I have come to believe that God is always about the business of revealing His will to us. He is always speaking to us. All we need do is have ears to hear. Today, He spoke through our radio broadcast. Read the rest…
Category Archives: Women of Grace
Memorial Day 2009
Today we honor all of the men and women who valiantly gave their lives for the freedom and privileges we enjoy as citizens of the United States of America. We honor as well, all of those men and women who served us without falling victim to the battlefield, and those who continue to serve our nation here at home and abroad.
I especially remember my two vets: my son, Simon Benkovic, who served in both Korea and Iraq, and my husband, Anthony, who served during the Vietnam era. Both were proud to be veterans of the United States Army.
May those who gave their lives for the principles and truths expressed in the Constitution of the United States be at peace, and may they be experiencing the joy of eternal happiness in the presence of the Triune God.
Thank you for your service. Thank you for your lives.
Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord. And may the perpetual light shine upon them. May their souls and the souls of all the faithful departed rest in peace. Amen.
Note: The above image is a photograph of the six American soldiers who hoisted our nation’s flag on Mount Suribachi, the highest point on the Japanese island of Iwo Jima and the key battleground in the Pacific War. This historic photo renewed national morale and rapidly became the public symbol of the US WWII war effort. It remains a symbol of hope, freedom, inspiration, and national sovereignty.
I Can’t Make You Happy — And Neither Can Anyone Else
Not long ago, my granddaughter of four came and nuzzled up close to me. “Good morning, Julia, ” I said. No answer. “Julia?” Still no answer. “Something wrong?” I asked.
“Yes,” came the quiet response.
“What’s the matter?”
“I’m grumpy and I’m mad.”
“Why are you grumpy and mad, sweet lady?” I asked.
“Because I didn’t want to get up. I want to sleep some more,” came the little response. Not being a morning person myself, I could certainly relate to her displeasure.
“Well, Julia” said I, “you have a whole day in front of you with lots of blessings and surprises. Let’s ask Jesus to help you feel better and fill you with zip so you can enjoy it,” I offered.
“Okay,” came the less than enthusiatic response.
And so we did. I don’t know if Julia felt better, but that little prayer sure helped me get my day going. Read the rest…
Gypsy Man Martyred for Praying the Rosary
Gypsy. The word itself conjures up images of campfires, reverie, and sometimes raucous behavior. Rarely, however, does it illicit thoughts of piety, holiness of life, and martyrdom. But such is the case of Blessed Ceferino Gimenez Malla, a man pronounced “Blessed” by Pope John Paul II on May 4, 1997. His witness to the faith is an inspiration for each one of us in this our day and time, and we would do well to ask for his prayerful intercession. Read the rest…
Feast of Our Lady of Fatima
On May 13, 1917 “a Lady all white, more brilliant than the sun” appeared to three young children tending sheep in the Cova da lria in Portugal. It was just eighteen months before the end of World War I which had been the bloodiest and most violent war to date.
This was not the first time a supernatural visitor had appeared to the children. Some time earlier an angel called the “Angel of Peace” had come three times. He had given them Holy Communion and had exhorted them to pray and make sacrifices.
Tenderly, the beautiful woman told the children not to be afraid; she would not hurt them. Lucia, the oldest of the three children, asked the woman where she had come from and what was it she wanted. The lovely Lady told her that she had come from Heaven and that she wanted the children to return to this same spot on the 13th of the month for the next six months. At the last visit, she would tell them what she wanted.
