Author Archives: Johnnette Benkovic Williams

Exciting News! The Women of Grace 2013 Benedicta Leadership Institute for Women

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Dear Friends,

peggyhartshornI have very exciting news! Peggy Hartshorn, President of Heartbeat International, an affiliation of over 1400 crisis pregnancy centers internationally, will be presenting our Benedicta Leadership Institute this year, July 11th – 12th. She will train all attendees in her highly successful method for communication and leadership called called the L.O.V.E. Approach. The theme of the Institute is “The L.O.V.E. Approach…For Such A Time As This (Esther 4:14).”

Called to transform the world one woman at a time, Women of Grace exercise the charism of authentic femininity through the gift of spiritual motherhood. With the Blessed Virgin Mary as their exemplar, Women of Grace seek to do for the beleaguered Body of Christ in our day what Our Lady did for the infant Church in hers. Empathy, self-donation, compassion, and the faithful witness to truth characterize this apostolate of love, and build a strong dynamic for a profoundly Catholic women’s leadership. The Women of Grace® 2013 Benedicta Leadership Institute for Women® will train women in a proven approach that develops these four virtues, and is applicable to all professions, vocations, states in life, and life situations. Women of Grace® Regional Coordinators and Facilitators will find this approach particularly valuable in their interaction with each other and in the work God has entrusted to them with their study group participants.

The L.O.V.E. APPROACH™ Is:

• Completely consistent with Sacred Scripture and Catholic Teaching

• A catalyst for achieving a “civilization of love” according to the vision of Blessed John Paul II

• A jump start for the “New Evangelization”

• Proven efficacious and effective with women via 1400 international crisis pregnancy centers

Attendees will come away with skill development in:

• Listening with empathy and understanding

• Opening options with loving concern and compassion

• Imparting a new vision of life and relationships with values and virtues faithful to God’s desire for us

• Extending hope others by helping them constructing a new plan for their life through goal-setting and strategy development

Margaret “Peggy” Hartshorn, Ph.D., is the developer of The L.O.V.E. Approach which has been used with great success in over 1400 crisis pregnancy centers internationally. Since 1993, Dr. Hartshorn has been president of Heartbeat International, the most expansive network of Christ-centered, life-affirming, pregnancy help ministries in the world, with over 1,400 affiliated pregnancy help centers, medical clinics, maternity homes, adoption agencies, and abortion recovery programs, located in forty-eight countries. She has been a guest on the Women of Grace® Television Program, seen on EWTN and hosted by Johnnette Benkovic, and is one of the guest contributors via video to the new Women of Grace® Study, Feminine Genius…”For Such A Time as This (Esther 4:14)”: Blessed John Paul II and Authentic Femininity.

For information or to register for the Benedicta Leadership Institute or the Women of Grace Retreat, both located in Malvern, PA, please visit our website here or call the Malvern Retreat Center at 1-610-644-0400. 

Yours in Christ,
Johnnette

 

Seven Steps to Discern the Will of God

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(Taken from Full of Grace: Women and the Abundant Life by Johnnette Benkovic)

On yesterday’s Women of Grace Live radio program, I shared a teaching on discerning God’s will, much of which came from by book Full of Grace: Women and the Abundant Life.  Here are the Seven Steps to Discerning God’s will, in case you missed the program or didn’t get a chance to jot them down.  You can also listen to the program in it’s entirety at the podcast link here. God bless you!

1. Is the prompting fully in line with Sacred Scripture, the Ten Commandments, and the teachings of the Church? There is no contradiction in God.

2. Is the prompting proceeding from virtue or the flesh? “What is my motivation?”

3. Has this prompting been confirmed in other ways? God confirms His will for us in a variety of ways.

How Does God Speak To Us?

A. Through other people

1. Directly – someone speaks the prompting to us

2. Indirectly

a. a homily at Mass

b. radio

c. television

d. something we read

B. Scripture

C. Events of the day

4. Has the prompting withstood the test of time? There is a difference between enthusiasm and zeal.

5. Am I going through an emotionally difficult time or am I suffering from mental instability?

6. Have I sought the counsel of others — my spouse, provincial, superior, bishop, spiritual director?

7. Is the prompting or inspiration of grace in conformity with my state in life? There may be sacrifice, but there will not be conflict.

March for Life 2013 Journal by Vicki Crispo

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Women of Grace Peggy Pritchard, Anne Rohrbaugh, Joanne Hudak, Paula Smeigh, Robin Enochs, Marci McKinnon, Bernadette Bernardy, Judy Auchey, Vicki Crispo & Ellyn Shelly

The idea took life after the 39th annual March for Life in 2012 when, during a Women of Grace Facilitator Network Conference call, my sister regional coordinator, Peggy Pritchard passionately presented her reflections from the March For Life and challenged us to make plans for 2013. Regional Coordinators Martha Nicolli and Jennie Stanbro joined in the discussion and with Johnnette’s enthusiastic encouragement, we made plans to officially represent Women of Grace at the March For Life in our nation’s capital on the 40th memorial of Roe vs. Wade. Read the rest…

Guest Blogger: A Catholic Newlywed’s New Year’s Resolution: 7 Ways To Be a Holier Wife

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By Jacqueline Burkepile

Marriage is such a beautiful vocation and has been my dream my entire life. My dreams finally came true this past summer, and I couldn’t be happier! However, we already feel the craziness of living with another person. Because we’re human, we lose our patience, complain, or argue about things that don’t matter much. I’ve come up with seven New Year’s resolutions to help improve my daily life as a wife. I hope you find this as helpful as I do.  Read the rest…

Participate in the March for Life with Women of Grace!

