Women, young and old, from Michigan, Indiana and Ohio gather at Sacred Heart for an annual day of fellowship and renewal
DETROIT — Approximately 250 women from across the Midwest gathered Aug. 9 at Sacred Heart Major Seminary in Detroit for the annual Black Catholic Women’s Conference, a daylong conference organized by the Archdiocese of Detroit's Office of Cultural Ministries.
The day’s highlights included a presentation from keynote speaker M. Shawn Copeland, Ph.D., professor emerita of systematic theology at Boston College and theologian-in-residence at Saint Katharine Drexel Parish in Boston. Copeland also is the author of several books, including "Enfleshing Freedom: Body, Race, and Being." The conference also included Mass with Detroit Archbishop Edward J. Weisenburger and small group sessions for all ages.
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In his homily, Archbishop Weisenburger told the women that they are the “leaven” for the Bread of Life in the world today.
“To be that leaven out in the world does not mean that you need skills, per se, to preach — you just need the Gospel to continue to unfold in you and then be present to others,” Archbishop Weisenburger said. “God did not create a single human being for mediocrity. Every one of us has the gifts of the Spirit — what we need to be this presence in the world. I will do my part the best I can; please do all you can to be the leaven to the world that brings the Gospel to life.”
Copeland’s talk centered on the conference’s theme: “Are you Anchored in God? Greater is he that is in you than he that is in the world,” drawing upon the First Letter of St. John.
Both the people of St. John’s Gospel and Christians today are living in a storm, Copeland said, and it is important to remain anchored in God.
“We've been in the storm a very long time,” Copeland told the women gathered. “The world in which John's community lived does not differ so very much from our own. Our current and turbulent social, cultural, political, and economic context and our contemporary local, national, and global context are compound, complex and precarious. We know the facts because we live them.”
Within this storm, God calls all of His followers to leadership, Copeland said, pointing to the book of Esther for context.
“‘Who knows, perhaps you have come to leadership for a time such as this,’” Copeland said, quoting the Old Testament scriptures. “Your call is to be anchored in God, like that ancient community gathered around the teaching of Jesus. Like that ancient community, your very Christian way of living agape in hope and action-oriented compassion and solidarity is set against the principalities and powers and rulers of a corrupt age, against spirits of evil sitting in high places.”
When Christians are anchored in God, they will not wander, Copeland added. Rather, they will be able to hold steadfast, “watching and listening,” and practice “radical hope.”
“God will guide us through the storm in our neediest time because, as our ancestors also taught us, God may not come when you call, but God is always on time,” Copeland said.