And so began the famous and incredible apparitions of Our Lady of Fatima. Read the rest…
Our Lady’s Scapular
On April 19 I was one of four speakers at the Boston Women’s Conference, an outreach in the Archdiocese of Boston and held at Boston College. An attendee approached me through the course of the day and commented on my scapular. It is a bit of a dainty affair and features a picture of Our Lady and the Sacred Heart. She asked me if the Women of Grace website contained any information about the scapular. I expressed to her that it did not, but that I would consider adding information about this devotional and sacramental to the site. In the meantime, however, I offer the following article that I wrote about the scapular for an issue of Canticle Magazine: The Voice of Women of Grace. I hope you find it useful and beneficial, that it clears up any questions you might have regarding the scapular, and that it creates a desire in your own heart to be invested in this holy way of life. Read the rest…
Traditions of Easter Monday
Many traditions have accompanied the celebration of Easter which lasts for fifty days (from Easter Sunday to Pentecost Sunday) and is called the “great Sunday.” Following are some of the ones I have found most interesting to discover. See what you think. Read the rest…
Epiphanies
This past Sunday we celebrated the Feast of the Epiphany. For those of us familiar with the story, we may well have listened with expectation as the Gospel story drew to its conclusion. But the fact of the matter is, God is always seeking to draw us to Himself through His Son, Jesus Christ and, for that reason, He offers us many opportunities for “epiphanies” in our own lives – moments imbued with His presence that cause us to look at life people, circumstances, and life events – from a more heavenly perspective. These insights reveal to us that the moments of our lives are “shot through” with the Divine Life and offer us a glimpse, no matter how fleeting, of Trinitarian Love.
Following is a prayer time reflection that I recount in my book, Full of Grace: Women and the Abundant Life. It speaks of a moment in which I perceived the story of the Magi from a uniquely new vantage point. May it offer you moments of prayerful meditation, reflection, light, and joy. Read the rest…
WOG One-Day in Clermont
On Saturday, October 25, Blessed Sacrament Catholic Church in Clermont, Florida presented a Women of Grace One-Day Conference in conjunction with Living His Life Abundantly’ outreach for women. It was a remarkable day in the Lord as more than 250 women gathered at the parish to hear about the great gift of authentic femininity and God’s mission for them in this 21st century. Read the rest…
Ribbon of Grace Makes Unique Tie in Winona Lake
Women of Grace Outreach Coordinator, Joanne Kane, just couldn’t throw away the names of the Kalispell, Montana women even though she needed to reuse their lanyards for the participants of the upcoming Women Of Grace National Conference in Sacramento, CA September 19-21. They had attended the Women of Grace One-Day Conference August 2 sponsored by St. Matthew’s Catholic Church in Kalispell.
“I just couldn’t throw those names away,” Joanne said. “They represented the beautiful women, our sisters in the Lord, that we met there.” So, heeding an internal nudge, she put the Kalispell names in the lanyards along with the names of the women who would be attending the WOG National Conference.
At the event, Joanne explained her decision to the conference attendees and suggested they pray for the Kalispell woman whose name had been entrusted to her. Thus began “Ribbon of Grace,” a new prayer ministry of Women of Grace which “ties” WOGs together in a special bond of prayer and intercession.
This past weekend, the Ribbon of Grace was wrapped around the women attending the Women of Grace One-Day Conference sponsored by the Diocese of Fort Wayne/South Bend, Office of Spiritual Development and Evangelization. There, WOG attendees received the names of the Sacramento Conference participants, many of whom wrote special prayer requests on the back of their name cards. The idea was met with a standing ovation expressing the women’s enthusiastic response.
While all of the women seemed delighted with the idea, for one conference attendee the Ribbon of Grace was particularly poignant. She had unexpectedly received her daughter’s name who had attended the Sacramento Conference the weekend before. This delightful surprise amazed Joanne Kane who had given no attention to the Sacramento names she was slipping into the lanyards for the Indiana attendees. “This must be of the Holy Spirit,” said Joanne, “I couldn’t have come up with this!”
Participants coming to the Women of Grace One-Day Conference in Clermont on October 25th will receive the names of the ladies who attended the Indiana conference. And thus, the Ribbon of Grace will continue to unite Woggers nationally. In ’09 those ties will become international ones. A Ribbon of Grace tying the women of the world together in prayer and intercession for each other. What a concept!
