His Gaze

I think all of us have probably experienced, at one point or another, being in the presence of another who, we feel, can “look right into our soul.”  They seem to be able to, in one glance, uncover and know what is going on within us…and depending on who that person is in relation to us, it could produce feelings from comfort and belonging to unease and fear.  

As I sat with this Sunday’s Scripture readings, this is what came to me.  This week’s Gospel account from Mark (http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/101115.cfm), the story of the rich young man, is one that I’m sure we’re all very familiar with, and can teach an infinite amount of lessons.  What I noticed this time, though, is that THREE times throughout the story, we’re told that Jesus looks at someone.  The first time, His gaze is directed toward the young man who desires to inherit eternal life; twice after that, Jesus looks at His disciples before addressing them.  And it made me stop and think, what would this gaze look like?  Do I stop long enough to remember that I am always in His gaze?  What do I see, and “hear,” from finding myself in His gaze?  After sitting with these questions, I came away with a few random musings, which I share here. 

First, in considering His gaze at the young man: Jesus looks at him, loves him, and then speaks to him.  Do I let myself be confronted by this truth before I speak to the Lord, or before I open myself to hearing Him?  St. Ignatius of Loyola, as he instructs us in coming before the Lord for a time of prayer, counsels us to first “raise [our] mind and think how God our Lord is looking at [us].”  This step is so simple, but so important!  Before we can receive anything or speak anything back to the Lord, it’s crucial to remember who it is that is that we’re addressing….and that before anything else, He is looking on us with LOVE. 

Once I do this, and let myself rest in the truth of who is gazing upon me (LOVE Himself), and how He is gazing upon me (with LOVE), then I’m able to more fruitfully receive whatever it is He might want to speak to me.  And to look back at this particular example of the young man: Our Lord gives him a difficult message!  “Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said to him, “You are lacking in one thing….”  Jesus loved him enough to tell him where he was lacking – to tell him where he needed conversion so as to be able to be the person Jesus knew he could be.  Sometimes it’s hard to receive a word of truth from the Lord!  But if we remember that it’s coming from Love Himself, it can help make something that might be bitter to receive, a bit lighter and sweeter.  And Christ, when He challenges us, always does so with LOVE.  His voice is convicting, not condemning; inviting, not accusing.  That gaze is penetrating, and can convict us of areas of sin, always with a voice of love, mercy, and compassion.   A voice that does not have these things is not the Lord’s voice.  (side note: this is why it can be helpful to talk to a spiritual director, confessor, or trusted and mature friend when we’re having trouble discerning the Lord’s voice) 

Another thing about His gaze…it can be uncomfortable!  He knows everything about us, and this can be hard!  I’m going to use an illustration from a favorite story of mine, The Chronicles of Narnia by C.S. Lewis.  As many of you are probably familiar with, Aslan, the great Lion, is representative of Christ throughout the story.  In The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, four children stumble into the magical world of Narnia, and encounter both good and evil as they battle on the side of Aslan to save the world.  I find the description of the children’s first encounter with Aslan similar to how sometimes I feel in the presence of the Lord!  

                  People who have not been in Narnia sometimes think that a thing cannot be good and terrible at the same time.  If the children had ever thought so, they were cured of it now.  For when they tried to look at Aslan’s face they just caught a glimpse of the golden mane and the great, royal, solemn, overwhelming eyes; and then they found they couldn’t look at him and went all trembly.

Yet once they come into His presence, and He greets them, all fear is gone:

                  His voice was deep and rich and somehow took the fidgets out of them.  They now felt glad and quiet and it didn’t seem awkward to them to stand and say nothing.

Jesus is so desirous of our coming to His presence, even if we feel like we have nothing to say, or aren’t prepared, or aren’t worthy.  He just wants us to come, as we are right now. 

A third thing about the gaze of Christ: at the end of the day, it’s the only one I need to worry about.  It can be so easy for us, especially as women, to fall into the comparison game – a game which we will never win.  While it’s good to always strive to do our best, and be good stewards of what the Lord has entrusted to us, it’s also good to balance that with the truth that we are created in His image to be us, not the person next to us.  This truth about our dignity can be easier to recall when we remember that when we are looking at Christ, nothing else matters; or maybe more accurately, everything matters as it should matter, in relation to HIM.  To use another example from Narnia: when one of the children, Edmund, finds himself in the presence of Aslan (who he’d betrayed), and the White Witch (who is accusing him of this wrong he’s committed), C.S. Lewis describes it to us in this way:

                  You have a traitor there, Aslan,” said the Witch….But Edmund had got past thinking about himself….He just went on looking at Aslan.  It didn’t seem to matter what the Witch said.

