Vibrant and Dynamic Roles

… Women all around the world are entering into vibrant and dynamic roles in the Church. The Church, Bride of Christ, is emerging in new splendor! Women are arising and shining. Being a woman, is not about opting out, giving up or sitting back. The Bible and our own Christian heritage, is packed full of women, who changed the hearts of kings and the outcomes of wars, freed prisoners and fed the poor, built hope and founded religious congregations, raised children and practiced faithfulness, loved and lived generously. They are both companions to men, and leaders of men in bringing God’s love, to this broken world. What is most inspiring about many women, however, is the fact that they achieve so much against great odds and opposition…

 

My dear sisters in Christ, you have come here from many nations. You are a powerful sign of the universality of the Church. And as such, I renew my invitation to you, to take fully to heart the mission of the Church in the Holy Land. Our mission, like yours, is first of all, to be witnesses to Jesus Christ, witnesses to the Truth. Intimately tied to this mission, is working for the unity of all Christians in the world. It is the prayer of Jesus “that all may be one.” Let us confidently place all our prayers, little though they may seem, in our hands, in the hands of the great Lord, Who took five loaves and two fishes and fed the multitudes. We realize, therefore, that our little, becomes much, when placed in the hands of God.

 

May all your experiences, here, strengthen your faith, increase your hope, deepen your union with the Lord, renew you in prayer and make you truly one in and with His desire, that you are to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth. Be a strong presence wherever you live, and wherever you go. Never fail to look to the Author and Perfecter of our faith; follow Him, keep His Word in your hearts. In this way, your hope will not fail.

 

His Beatitude Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem

Address to the WUCWO Conference (excerpt)
Amman, October 25, 2013

For the complete text, please visit:  http://en.lpj.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/WUCWO-Jordan-Oct-24-2013-FINAL-FOR-DISTRIBUTION.pdf

 

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Karen Hurley with His Beatitude Fouad Twal, Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem

 

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… Being a Christian is more important than the role, the function, one exercises in the community.  It means that the “common priesthood” (the priesthood we all receive in Baptism) is more important than the “ministerial priesthood”.  It means that “charity” is worth more than “authority”.  It means that “testimony” is worth more than “words”, it means that “being is more important than “acting”, “service” more than “power”.

 

Perhaps a peculiarity of women in evangelization is precisely this:  to give the Word, the Word of God, of course, more than through “words” through life, through their witness.  They realize what Saint Francis was recommending to his friars:  “preach the Gospel always, if necessary with words”.

 

His Excellency Archbishop Giorgio Lingua

Apostolic Nuncio in Iraq and Jordan
Address to the WUCWO Conference (excerpt)
Amman, October 25, 2013

 

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The World Union of Catholic Women’s Organisations (WUCWO) in collaboration with the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem and the International Forum of Catholic Action, hosted a conference for women of the Middle East on the theme, “Women Believers at the Service of Life, Dignity and the Common Good.”  This historic conference was held under the patronage of Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah and was officially opened by Her Royal Highness Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan.  More than 60 Catholic women from countries throughout the region and around the world gathered in Amman, Jordan from October 24 – 27, 2013.

Her Royal Highness Princess Sumaya bint El Hassan

 

It was a joy for me to participate and, especially, to see the seeds grow that were sown at the 2010 WUCWO Assembly in Jerusalem.  We learned much about the reality of life for women who live in Palestine as well as those who live in Lebanon and Iraq.  It is hard to imagine the challenges of being amongst the “few” Christians who strive to remain in their homelands despite political strife and/or religious challenges.  Many of the women present are the last members of their families who have not emigrated to safer, more Christian-friendly countries.  Likewise it was humbling to get to know women whose parishes are the territory where Jesus and Mary were physically present—Bethlehem, Jerusalem, and Nazareth.  While many of us may belong to parishes devoted to our Lord or our Blessed Mother, few of us can say that they actually lived where the parish now exists.

 

Helen Kwon and Karen Hurley

 

Participants on Mount Nebo

 

We celebrated Morning Prayer one day on Mount Nebo—the spot where Moses was able to see the Promised Land that he would not be able to enter.  We visited a local parish and joined in Sunday Mass in Arabic.  Also during the conference we heard some women who speak Aramaic prayed the Lord’s Prayer in the language of Jesus.

 

Participants after Mass

Ultimately we strengthened the bonds of faith, hope and love which unite us as sisters in Christ.  We will now be networked through technology as well as prayer as we strive to do God’s will in our corners of the world.

 

Tour of Petra

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Follow in the footsteps of Jesus from March 29 – April 8, 2014.  The scriptures will come alive on this Lenten journey to the roots of our faith. Tour includes:  Daily Mass at holy sites, licensed Christian guide, accommodation in First Class hotels (five nights in Jerusalem, three nights in Tiberias, on the shore of the Sea of Galilee), breakfast and dinner daily, land transportation by deluxe motorcoach, roundtrip airfare from Newark to Tel Aviv on nonstop flights with United Airlines, and more, for $3,459 per person/double occupancy. 

 

We will meet the local people, the “living stones” of the Holy Land, our brothers and sisters in Christ, who are waiting to welcome us “home”.  We hope to visit with the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem who will share with us the hopes and concerns of those who live in the land of Jesus.

 

For complete details on this pilgrimage, please contact:  George’s International Tours, (800) 566-7499, sales@georgesintl.com, or Karen Hurley, k.m.hurley1@gmail.com.

 

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