 |
| Women of Grace Founder and President Johnnette Benkovic speaks passionately during the 2015 Women of Grace Conference at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Grapevine. (Photo by Lance Murray / NTC) |
A work of art created to raise awareness of post-abortion pain suffered by women has been touching hearts around the world, including that of Pope Francis, thanks to the efforts of the father of a Women of Grace® facilitator from Arizona.
St. Teresa of Avila shows us it is never too late to get serious about our prayer life. Born Dona Teresa Sanchez Cepeda Davila y Ahumada, Teresa was an active child with a big imagination and great sensitivity of heart. Little Teresa and her brother Roderigo were intrigued by the lives of the saints and the martyrs, and often sought to imitate their holy example.
Eye witnesses to the "Miracle of the Sun."From the earliest times, the history of the Church is studded with appearances of the Blessed Virgin Mary. One such apparition happened when Our Lady appeared to three shepherd children in the small hamlet of Cova da Iria in Fatima, Portugal.
I've always loved St. Thérèse of Lisieux. From the time I heard her story as a child in Catholic grade-school, her story and writings have resonated in my soul. So much did I love our "Little Flower" that I composed a prayer card in her honor when I was eight years old, which you can read below.
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.
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.