This can also be a helpful image for us in coming before the Lord…no sin or event from our past (or present!) is enough to make the Lord stop looking at us with love.  He desires us to approach in confidence, and to hear the truth about ourselves from Him, and Him alone.  It can be a temptation to let our sins and imperfections hinder us from approaching Him, and this is the last thing He wants! 

So as we continue the journey through this semester, ladies, I encourage you to take a few moments throughout your day to encounter the Lord, and let Him encounter you, just as you are.  His gaze, though thoroughly penetrating, is always first and foremost a gaze of love.  He looks at each of you and says, “behold, you are VERY good.”  May this truth be for us a battle cry each day as we strive to live in this truth and the abundant life that Christ came to give us, His beloved ones.

****************************

Sr. Anna Rose is our fearless leader here at Women's Ministry. She graduated from Franciscan with a degree in History and Theology before entering the Franciscan Sisters TOR of Penance of the Sorrowful Mother. She's in her second year of temporary vows, and her story can be found here. Sr. Anna Rose leads our Women's Ministry team with such patience and love. If you see her around campus, be sure to give her a big hug! And as always, please pray for her.

Stop Asking If Men and Women Can Be Friends

“Can men and women be friends?”

This is a question that I’ve seen circulate the Facebook and blog circles for a while now. I think it’s a question that becomes especially relevant at this time in our lives as young adult Catholic women when we begin to recognize just how deeply our feminine hearts crave masculine intimacy, and yet for many of us a romantic relationship doesn’t appear to be anywhere on the horizon. It especially becomes a question on the minds of many young women as they seek to live virtuous lives of purity, chastity, and modesty both internally and externally.

You see, this is a question I’ve been wrestling with a lot lately. I’ve read opinions on both sides of the argument (that women and men can’t be “just friends” vs. the opinion that it is healthy, normal and good for men and women to have authentic pure friendships) and I’ve discovered that it is not an easy question to answer. This is because such a question touches on many related and “controversial” topics: the nature of courtship, casual dating, flirtation and “emotional chastity” just to name a few, and all of these topics themselves exist with a vast spectrum of differing opinions.

But I’m tired of reading opinions on this matter; I’m looking for the TRUTH. I want to know where the line in the sand is drawn if for no other reason than the practicality of knowing what I need to confess when I go to the sacrament of Reconciliation. But where can I find the objective truth on this matter when the opinions of faithful Catholic people seem to be all over the place?

Well, it recently occurred to me that I needed to bring this question to prayer and ask the Lord what the answer was because I wasn’t receiving any clarity from the internet (go figure). And when I say “recently” I mean several months ago because I kept asking the Lord to answer this question and he kept giving me one response: silence. Until this week.

I was getting really frustrated with the Lord (to say the least) and so I cried out in prayer, “Jesus, why won’t you answer my question?” And you know what his response was?

“You’re not asking the right one.”

I felt instantly better now that I had an explanation for why my prayers on this matter had gone to God’s voicemail for so long, and then I remembered that I’d still like to have some clarity on this matter of men and women and friendship. So I said, “What question should I be asking, then?”

“Don’t ask whether or not men and women can be friends. Ask rather how you are called to love the men in your life.”

Because here’s the truth of the matter, ladies: We are called to love every man in our life. Period. If we keep getting preoccupied with the status of the relationship we have with men, then we’ve missed the boat entirely.

And yes, I know that there are different types of love that we can have for men. That’s why God said to me, “Ask rather how you are called to love the men in your life.” But it never should be a question of “whether or not” I am called to love them. I am.

But what does this look like practically? Well, that’s a whole different, difficult question. There’s very few “practicals” in something like the Catechism. If we want to see what practically lived and embodied holiness looks like, we usually have to look to the lives of the saints.

So you want to learn how to love? St. Maximilian Kolbe teaches us that “the Cross is the school of Love.” And what do we learn from the Cross about Love? That it is radically Passionate, radically Pure, and radically Painful.

Passionate Love

I’m currently taking an entire class on another great saint, St. Catherine of Siena, and this understanding of the school of Love being the Cross puts a beautiful context to her words when she addresses the Lord in prayer, “And what is my nature, Boundless Love? It is Fire, because you are nothing but the Fire of Love.”

Love, true Love, as it is revealed to us and embodied by God, is fiery. This is why St. Catherine of Siena is always using the language of fire and desire in her writings. She embodied a beautiful zeal for souls and passionately loved every person she came into contact with. And Catherine came into contact with many men, of all different sorts: priests, politicians, prisoners and popes. And Catherine loved them all passionately.

