During his recent speech to Congress, Pope Francis highlighted Dorothy Day, saying, "In these times when social concerns are so important, I cannot fail to mention the Servant of God Dorothy Day, who founded the Catholic Worker Movement,” He continued, “Her social activism, her passion for justice and for the cause of the oppressed, were inspired by the Gospel, her faith, and the example of the saints.”
It was a tremendous blessing for me to have the opportunity to meet Dr. Gianna Emmanuela Molla, the daughter of St Gianna Beretta Molla at this week's World Meeting of Families. She was there representing the St. Gianna Physician’s Guild, whose mission is to unite and encourage Catholic physicians, and those in the health care profession, to promote and defend Catholic principles in a public way by word and example, and to inspire sanctification in their lives. Her inner beauty and humility radiates through her as she carries on the legacy of her mother, who was herself a Catholic physician.
It's been a blessing and honor to be here at the World Meeting of Families, guest hosting the event with EWTN Bookmark's Host, Doug Keck. I wanted to share a few pictures and highlights with our Women of Grace family and friends so that you could get a sense of all that is happening here. Please keep us in your prayers as we continue to pray for you.
I will add updates to this page as I am able. God bless you!
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Join Johnnette Benkovic, Women of Grace and the EWTN Family at the World Meeting of Families!
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September 15 also happens to be my birthday. And for a long time, as long as I was old enough to realize who I shared the day with, I felt a little – cheated. I mean, it’s a bit of a downer to liturgically “celebrate” all the bitterness in Mary’s life on a day for celebrating your own. Not that I ever thought it should be all about me, but as a child, it just didn’t seem quite fair. To enter the world as Mary grieved at the Cross.
Last fall I picked up a book in our parish bookstore – and couldn’t put it down. Alice von Hildebrand’s Memoirs of a Happy Failure captured me with it’s title. You see, it promised a glimpse into the life of a woman I had admired since encountering her work as a theology undergrad writing a thesis on spiritual maternity.
Johnnette with Women of Grace members in October, 2011January 11, 2014 was supposed to be a big day for the Women of Grace® group meeting at St. Luke the Evangelist Church in Raleigh, North Carolina. They were going to celebrate the conclusion of the study with a festive final meeting complete with goodies and certificates for all – but God had other plans.
This spring saw our backyard filled with new life: families of quail scurrying across the grass, baby doves peeking out from the eaves of our patio, and a special surprise: a little killdeer mother, nesting on the ground in a shallow depression in the gravel out near the children's basketball hoop. They were the first to find her, running in breathless one day to report that we had a new tenant. Sure enough, there she sat, seeming both a bit smug and suspicious on her small speckled eggs. My heart sank a bit, worried about her safety so near the children's play area. Her curious choice of a nest was instinctive, I had recently learned. Only weeks before, another killdeer had made a nest recently on our neighbors property - in the rocks right next to their busy driveway. My neighbor, concerned, had researched the birds and told me about these indignant little mothers. We were both amazed at their unusual habits. They always nest on the ground, sometimes taking turns on the eggs with the father. So slight an indentation do they make on the desert ground, and so like stones are the eggs, that they blend into gravel perfectly. It's good camouflage, but still...this one had no idea what she was in for.
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