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This January 22nd marks the 40th anniversary of Roe vs. Wade, a decision which has forever changed the landscape of human rights and dignity in America and has helped to usher in the “culture of death” in which we live. Over 55 million unborn children have been murdered by legal abortion and countless men and women have been permanently wounded by this unjust ruling by our Supreme Court. As Women of Grace, our mission is to transform the world one woman at a time by affirming women in their dignity and vocation as daughters of God and in their gift of authentic femininity. One of the ways that we accomplish this mission is through social activism, engaging in the cultural issues of our day.

We are pleased to announce that Women of Grace will be represented at this year’s March for Life in Washington, DC on January 25, 2013. We will stand in solidarity with the hundreds of thousands of people, young and old, who will gather at our nation’s capital to be the voice of the voiceless, marginalized, unborn children and their parents who are in need of God’s mercy.

There are two groups who will be marching together and we invite you to join them under the banner of “Women of Grace for Life.” One will leave from the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception and the other will march from the mall area. Here are the details for the 2 groups:

Vicki Crispo and Peggy Pritchard will lead a group that will gather for Mass in the lower Crypt Church in the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception for the 11:00 a.m. Mass on the day of the march offered by the Capuchin Franciscan Friars. They will head out to the March after we quickly eat and take the metro, which is close by, to Constitution Avenue and blend into the massive crowd as they begin their march from the Mall, up Constitution Avenue to the Supreme Court.

Their contact information is as follows:

Vicki Crispo
Phone: 717.324.3690
Email: wog325@gmail.com

Peggy Pritchard
Phone: 717.309.4633
Email: pegpritch@aol.com

Martha Nicolli will be leaving from South Florida. On the day of the March, their group will stand under the “Women of Grace for Life” banner in the mall area for the rally and speakers. Her contact information is:

Martha Nicolli
Phone: 561.212.8673
Email: Manicolli@aol.com

If you plan to attend, please wear a distinctive scarf, pink or purple, so it is easier to keep track of the group in the massive crowd. If you would like artwork for a banner, please email info@womenofgrace.com.

In addition to our physical presence at the March for Life, Women of Grace will join in solidarity with the U. S. Conference of Catholic Bishops who recently announced their campaign for Nine Days of Prayer, Penance & Pilgrimage: Marking the 40th Anniversary of Roe v. Wade. If you would like to participate in this novena, which will take place January 19 – 27, 2013, please click here.

We entrust all of these activities to the intercession of Our Lady of Guadalupe, patroness of Women of Grace.

“Mother of Life” by Nellie Edwards
ImmaculataArt.com

Our Lady of Guadalupe,

we turn to you who are the protectress of unborn children and ask that you intercede for us,

so that we may more firmly resolve to join you in protecting all human life.

Let our prayers be united to your perpetual motherly intercession on behalf of those whose lives are threatened,

be they in the womb of their mother, on the bed of infirmity, or in the latter years of their life.

May our prayers also be coupled with peaceful action which witnesses to the goodness and dignity of all human life,

so that our firmness of purpose may give courage to those who are fearful and bring light to those who are blinded by sin.

Encourage those who will be involved in the March for Life;

help them to walk closely with God and to give voice to the cry of the oppressed,

in order to remind out nation of its commitment to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness for all people.

O Virgin Mother of God, present our petitions to your Son and ask Him to bless us with abundant life.

Amen.

 

John Paul II — “Christmas is the Feast Day of Man”

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When I came back to the Faith in 1981, one Scripture passage became the rudder of my spiritual life. It is Ephesians 1: 3-4. Through the years, this passage has spoken to me in many ways and has sustained me through many trials.

Verse 4 , however, is particularly relevant for this time of the year, and was echoed by Pope John Paul II in a Christmas reflection. It states this, “God chose us in him before the world began to be holy and blameless in his sight, to be full of love.” Those first five words tell us something about ourselves that is amazing and astounding — each one of us was distinctively and individually chosen by God to have life. Read the rest…

Advent Week Four: A Time for Caring, A Time for Sharing

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star-of-bethlehem1As we approach the solemnity of Christmas tomorrow, we would do well to ask the Holy Spirit to help us enter into the mystery we are celebrating. Implicit in the glory of the birth of Christ, is His death. It is already present, as it has been since His conception in the womb of Mary, in His flesh.

A season of joy, to be sure. A season of wonder, most definitely. A season of magnanimity, most assuredly. For this is the season that proves God’s love for us. His Son has been sent for one mission, and one mission only, to pour Himself out for us. 

The Incarnation is the Redemption begun. It is consummated at the conception and culminated at the crucifixion. As we gaze upon the Christ Child lying in the creche, how can we ignore that He is already on the bed of wood?

It is this we celebrate: that in the midst of our depravity, God sent His Son in the fullness of time, born of a woman (Gen. 3:15; Gal. 4:4). It is in this that we find cause for rejoicing.

Carol Houselander, an English author of the last century, asks us to focus our attention on this reality during the Advent season. It is not too late to ponder the cause of our joy in these last hours before Christmas day.

Writing in Reed of God, Houselander offers us these words for meditation and contemplation. She invites us to consider the role of the Virgin Mary, Mother of God, as we consider the coming of the Christ Child: Read the rest…

Advent Week Three: A Time for Sharing, A Time for Caring

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200479108-001In yesterday’s blog, we discussed the necessity of evangelization in the modern world and why this call applies in a special way to the lay faithful.

But the question remains, how do we effectively communicate the Catholic faith in the world today? This remains a challenge especially given the competing voices in today’s market place of ideas.

Indeed, secularism and relativism have captivated the mindset of the culture. However, St. Paul reminds us in 2 Timothy 4 that our mission is to preach the Gospel “in season and out,” and the reality is you and I have been chosen by God to do so in our day and time. And, in the end, truth is on our side.

Following are four steps that help us share the faith with others.

Read the rest…