As Christian women we are called to love everyone in a truly passionate way, and yes, this includes the men in our lives as well. Christ desires to consume us in the passionate fire of his love on the Cross. There’s a reason we call Christ’s death “The Passion.” It’s literally the spousal consummation (i.e. passionate consuming) of Christ’s love for us. Likewise we should strive to “consume” the men around us with the blazing charity in our own hearts. What exactly does this look like? Well, in order for the passionate love in our hearts to consume the men in our life properly it also has to be a…

Pure Love

Here’s the other important thing to remember about fire: it’s purifying. Anything that is not the fire itself will be burned away in a blazing flame, and this is true of love too. The fire that should be blazing in our hearts is love and if God is Love then the Fire in our hearts is God. Anything that is not of God will be burned away if we allow Him to properly fan the flames of desire in our hearts. This means that the passionate love we must have for the men in our lives must be free from all traces of lust.

To love the men in our lives as brothers is no easy thing, even for women. While we may not tend to fixate on physical fantasies (though we are certainly not guiltless in this arena) we do tend to fixate on emotional fantasies. I am certainly not blameless in this area but I find that in moments where I catch my mind slipping if I can bring it back to the Cross, and refocus my desire there, Satan becomes powerless.

For true love doesn’t use another for my pleasure. Looking at the Cross reminds us of that. True love is not use, it is gift. And this gift of self is so far from self-seeking pleasure that it oftentimes results in the actual antithesis of pleasure: pain.

Painful Love

To love the men in our lives in a simultaneously passionate and pure way necessarily means that we are going to suffer. Holding our burning hearts in the purifying flames of love is going to be painful as we allow all that is not of God to be burned away. But Christ shows us on the Cross that the cost of love is pain.

This is a reality that the Lord definitely revealed to me this past summer when I asked Him to teach me how to love and He consequently broke my heart. And ladies, having my heart broken by the Lord hurt. I mean actual physical, emotional, and spiritual anguish. There were times when I would wake up in the middle of the night weeping heavy, salty tears in my pillow and repeating the phrase “Jesus, I trust in you” because I could not say anything else. In those moments I wasn’t even sure that I trusted in the Lord and that He had a plan for my suffering but I couldn’t allow myself to think that the sword that was piercing my heart was for nothing. And it wasn’t.

When the Lord allows hearts to be pierced it is always for some purpose. At the Crucifixion there were two hearts that were pierced: one was Jesus’ and one was Mary’s. Jesus’ heart was pierced so that he might share with us His abundance of mercy. Mary’s heart was pierced so that in it being broken open by the Lord she was able to receive not only the suffering Christ into her heart but all suffering people everywhere as well. This means that loving the men in our lives means that to encounter them it will pierce our own hearts, just as the heart of Mary was pierced as she encountered her son dying on the cross.

So we called to love the men in our lives in a passionate, pure, and painful way. How this is lived out practically with each of the men in your lives is going to be different based on the circumstances of their relationship with you. This is because at times that relationship is going to call for an emphasis on spousal love (Passion), an emphasis on fraternal love (Purity), or an emphasis on maternal love (Pain). Just remember that our feminine hearts were created to love the masculine in all of these ways and as long as we keep the Cross always before us as our school of Love, we are loving as the Lord desires us to love.

Keep courage and persevere always, my sisters, in the struggle to attain a clean heart.

*********************

Alyssa is a Junior studying Humanities and Catholic Culture, Theology, and Philosophy. She is a native of Texas where she lives with her family in a blue-roofed house on top of a hill. She is passionate about the Truth of the Lord's Incarnation and loves spending time discovering and discussing ways in which others have incarnated the Gospel in film, history, literature, politics, and art. Her favorite saints are St. Teresa of Avila and St. Catherine of Siena because they both personify St. John Paul II's "feminine genius" in her mind.

Happy Lord's Day: soft and childlike hearts

The Pharisees approached Jesus and asked,

"Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?"

They were testing him.

He said to them in reply, "What did Moses command you?"

They replied, "Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her."

But Jesus told them,

"Because of the hardness of your hearts

he wrote you this commandment.

But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female.

For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother

and be joined to his wife,

and the two shall become one flesh.

So they are no longer two but one flesh.

Therefore what God has joined together,

no human being must separate.'"

In the house the disciples again questioned Jesus about this.

He said to them,

"Whoever divorces his wife and marries another

commits adultery against her;

and if she divorces her husband and marries another,

she commits adultery."

And people were bringing children to him that he might touch them,

but the disciples rebuked them.

When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them,

"Let the children come to me;

do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.

Amen, I say to you, 

whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child

will not enter it."

Then he embraced them and blessed them,

placing his hands on them.

