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By Christina Galeone CFP Correspondent
“To Know Him, to Love Him, to Serve Him” was the theme of the 2018 Worcester Catholic Women’s Conference. And that theme was warmly magnified throughout the all-day event.
Presented by the Diocese of Worcester and held at Assumption College on Nov. 10, the sold-out conference welcomed hundreds of women from the diocese and beyond. It included presentations by highly esteemed Catholic lay and religious women, live music, lunch and many vendor and nonprofit booths. Attendees could also pray the rosary, attend Mass and go to confession.
The conference was sold out with 400 registered, according to organizer Corinn Dahm of St. Bernadette Parish in Northborough.
She said she thought organizers did well for their first time, and that they hope to hold a conference centered on the Eucharist next November.
“The Mass was so reverent – you could hear a pin drop during the consecration,” she said of her favorite part of this year’s conference. Another blessing was hearing that someone went to confession for the first time in 40 years.
Bishop McManus opened the conference with the rosary and told participants their mission in life is to get to heaven.
Although the lives of the attendees and speakers varied, their faith and fellowship created a joyful atmosphere.
Sister Magdalene Marie of the Slaves of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (a conference sponsor) was there with her fellow Sisters from their Still River convent to fundraise for a school expansion project. As she sold beautiful Catholic jewelry and books at their booth, the young nun said she enjoyed meeting attendees. Her greatest hope for everyone attending was that they would experience a strengthening of their faith.
“With the way things are going with the world and the Church, we have to fight for what we believe,” she said. “It’s not easy.”
A conference sponsor and vendor, Patricia Quintiliani, the co-owner, with her husband, Don, of A Shower of Roses Gift Shop in West Boylston, was also delighted to be there. Selling beautiful Christmas ornaments, Advent booklets and LED candles, she looked forward to listening to the speakers and meeting attendees.
“I hope it brings more people back to the faith, or it encourages people in their faith,” Mrs. Quintiliani shared.
Deacon George O’Connor and his wife, Joyce, were also among the conference sponsors and vendors. They were there selling the book “Nicholas Gilroy: Our Lady and the Guardian,” a Catholic novella, written by Deacon O’Connor and Father Stephen Gemme, that Mrs. O’Connor said was conceived due to the Blessed Mother’s intercession. They said they were impressed by the outstanding job done by Corinn Dahm, who organized the conference, and the speakers.
Christine Smith, the mission administrative coordinator for the Pontifical Mission Societies in the Archdiocese of Boston, was there raising awareness of the Missionary Childhood Association – one of the Church’s four Pontifical Mission Societies. “I’ve seen an enormous amount of interest from people” who want to bring MCA into their parishes and homes, she said.
Ella McLaughlin, who attends both Blessed Sacrament Church and Christ the King Church in Worcester, was happy to be in the faith-filled atmosphere. But she was drawn to the conference by its speakers.
“I wanted to hear Susan Conroy, because she worked with Mother Teresa,” she said. “And I wanted to hear Professor Smith, because she is a defender and a promoter of ’Humanae Vitae.’ Pope Paul VI (the encyclical’s author) was a true prophet.”  
Jean Infante, a parishioner at St. John, Guardian of Our Lady Parish in Clinton, was also thrilled to be there. She said this was the first time she had attended such a conference, and she had been enjoying listening to all the speakers.     
“It’s been wonderful,” she exclaimed. “I haven’t wanted to miss a word.”
Her excitement was reflected in the eyes of many of the attendees as they affirmed the values of their faith. Ultimately, everyone seemed to be united in the beautiful conference theme. The desire to know Christ, to love him and to serve him brought everyone together.
– Tanya Connor contributed to this report.

