Women called to bring their unique gifts to serve the Church and the world
By Mary Powers
More than 130 women from across the Archdiocese gathered at St. Dominic’s Catholic Church on Saturday, February 24, for the Archdiocesan Women’s Conference.
Beginning the day in prayer, Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone celebrated Mass for conference attendees, praying for the women of the Archdiocese and encouraging those present to live out their vocation as women and to use their unique gifts to serve the Church and the world.
“The problem is that I think we fail to truly appreciate the unique gift of women,” said Archbishop Cordileone. “We need the gifts of women. They have a civilizing effect on the world. And when we see a more and more uncivil world, it’s because our society fails to appreciate those unique gifts.”
The gifts that are often overlooked, the Archbishop explained, are receptivity, sensitivity, an ability to fix heartaches by intuition, to bring peace and happiness to dark situations, and to reconcile enemies. Women have the ability to “receive a gift from our Lord and turn it into something new and wondrous,” said Archbishop Cordileone.
The day also included two talks by Gloria Purvis, host of the Gloria Purvis Podcast and speaker at the upcoming National Eucharistic Congress. Telling her conversation story, she shared that at the age of 12, she was called to become Catholic by a powerful spiritual experience during Eucharistic adoration.
In her talks, Purvis reminded attendees that women are made in the image and likeness of God. Catholic women, armed with the truth of the faith, are called to transform society celebrating the gift of life and, using the gifts God has given them, build a society that supports and cares for the dignity of the human person.
Also included in the day were opportunities to participate in Eucharistic Adoration and the Sacrament of Reconciliation. St. Dominic’s also had several of the Eucharistic miracles on display from Blessed Carlo Acutis’ Eucharistic Miracles exhibit.
Photos: Elle Ornido