Mk 10:2-16

When I first read this Gospel, I was a little confused.

First Jesus is talking about God's original plan for marriage and how divorce, though it was permitted by Moses, is not actually cool. Then it seems like we've reached a totally different subject and He starts talking about children.

My first reaction was, 'Yeah, these are both great, but what the heck do they have to do with each other?"

And then my intelligence kicked in and I realized that the Church wouldn't put these two together for this Sunday's Gospel reading if they didn't have something to do with one another (side tangent, here's a good example of why the Magisterium is the ultimate interpreter of Scripture and not me--I don't see the big picture without a little nudge from those wiser than I).

Divorce was not a part of God's original plan for man and woman. It was permitted under the Mosaic law because of the hardness of the Israelites' hearts. Their hearts had become hardened, jaded, stony. They were no longer soft, trusting, easily loving. 

I can relate, Israelites. It seems to me that the older I grow, the more jaded I am. With each passing year, as I move further into adult life and reality, I have to fight even harder to not let my heart become hardened by this world and all of the stresses that come with it.

You know who has hearts that are soft? Hearts that haven't been hardened or jaded by this world? Hearts that are trusting? Hearts that easily love and are easy to love?

Children.

See the connection yet?

In this Gospel passage, Jesus is telling us that if we want to enter the kingdom of Heaven, we need to allow our hearts to be softened. We need to look to the example of children, who don't allow negativity to stop them from fully living, who don't allow worry and anxiety to get in the way of trusting that their every need will be provided for, who love without counting the cost or caring if they're loved in return. 

With childlike simplicity, we don't need concessions that keep us from living the way God intended us to in the first place.

With childlike simplicity, we can trust that all we have and all we are come from the hands of a loving Father who will never abandon or forsake us.

With childlike simplicity, we can know that even if following God's plan doesn't feel easy, He will give us the grace we need to overcome any obstacle and find the true treasure that He promises us.

I don't know about you, but that sounds a heck of a lot better than what the Israelites had under the Mosaic law.

Lord, soften my heart with Your love. Help me to learn from the example of the children around me. Help me to turn to You like a child, with all trust that You will provide for my every need. Help me to surrender those things that threaten to harden my heart to You and Your people--worry, anxiety, selfishness, pride. Help me to know that Your plan is all good.

*************************

Catie Destatte is a senior Theology and Catechetics major. She has a passion for writing, Mama Mary, ministry to women, her younger siblings, and evangelization. Her life motto is Totus Tuus Maria, and she tries to live that out in her every moment. Along with being a member of Women's Ministry Core Team, she's involved in Capture My Heart Core Team, Liturgy Committee, and Totus Tuus Maria Household. Her five great loves are JPII, St. Peter, tea, praise and worship music, and the ocean. Along with Shannon, one of Catie's roles in Women's Ministry is to run this blog. You can find out more about her here.

Happy Lord's Day: a great responsibility

A reading from the Holy Gospel according to Mark:

"At that time, John said to Jesus,

'Teacher, we saw someone driving out demons in your name,

and we tried to prevent him because he does not follow us.'

Jesus replied, 'Do not prevent him. 

There is no one who performs a mighty deed in my name

who can at the same time speak ill of me.

For anyone who is not against us is for us.

Anyone who gives you a cup of water to drink

because you belong to Christ,

amen, I say to you, will surely not lose his reward.

'Whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in me to sin, 

it would be better for him if a great millstone

were put around his neck

and he were thrown into the sea.

If your hand causes you to sin, cut it off.

It is better for you to enter into life maimed

than with two hands to go into Gehenna,

into the unquenchable fire.

And if your foot causes you to sin, cut it off.

It is better for you to enter into life crippled

than with two feet to be thrown into Gehenna.

And if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out.

Better for you to enter into the kingdom of God with one eye

than with two eyes to be thrown into Gehenna,

where 'their worm does not die, and the fire is not quenched.''"

Mk 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

Whoa. I don't know about you, but this Sunday's Gospel feels a little heavy. "Whoever causes one of these little ones who believes in me to sin, it would be better for him if a great millstone were put around his neck and he were thrown into the sea."

Ouch. It would be better to be thrown into the sea with a millstone tied around our necks than to cause one of these little ones to sin. 

Our Lord's words seem pretty tough, but that's because He's trying to teach us something important about sin. 

Sisters, we carry a great responsibility. I'm going to make an assumption and say that if you've chosen to come to Franciscan to study, it's because you're serious about your faith. We are so privileged to be in such a formative environment where we have incredible opportunities to grow in our faith. As a senior, I think I can safely say that there's nowhere like Franciscan.