 

Helen Alvare and Janet Smith

By Tanya Connor | The Catholic Free Press

What can women do about problems in the Church and society?
Suggestions were offered by speakers at the Worcester Catholic Women’s Conference held Saturday at Assumption College.
Helen Alvaré, a lawyer who has drafted briefs for the U.S. Supreme Court about life issues and religious freedom, talked about responding to the clergy sexual abuse crisis. She chaired the commission investigating clerical abuse in Philadelphia.     
“We want to think, not react to headlines,” she said. “We want to do our part and to help the next generation,” not just say, “No! It’s terrible.”
Church teachings, whether about sex or taking care of the homeless, are expressions of “our unity and community,” and are to speak to the deepest needs of everyone, of whatever religion, she said.
“We bear the marks of original sin,” but God works with our shortcomings, she said. So we shouldn’t be shocked or stopped by the shortcomings of bishops, but persist in doing good.
It’s the job of the pope, bishops, clergy, religious and laity to show that Christ is alive now, she said. She said Father Luigi Giussani, founder of the Communion and Liberation movement, summarized the apostles’ encounter with Jesus as “the person too good to be true.”
Perhaps the last brilliant voice in the public square has lost credibility, she said, as a result of the bishops’ coverup of sexual abuse. She spoke of the difficulty of transmitting the Church’s teaching about sex in a society of “sexual expressionism,” which exalts any sexual choice, indifferent to marriage and unrelated to children.
“It’s going to be up to the laity to speak about these things,” she said. The Church insists on the complementarity of men and women; it’s a loving message, not a message of “no” and exclusion.
Professor Alvaré also mentioned other current problems: bickering among bishops, secularism, the belief that “women should really strive for male patterns” and sexual abuse of women, made public by the #MeToo movement. She asked how these problems challenge the Church.
 God invites laity to work in the world, illuminating temporal affairs, and in the Church with the clergy and religious, Professor Alvaré said.
She called for prayer and fasting and getting one’s “personal house in order” so others can see Christ in you. She asked listeners how they will help priests avoid clericalism and how they will avoid lay clericalism (wanting to do the priests’ work).
“How will you communicate to your priests and bishops: ‘There is no more business as usual’?” she asked, using the example of moving beyond a “defensive crouch” position which they seem to have taken since the abuse scandal.
When religious institutions were threatened by the HHS government mandate requiring them to pay for contraceptives and abortifacients which they oppose, their representatives responded: “We have the right to religious freedom and you have to leave us alone,” Professor Alvaré said. She suggested focusing on the beauty of the Church’s teaching instead, saying, for example, “Sex … involves an act of love, the only place human life comes from.”
She also talked about the necessity of incorporating women into the life of the Church. The Church in the United States has more women in high positions than corporate America does, she said, but there’s still a risk that those women’s perspectives will not be used.
She said it is important not to let the present pass without reform; Catholics can make a universal proposition to the world.
“I wouldn’t wish this crisis on us,” she said, but added that she’s grateful for the opportunity it offers.
JANET SMITH
The crisis is a consequence of what happened in 1968, said Janet Smith, who’s taught for years about “Humanae Vitae.” She said her conference talk was one of the last things she was doing for the 50th anniversary of that 1968 encyclical about married love and procreation, which reaffirmed Catholic teaching against artificial birth control.
Catholics dissented from the encyclical’s teaching, then other Church teaching, she said. Encyclical author Pope Paul VI predicted a lowering of morality, less respect for women, governments taking control over sexuality and people treating their bodies like machines, she said, noting sexual problems in society today.
In 1968, as a college student unfamiliar with abortion, she offered to write letters for its legalization, she said. She asked those promoting this when they thought life begins, and was told, “We don’t need your kind here.” She wasn’t sure she opposed abortion, but figured that question needed answering, she said.
Later she came to oppose abortion, but not contraception, she said. Then she read “Humanae Vitae” and natural family planning seemed a better option.
Counseling outside an abortion clinic, she realized women sought abortions because they were having sex with someone they didn’t intend to have a baby with, so she decided to help save babies by addressing the contraception problem.
She gave a history of Christians opposing, then promoting, contraception, and a history of Catholic opposition to “Humanae Vitae.” Now people want organic vegetables, but use artificial birth control, she said.
She said her parents practiced the rhythm method of natural family planning and had two surprise babies, and her father said he regretted not having more children. She praised the term “surprises” as opposed to “accidents,” saying children need affirmation from their parents.
“I’m sure many of you have contracepted,” she told listeners, urging them to go to confession, knowing Jesus heals. She decried the notion that natural family planning can’t be God’s will because it’s hard, and promoted the value of sacrifice.
In his homily Father Richard F. Reidy, the vicar general, noted that Scriptures of the day (I Kgs 17:10-16, Mk 12:38-44) told of two unnamed widows who shared the little they had. They went unnoticed by those around them, but not by God, and shouldn’t escape our notice, he said.
He said the Church needs reform, asked prayers for bishops discussing the scandal and urged listeners not to be disc


