts? St. Paul used the word ‘hope’ numerous times in the Bible. St. Paul said that if others let us down, we believe, whatever it takes, no matter the cost, that we have hope and follow Jesus. We need to unlock the power of hope. This is the first step.
Our response may be split into anger and courage: Anger moves us forth and moves us to change. Courage moves us to change into what we are meant to be in Jesus Christ. The prayer to St. Michael asks for our protection from evil in the world. Bishop Caggiano then told us a story about a classmate in seminary who had failing health. The student was ordained in the hospital before he died of cancer. He had hope.
Where do we find hope? It is the triumph over sin and death. Early Christians were persecuted for following Jesus. He was their hope. Bishop Caggiano joked that he gets up every morning and prays that the mirror will lie to him, but it doesn’t! The mirror to our soul is Jesus who knows the hardness of our hearts and yet forgives us and helps us forgive others. This is the second step: forgiveness. Forgiveness is to not condemn the wrong done. Healing occurs with young people who forgive themselves. They have to believe there are loveable and worth of love.
Bishop Caggiano said he was named after the great St. Francis of Assisi who heard the voice telling him to ‘rebuild my church’. He said that his mother told him to also, help rebuild the church.
The third step in the process is joy. Joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness depends on physical actions to satisfy our needs. This could be eating Mom’s food or taking a nap. Jesus promised us joy in heaven. To seek joy, the eternal joy, is our assurance that all will work out with God in heaven. We are to build communities of hope, of true joy, and follow God with our witness of faith.
Cheryl Weller
GINA LOEHR:
BLESSED IS SHE WHO BELIEVED: EMBRACING THE IMPOSSIBLE MISSION.
Say yes, we are here because we said Yes to God.
Gina Loehr is a popular author of books like: The Church is our Mother: 7ways She inspires us to Love, Choosing Beauty: A 30 days Spiritual Make Over for Women; Real Saints: Friends for your Spiritual Journey, along with being an inspirational speaker and a mother of 6.
When Angel Gabriel asked Mary to be the Mother of Jesus-MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, Mary thought that impossible because she said,” I have not known man.” But by faith she said yes.
Mary was given impossible mission to bear and raise God’s son. But she said yes because God ask her. Mission impossible.
God has given us all an impossible mission to carry out, but God asks of us; “who are you going to serve.” As in Gospel John, 6:60-69. Many of Jesus’ followers left him and went back to their former way of life, they could not accept Jesus as the Living Bread of Life. So, Jesus asked the twelve apostles “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answers Him” Master to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal Life.” They said yes to Jesus.
The mission of women is to reflect God image to the world. To be a female is a gift. after all God entrusted the human race to a women (Mary). We are to nurture all life. Our mission is to listen, to hear our mission, accept it, pray about it and ask Mary for help. So, we need to recognize our mission, believe in it and respond with a YES to the calling.
Linda Scepurek
Most Reverand Frank Caggiano
NCCW 2018 Keynote speaker
Thank you for the wonderful opportunity to attend the National Council of Catholic Women Convention in Pittsburgh. The theme was ‘Reflecting God’s Joy: Missionary Disciples- Mission Possible’. Our keynote speaker was the Most Reverend Frank Caggiano, Bishop of Bridgeport. CT. The timing of our convention seemed difficult as recent news of church scandals there in Pennsylvania. Bishop Caggiano addressed and tied it to our theme of mission possible.
He began his keynote speech by saying “How can we be God’s messenger to make the mission possible? This can be done one person at a time, one day at a time.” The title ‘father’ means to protect life, to defend in in our family. For priests to be ‘father’ means to counsel, to be good shepherd, not a wolf among the sheep. His quote of Bishop Fulton Sheen: “To be joyful messenger of God’s message is to not be silent.” Leaders must be held accountable.
Now can we move forward, move past the hurt, reach deep, and find hope in our hearts? St. Paul used the word ‘hope’ numerous times in the Bible. St. Paul said that if others let us down, we believe, whatever it takes, no matter the cost, that we have hope and follow Jesus. We need to unlock the power of hope. This is the first step.
Our response may be split into anger and courage: Anger moves us forth and moves us to change. Courage moves us to change into what we are meant to be in Jesus Christ. The prayer to St. Michael asks for our protection from evil in the world. Bishop Caggiano then told us a story about a classmate in seminary who had failing health. The student was ordained in the hospital before he died of cancer. He had hope.
Where do we find hope? It is the triumph over sin and death. Early Christians were persecuted for following Jesus. He was their hope. Bishop Caggiano joked that he gets up every morning and prays that the mirror will lie to him, but it doesn’t! The mirror to our soul is Jesus who knows the hardness of our hearts and yet forgives us and helps us forgive others. This is the second step: forgiveness. Forgiveness is to not condemn the wrong done. Healing occurs with young people who forgive themselves. They have to believe there are loveable and worth of love.
Bishop Caggiano said he was named after the great St. Francis of Assisi who heard the voice telling him to ‘rebuild my church’. He said that his mother told him to also, help rebuild the church.
The third step in the process is joy. Joy is not the same as happiness. Happiness depends on physical actions to satisfy our needs. This could be eating Mom’s food or taking a nap. Jesus promised us joy in heaven. To seek joy, the eternal joy, is our assurance that all will work out with God in heaven. We are to build communities of hope, of true joy, and follow God with our witness of faith.
Cheryl Weller
GINA LOEHR:
BLESSED IS SHE WHO BELIEVED: EMBRACING THE IMPOSSIBLE MISSION.
Say yes, we are here because we said Yes to God.
Gina Loehr is a popular author of books like: The Church is our Mother: 7ways She inspires us to Love, Choosing Beauty: A 30 days Spiritual Make Over for Women; Real Saints: Friends for your Spiritual Journey, along with being an inspirational speaker and a mother of 6.
When Angel Gabriel asked Mary to be the Mother of Jesus-MISSION IMPOSSIBLE, Mary thought that impossible because she said,” I have not known man.” But by faith she said yes.
Mary was given impossible mission to bear and raise God’s son. But she said yes because God ask her. Mission impossible.
God has given us all an impossible mission to carry out, but God asks of us; “who are you going to serve.” As in Gospel John, 6:60-69. Many of Jesus’ followers left him and went back to their former way of life, they could not accept Jesus as the Living Bread of Life. So, Jesus asked the twelve apostles “Do you also want to leave?” Simon Peter answers Him” Master to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal Life.” They said yes to Jesus.
The mission of women is to reflect God image to the world. To be a female is a gift. after all God entrusted the human race to a women (Mary). We are to nurture all life. Our mission is to listen, to hear our mission, accept it, pray about it and ask Mary for help. So, we need to recognize our mission, believe in it and respond with a YES to the calling.
Linda Scepurek
| 2018 NCCW Convention 2018.pdf |