But to risk sounding cliché, with that great privilege comes a great responsibility. We are being formed in our faith to an extent that most other Catholics in our country aren't. This is a great gift, but it also means that we're held to a higher standard.

Because sisters, Jesus' words in this Gospel passage are directed to us. We know the seriousness of sin. We know the seriousness of leading others into sin. Therefore, when we do it, it's far worse than if we didn't know.

Jesus' words to us seem pretty drastic. Cut off your hand and foot? Pluck out your eye?

He's saying a lot of drastic things to make a point to us:

Get to heaven, daughters, and take as many people there with you as possible.

We're privileged to be His followers, sisters. Let's embrace the responsibility that comes with that privilege. Let's remember that there's nothing Jesus wants more for us than for us to spend eternity with Him in Heaven. Let's do everything we can to root out the sin in our lives so that we can get there, and let's do everything we can to take as many people with us as possible.

****************

Catie Destatte is a senior Theology and Catechetics major. She has a passion for writing, Mama Mary, ministry to women, her younger siblings, and evangelization. Her life motto is Totus Tuus Maria, and she tries to live that out in her every moment. Along with being a member of Women's Ministry Core Team, she's involved in Capture My Heart Core Team, Liturgy Committee, and Totus Tuus Maria Household. Her five great loves are JPII, St. Peter, tea, praise and worship music, and the ocean. Along with Shannon, one of Catie's roles in Women's Ministry is to run this blog. You can find out more about her here.

Faithful Waiting

A few weeks ago, the first reading for mass was from Exodus 32. I've heard this passage a thousand times (okay, maybe that's a slight exaggeration, but only a slight one), but for some reason, this time it struck me deeply, and I've been praying with it ever since.

"When the people saw that Moses was delayed in coming down from the mountain, they gathered around Aaron and said to him, 'Come, make us a god who will go before us; as for that man Moses who brought us out of the land of Egypt, we do not know what has happened to him.'" Exodus 32:1

In the past, whenever I've heard this reading, I've always shaken my head at the Israelites. Dim-witted Israelites, they're ridiculous, I think to myself. It's not that hard, geez. 

I'm convinced that it's moments like that when God laughs.

How often do I become impatient in waiting for the Lord? How often do I lose hope when He doesn't seem to be acting as quickly as I think He should? How often do I think that God is delayed from coming to me and turn to other gods to try to satisfy that impatient spirit within me?

The answer, when I'm truly honest with myself, is sobering.

I'm so quick to turn to other things when I don't think that He's moving as quickly as He should be. Sure, I don't melt all of my gold jewelry and make a giant calf out of it, but I do turn to other things. I look for satisfaction in other people, in worldly things, in my own plans for my life.

Rather than waiting on the Lord to act, I take things into my own hands. And let me tell you, it doesn't usually work out for me. God's prophet doesn't send people to slaughter me, but I end up sinking rather than walking across that water (see Mt 14:29). 

Patience is a tough one. It's difficult to wait on the Lord. It's hard to trust that He's working even when we don't feel it, even when we can't see the fruits of it. So often my limited faith leads me to believe that if I don't feel the Lord working, it's because He's delayed in coming down to me. 

What I forget is that He doesn't need to come down to me. He dwells within me. He is never delayed. His timing is perfect. 

I hope that the next time I think that the Lord is moving slower than I would like Him to, I remember this passage. And I hope that the next time you think He isn't working, you remember this post. Learn from the mistakes of the Israelites. Learn from my mistakes. Learn from your own. 

God's timing doesn't always make sense, but it is exactly what we need.

Lord, root out the other gods of my life that I've created in my impatience. Grant me a growth in that virtue of heroic patience. Help me to trust in Your perfect timing. Open my eyes to Your constant presence, so that I don't miss what You're doing now because I'm too busy waiting for You to come down from the mountain.

*******************

Catie Destatte is a senior Theology and Catechetics major. She has a passion for writing, Mama Mary, ministry to women, her younger siblings, and evangelization. Her life motto is Totus Tuus Maria, and she tries to live that out in her every moment. Along with being a member of Women's Ministry Core Team, she's involved in Capture My Heart Core Team, Liturgy Committee, and Totus Tuus Maria Household. Her five great loves are JPII, St. Peter, tea, praise and worship music, and the ocean. Along with Shannon, one of Catie's roles in Women's Ministry is to run this blog. You can find out more about her here.

A Love Letter to FUS Freshmen Women

Dear YOU,

Yes, you. You reading this post. You freshman woman at Franciscan University. You who feel isolated, overwhelmed, anxious, afraid. You who feel, paradoxically, at the same time, excited, confident, peaceful, and ready.

