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)

GRAPEVINE — “The Holy Spirit is illuminating the minds and hearts of the daughters of God to the reality of who they truly are in light of the great gift of their authentic femininity,” said Johnnette Benkovic, Women of Grace founder, during the 2015 Women of Grace National Conference Oct. 23-25 at St. Francis of Assisi Parish in Grapevine.

Approximately 200 women from around the country, including many from the Diocese of Fort Worth, experienced this year’s conference theme, “Women’s Influence, Effect, and Power:  Reclaiming the Feminine Ideal,” through speaker presentations, daily Mass, praise and worship, a healing service, and opportunities for Confession.

Benkovic spoke of a “unique outpouring of the Holy Spirit” on the women gathered for the conference to help them develop “a deepening understanding of the feminine ideal given to us in its fullness through the Blessed Virgin Mary.

“Additionally women at this conference are beginning to see the unique way in which Mary desires to work in and through her spiritual daughters,” she said.

Priscilla Harris, of Good Shepherd Parish in Colleyville, is a local Women of Grace Study Program facilitator and was instrumental in bringing the national conference to the diocese.

“Women of Grace came here to give a message that every woman needs,” she said. “The time has come to start moving forward with accepting the call that God has for each of our lives.

“As a facilitator, I saw women begin to change with the study because most of us don’t truly understand what being a child of God means,” she added.

Women of Grace, founded by Benkovic in 2003, provides study programs, retreats, leadership workshops, and television and radio programs, such as the television program Benkovic hosts on EWTN.

Conference participant Margo Davis, a parishioner of Holy Family Church in Fort Worth, said Benkovic’s teachings “helped me focus more on my role as a woman in the Church and my dignity as a woman, and how I’m called to evangelize in my role as a woman.”

Other speakers included author Dr. Paul Thigpen, Dr. Monica Miller, founder of Citizens for a Pro-Life Society, and Father Philip Scott, FJ, retreat director, author and founder of Family of Jesus the Healer, a Peruvian religious community.

Dr. Thigpen, a Catholic convert, spoke of Mary as the ideal of feminine power by exploring her title, “Mary, Queen of the Universe.”

“Mary is Queen of the Universe because her Son is the King of the Universe and that makes her our Queen Mother,” he added. “Every aspect of Mary’s role in salvation derives from her Son … and flows out of the direct influence of her Son.”

Mary Ann Stacey of Bedford prays during the 2015 Women of Grace National Conference in Grapevine. (Photo by Lance Murray / NTC)

Mary as the feminine ideal resonated with Peggy Porter, also a convert and parishioner at St. Maria Goretti in Arlington.

“Our dignity as women is tied to Mary and her role as our mother,” Porter said, adding that it elevates their identity as women.

Dr. Miller explained that the effects of abortion and contraception cause isolation and alienation in both men and women.  “Abortion is the ritual that breaks all ties,” she said.

“We are called to be the antithesis of alienation, and we must discover our sense of womanhood and make it,” something that becomes a real force in the world, she added, encouraging women to “become instruments of bringing others together in a moral community of love.”

Fr. Scott offered a list of weapons that women can use for spiritual warfare.  They include: the sacraments, prayer, the name of Jesus, worship, Eucharistic Adoration, fasting, Scripture, the sign of the cross, and virtues — especially the virtue of humility.

“Take every thought captive and submit it to Christ,” he said.  “Ask yourself, ‘what am I thinking? Is it in line with Scripture?’”

“One of the greatest ways he [the devil] attacks us is with our thoughts — especially fear … if there’s fear, it’s from the enemy.”

Darla Russell, a St. Francis of Assisi parishioner, opened praise and worship at the conference by blowing theshofar, an ancient musical instrument made of a ram’s horn.

Russell said “women are called to be a blessing and embrace all the beauty that God calls us to. We should celebrate our womanhood and motherhood. That’s what Women of Grace are.”

Women interested in joining or facilitating a Women of Grace Study Program should call 1-800-558-5452 or contact Priscilla Harris at misspris@pristinetouch.com.