The Catholic Light newspaper/Diocese of ScrantonSCRANTON – A sold-out, energized crowd of 400 women filled Nazareth Hall on the campus of Marywood University June 10 for the 2023 “Refresh Your Faith” Catholic Women’s Conference.
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Today is National Star Wars Day and many of the film’s fans will be offering the movie’s famous greeting, “May the force be with you,” or its pun for the day, “May the fourth be with you.” Judging by world conditions and the strife that abounds both at home and abroad, we could use some force and power to bring relief, order, and justice to our beleaguered globe.
I’m reminded of my favorite passage in Sacred Scripture. If you’ve been to one of our Women of Grace events, then you’ve heard me proclaim it. The passage is Ephesians 1:3-4: “Praise be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has bestowed on us in Christ every spiritual blessing in the heavens. God chose us in Him before the world began to be holy and blameless in His sight, to be full of love.”
(All photos courtesy of The Catholic Witness)By Jen Reed
Promoting the dignity of women and their fundamental call to transform the world as daughters of God, the Women of Grace apostolate welcomed Hispanic women for a Morning of Grace on Saturday, April 1 at the Diocesan Center in Harrisburg.
The life of St. Catherine of Genoa confirms that spiritual renewal, virtue, holy reflection, and spiritual direction lead to wisdom and discernment. Born into an illustrious Italian family that was connected to two popes, Catherine was known as a quiet and pious child, being both prayerful and obedient. She expressed an interest in the convent at the age of thirteen but she was turned away because she was too young.
August 27th
Saint Monica of Hippo
331 - 387
Most of us are familiar with Saint Monica, the mother of the great Saint Augustine. As the story goes, Monica had a wayward child in her son Augustine. He was a great success, but he wasn't living a moral life and he wasn't growling in holiness. In fact, his behavior was leading him away from holiness and away from God altogether. Back at home, his mother, Monica, prayed fervently for the conversion of her son, Augustine. Not only was St. Monica's prayer time consumed with the conversion of her son, but also with the conversion of her husband, who was known to be adulterous and abusive to Monica. St. Monica persisted in prayer. God would reward this beautiful Saint for her endless petitions with the answer to prayer she had sought for so long!