I'm a senior here at Franciscan. I'm one of those girls you see running around campus like a madwoman. I may seem distracted or uninterested, like I don't care about you or don't understand what you're going through, but that's not true.

I know how you feel.

I, too, feel isolated. I'm feel like no one understands what I'm going through. Like no one cares. I feel homesick and confused and alone sometimes. I'm living off campus this year, for the first time not in the same building as my best friends. I feel removed, like I'm not yet fully a part of campus. I feel the pain of this transition into a new home, just as you do.

I, too, feel overwhelmed. There's always so much going on: so much to do, so many people to meet and spend time with. I have studies, ministries, friends, family. I fall in to the trap all the time of thinking that I need to do more more more and get more involved in order to truly belong here. I feel like there's no way I can accomplish it all and feel the pressure of needing to.

I, too, feel anxious. Anxious for the future, anxious for my classes, anxious for the changes that inevitably come with growing older.

I, too, feel afraid. Afraid of the unknown. Afraid of the mountains in front of me that seem so big that I don't see how I'll be able to overcome them. Afraid of my own weaknesses and shortcomings. Afraid of having my heart broken by this world. Afraid of not being enough.

I, too, feel excited. Excited for all that this year holds. Excited to meet new people, to grow in faith and fellowship with my household, to learn what God has planned for my future.

I, too, feel confident. Confident that no matter where this journey takes me, I'll be blessed and happy. Confident that I will be able to overcome any obstacle the world places in my way, that I will be able to accomplish all that I need to with the grace of our Lord.

I, too, feel peaceful. Peaceful in the knowledge that I have a faithful God on my side who is always with me, guiding and protecting me. Peaceful knowing that even if the future is scary, the battle for my soul is already won.

I, too, feel ready. Ready for all of the joys and sorrows, triumphs and struggles that this year is sure to bring. Ready to grow in faith and love with the Lord. Ready to face His plans for my future. Ready to become the woman that He created me to be.

I know what you're feeling. I felt it all too when I was a freshman, and I feel it now as a senior. And, dear sister, I want you to know that I care. You aren't just another face in the crowd to me. You're my sister in Christ, and even if I seem completely indifferent, know that I'm not. I'm here for you, and so are countless other women of campus who know and understand all that you're feeling now.

You are not alone, dear one. Don't let the evil one whisper that lie into your ear.

Sweet sister, I love you. I'm praying for you.

Courage, dear heart.

It will get easier, I promise.

And in the meantime, I've got chocolate and tea.

Meet the Team

Welcome to Women's Ministry 2015-2016!

Women's Ministry Core Team for the 2015-2016 year

There are twelve of us on team, and we're so excited to be serving you women of campus this year! We've already been hard at work planning events for the year, and we recently re-wrote our Women's Ministry Mission Statement! Rather than explain what women's ministry is here, we're going to let the mission statement do the explaining for us, so here it is!

Women's Ministry Mission Statement

Franciscan University of Steubenville Women’s Ministry is a group of student leaders who seek to accompany women on the journey towards embodied holiness. Our goal is to help the women of campus discover their feminine identity, which is incarnated most perfectly in the Virgin Mary and nourished by the True Presence of Christ in the Eucharist.

This feminine identity has been unveiled throughout the life of the Church, especially in the Wisdom of many great Saints who truly understand the identity and unique presence of women in society and culture. This feminine identity stems from the reality that a woman, by her very nature, is receptive, maternal, sensitive, and generous -- first in her relationship with Christ and then in her relationships with others. We see these four qualities modeled in the Virgin Mary who perfectly fulfills her feminine vocation by being receptive to the will of God, by maternally loving with the sacrificial love of Christ, by being sensitive to the needs of her spiritual children, and by generously making a total gift of herself to Trinitarian Love. Mary knew in her heart who she was before God because of her intimate union with Him.

We, as women, are called to that same intimacy. This intimacy is offered to us in the Eucharist where we can be present to our Lord by making a gift of ourselves through total surrender to Him. In the spirit of St. Francis of Assisi, we too are called to cry out in prayer: “Who are you O Lord, and who am I?” It is only through true knowledge of our Eucharistic Bridegroom revealed in our relationship with Him that we can know who we are: beloved daughters who are created to love because He first loved us.

Under the guidance of the Office of Evangelization, Women’s Ministry hopes to provide opportunities for women to encounter Christ so they can become “impregnated with the spirit of the Gospel”[1] and bear the light of Christ to the world. This is done through the means of intercession, monthly events, semester retreats, presence in social media, and fostering discipleship among the women of campus. Most of all, we desire to accompany women as they discover their identity rooted in the love of Christ found most intimately in the Eucharist.