Mother Mary Assumpta Long O.P.

By Christina Galeone
CFP Correspondent
With all the lies that thrive in modern society, to whom can Christian women turn for honest advice? With all the corruption, whom can we trust completely to guide us? In these times of persecution, who can serve as a brave, compassionate role model? The answer to all three questions is Mary, the Mother of God.
Because Mother Mary Assumpta Long, O.P., the Prioress General (and one of the foundresses) of the Dominican Sisters of Mary, Mother of the Eucharist, is well aware of that fact, she lovingly crafted a letter to all Christian women written from the perspective of the Blessed Mother.  At one of the five presentations that were given at the 2018 Worcester Catholic Women’s Conference, she read that letter. Her presentation “What Would Mary Say?” offered words of wisdom for Christian women living in modern society.      
The letter began by letting women know that the Blessed Mother can relate to women of all times and places, because she knows what it means to be a wife and a mother, and she knows what it means to suffer the loss of her closest loved ones. She also knows what it’s like to continue to give of herself and do God’s will even when she was devastated. The letter also reminds women why all people can turn to Mary for guidance and comfort by reflecting on Jesus’ words, from the Cross, to the Apostle John and the Blessed Mother.
“He showed me that in loving him, I had to love all men; I knew when he told me to behold my son that he was speaking of all of you,” Mother Mary Assumpta Long read as a message from Mary. She later read, “It meant that you would be my children, and I would be your mother.”
As the letter continued, she also spoke about how love drove out fear, when the Archangel Gabriel first appeared to announce that she would be the mother of Jesus. The letter stated that being infinitely loved by God is what makes us true women. It referred to women as “the masterpiece of his love.” She also said that Mother Mary calls us to create a culture of life against the evil of the culture of death, which includes abortion. Her letter also mentions the goodness that we are capable of bestowing upon others.   
“We were created with the capacity to welcome others, to reach out in love to everyone we encounter,” Mother Mary read. “In our capacity, we mirror the very depths of God, for God is love – love poured out for another. I have seen God’s love. I have heard it and touched it with my own hands. I watched him offer his life on the Cross.”
She further noted how a woman who loves beyond herself and selflessly loves God with all of her being is powerful and extraordinary. She said that she is also beautiful. And to maintain that beauty, Mother Mary read that a woman “must live a eucharistic” life.
“If you do not run from God’s love, if you receive his mercy in confession, if you receive his presence in the Eucharist, you will be changed,” she read. “You will be beauty with the very beauty of God. You will be a mother bringing Christ to the world.”
Following her recitation of the letter, she concluded the presentation. In addition to an anecdote about the time when she studied Hebrew in Italy, Mother Mary concluded with words from St. Teresa of Avila on how Christians need to be the hands, feet and eyes of Christ on Earth. She also shared an Asian folktale about a beloved bamboo shoot that suffered and gave everything he had and all that he was, so that he could be useful to the man who planted him. By the time she finished telling the allegorical tale, there couldn’t have been many dry eyes in the auditorium. Although she was no longer reading the letter, she ended her presentation by following in the Blessed Mother’s footsteps. She pointed everyone to Jesus.