---

[1] Pope Paul VI, “Address of Pope Paul VI to Women” Presented at the Closing of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, Rome, December 8, 1965. 

Meet the Team:

My name is Sr. Anna Rose, and I am beginning my second year of working with the lovely ladies of the FUS Women's Ministry team.  I am a temporarily professed sister with the TOR Sisters (www.franciscansisterstor.org), and am also a graduate of Franciscan University.  While I was here as a student I studied History and Theology.  I'm originally from Cleveland, Ohio, and am the oldest of three girls.  I am excited to be working and serving you, the women of campus, through the Women's Ministry team, as it give me a chance to see the beauty of femininity lived out so uniquely - through each of you! Currently my favorite saint is Bl. Chiara Luce Badano, a young girl from Italy who died at age 19 from cancer - the heroic way in which she loved and suffered is incredibly beautiful!  She died in just 1990 and was a memeber of the Focolare movement.  She was known to say, throughout her illness, "If you want this, Jesus, then I want it too!"  She asked to be buried in a white dress, which she called her wedding gown, because she was preparing to see Jesus, who she knew was her true Bridegroom. 

Hello:) My name is Haley Ketschke and I am a senior Early Childhood and Special Education major. I am from a small rural town in Massachusettes called Westport about 45 minutes south of Boston....there are more cows in my town then people! My favorite saint is Pope Saint John Paul II because through his teachings on womanhood and Theology of the Body, I have grown ever more in love with Jesus Christ. JPII's deep and profound understanding of the feminine heart has helped me grow in an authentic understanding of what it means to be a woman, and of what it means to be a woman who is a leader. As the Student LEAD of Women's Ministry for the 2015-2016 school year I really feel called to serve the women of campus through prayer and to be able to help facilitate some great events that help us ALL to grow in a deeper understanding of who we were created to be: the Crown of Creation.

Hi, my name is Sarah Creel. I am from Williamstown, New Jersey.  I am a sophomore nursing major.  My favorite saint, this is the hardest question ever but if I had to choose it would probably be Saint Therese of Lisieux because she found me and when I was looking for a friend in the saints.  She is such a good example of simplicity and loving The Lord above all.  I feel called this year to serve on Women’s Ministry because I have always loved to serve and minister to women back at home.  I feel it is very important to show women how special we all are to the world but most importantly to Our Lord.  Many times I have failed to believe this truth, that we are His princesses, His beautiful, radiant pearls, this is why I want to serve the women of this campus to share this truth with you all and help you know your worth and how special each and every single one of you are.

Hello my name is Alyssa Snyder and I am a Junior Humanities and Catholic Culture and Theology double major. I am a small-town girl and would prefer to be at home in Salado, Texas than anywhere else in the world. My favorite saints are St. Teresa of Avila and St. Catherine of Siena because they exemplified the "feminine genius" with their lives by being devout women of prayer who were zealous for the salvation of souls and unafraid to stand up for Truth while still being obedient to their Mother Church. I feel called to serve on Women's Ministry due to my personal experience of struggling to discover my feminine identity in the Lord in the midst of a culture confused about women's nature and baffled by their true power which is only made manifest when they surrender everything to the Lord as Mary did at her Annunciation. 

My name is Toni Brown and I am a Senior studying International Business from Bennington, New Hampshire. My  favorite Saint is Blessed Mother Teresa because of her beautiful desire to love and serve God through her every encounter with others. I feel called to serve on Women's Ministry particularly to encourage the women of campus to dream big and aim high in their pursuits. I feel strongly that God wants to use women of the 21st century in ways we cannot even imagine.

Hi, I’m Eleni and I’m a junior nursing major. I’m from Pasadena, Maryland, also known as the Dirty Dena (for reasons I am unaware, it’s a pretty mild suburban town). I am struggling so much to pick a favorite saint (I even consulted an online “saint generator” to no avail). So, I’m going with my Confirmation saint who is St. Elizabeth of Hungary. I can respect a royal woman who humbled herself enough to spend her days caring for the poor and suffering instead of living a life of luxury. I feel called to serve on Women’s Ministry because I have spent too much time misunderstanding my own femininity and God given dignity. As I learn about women in the light of Catholicism, the more it’s like finding out great news that I literally want to tell everyone about. Anyway, Women’s Ministry seems like a solid, organized way to go about that so, here I am :).

My name is Brigid Rhea and I hail from Kansas City, Missouri, land of barbeque, fountains, and a pretty decent baseball team. I'm a junior majoring in Nursing, although some days I feel like I should chase my childhood dream of being a Meteorologist with the side job of holding sleeping babies. I don't have a favorite saint because I feel like that's asking someone to pick their favorite ice breaker, which should never ever be a question because all ice breakers are awful. However, I'm really into Blessed Humilani Cerchi right now. Basically, she married a wealthy nobleman at a young age who was, for lack of a better word, a jerk. Her virtuous character never changed throughout their marriage and when her husband became chronically ill, she took care of him with true compassion. After he died, she inherited all his money- but, oh wait! She renounced it all and became a beggar who spent the remainder of her life dedicated to the Lord and helping those who had no one to help themselves. She is a true example of being a selfless servant despite being treated with ingratitude and cruelty, something I am really working on in my own life. I feel called to serve on Women's Ministry because I want to help break the stigma of brokenness there seems to be on campus. I think a lot of women feel like since they go to Franciscan they have to be perfect and pray 4 rosaries a day and never experience temptations and I absolutely hate it. I want the women of campus to embrace their brokenness and their crosses and be genuine and unashamed of all that the Lord created them to be. My goal this year is to share my own brokenness with the women I will encounter so we can all come together as stronger, more fearless, and more loving women of God striving daily for healing and virtue. 

Okay, my name is Haley Heiberger, and I am a junior theology/catechetics major from Sioux Falls, South Dakota. It is almost impossible for me to choose a favorite Saint, but aside from Our Lady, I usually say Saint John Vianney, because that man is awesome. He was told that he wasn't smart enough to be a priest, and he failed out of seminary. After eventually being ordained, he changed thousands of lives, mostly in the confessional! And after being told he wasn't qualified, he became the patron of priests. So he definitely inspires me; "The Lord doesn't call the qualified. He qualifies the called". Lastly, I feel called to serve on women's ministry because I'm most definitely not qualified, but the Lord has really put in on my heart to serve the women of campus however I can and to learn more what it means to be a woman of faith with them! <3

Hi, my name is Mari Seaberg. I am a junior nursing major from Gilbert, Arizona.  My favorite saint is St. Alphonsus Liguori, a Doctor of the Church. I love to read his writings because they are so beautiful, gentle, and straight forward. I feel called to give myself in service to the women of this campus because the Lord has repeatedly shown me what a precious gift femininity is, lived out so uniquely by each individual woman. I hope to give of myself and to become a better daughter of the Father in the process.

My name is Jessica Marie Campana, I am a Senior Nursing major and Spanish minor from McHenry, IL. My Favorite Saint is Saint Gianna Molla- She is the fist Married Lay Saint, and she was also a pediatrician. She's basically my role model for life! I want to be a pediatric nurse, and her writings about her love of her vocation as a healthcare provider are so beautiful. She is such a great example of living out her vocation as woman! I by no means have everything figured out, but I am doing my best to live as authentically as I can. I feel that God has called me to women's ministry to simply walk with the women of campus on their faith journeys. 

My name is Abby Murphy and I am from Scranton, PA. I am a Sophomore Theology and Catechetics major. There are too many inspiring Saints to pick a favorite, but one of the Saints I am most devoted to is St. Maximilian Kolbe. Besides being born on his feast day, two of the main things that prompted my devotion to him are his Marian devotion and the way he laid down his life for a complete stranger in the concentration camp at Auschwitz. I think that most women today are starving for the real truth of the feminine genius, not the overly sexualized mentality that the culture is trying to constantly push.  To be able to show women their true dignity and worth in the context of the Theology of the Body is the primary reason I felt called to serve on women's ministry.

Hello, everyone! My name is Catie Destatte. I hail from the great Toledo, Ohio. I'm a Senior Theology and Catechetics major. I have so so so many great saints that I adore, but my main lady is sweet Mama Mary. It's probably a cop-out to choose her as my favorite saint, but she will always be number one in my little heart. I have a huge devotion to her as the mother of my soul, and I strive daily to be a woman like her. I feel called to serve on Women's Ministry for a whole multitude of reasons. My heart desires so much that every woman will know her dignity and worth as a daughter of the Father, especially in a society that pushes so many lies on all of us about who we're supposed to be. It's my hope that through my presence in this ministry, I'll be able to bring Christ to the hearts of my sisters on campus.

Hi! My name is Shannon Murray and I am a Junior Early Childhood and Special Education major. My hometown is Bethel Park, Pennsylvania which is right outside of the city of Pittsburgh. One of my favorite Saints is St. Therese of Lisieux, "The Little Flower." St. Therese has inspired me to go to the Lord as a child and to serve Him and others through little ways as well as any way that I can! I am so blessed to be a part of Women's Ministry and desire to serve the beautiful women of campus and share how the Lord has worked in my own life!