Iklas J. Bashi | The Michigan Catholic
Conference attendees share fellowship, join in song, and discuss feminine genius and God’s mercy
STERLING HEIGHTS — Before hundreds of women at the Archdiocese of Detroit’s Catholic Women’s Conference, Archbishop Allen Vigneron spoke of the connection between feminine genius and the outpouring of God’s love that is manifested in God’s mercy.
“Women are nurturing companions from the cradle to death, building up the Body of Christ,” the archbishop said Saturday, Oct. 29, during his keynote address after morning Mass at the Sterling Inn Banquet and Conference Center in Sterling Heights.
The annual conference, now in its ninth year, routinely draws women from throughout the Archdiocese of Detroit and beyond. This year, the event began with a Friday dinner and lasted through Saturday afternoon it featured keynote addresses from the archbishop, Divine Mercy Center founder Catherine Lanni, Home Visitor of Mary Sr. Mary Finn and pastor Fr. Joe Horn.
The two days of spirited fellowship were aided, also, by music from the Metro Catholic Gospel Choir and Scripture dramatizations from the Living Faith Fine Arts Apostolate, which last year performed the Living Stations of the Cross at Detroit’s Blessed Sacrament Cathedral.
During his keynote address, Archbishop Vigneron addressed attendees by citing Blessed Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Mulieris Dignitatem (On the Dignity and Vocation of Women) in describing mercy as an indispensible dimension of love.
He said, “Mercy is love’s second name.”
Describing the Blessed Mother as an agent of mercy, he said, “The DNA of the feminine genius is exemplified in the Blessed Virgin Mary. Our ‘yes’ always involves a response. You have to listen then affirm. It involves an active receptivity. Mary becomes the instrument for mercy Himself — the love of God for sinners to come into the world.”
Whether they are in the home, workplace, cloister, teaching, politics, or living life as consecrated, women were encouraged to live out their feminine genius in daily life regardless of their role in society.
The archbishop described the vocation of women as agents of change.
“We can find feminine originality in women and their different dimensions. Originality means to go back and look at the beginning. Looking at the origin of God’s plan in the way he created women. It is about our capacity for companionship, our openness to others, and our ability to give and receive love.”
He encouraged women to “teach men to prize the feminine genius for itself.”
He said because “women are equipped with the gift of sensitivity, they play an important role in the Church. The life of the Church would be impossible without women.”
Following the Archbishop’s talk, Catherine Lanni, founder of The Divine Mercy Center in Eastpointe, presented on “A Call to Trust, the Time is Now” which is the title of the book she authored about her own experiences of being touched by divine mercy.
Lanni described her miraculous healing following the birth of her fourth child through the intercession of the Blessed Mother.
“When we go to the Blessed Mother, she is there, always there. She calms everything,” Lanni said.
Women were reminded of the importance of silent prayer and how our Lady implores us to pray.
“Listening to a rosary or divine mercy CD in the car while you are running errands and driving your children is not enough,” she told the crowd of several hundred women. She encouraged women to “take time to be with the Lord.”
“We cannot expect the miraculous or mystical experiences or an anointing when we are constantly in motion,” she said.
“Now is the time for His great mercy in a brand new way,” she added. “God is raising up a holy laity and from this will come a holy priesthood.”
Just as St. Faustina saw rays of light shine from the pierced heart of Jesus, so Lanni encouraged women to imagine the cross of Christ illuminated and great graces pouring from heaven for us. “We should have huge expectations. We are talking about God. Ask away and receive! Stay focused on the cross as if it is illuminated.”
She discussed the importance of “emptying ourselves of everything that is not God and going to the Sacraments, Confession and Eucharist, to be filled with the great gift, God himself. He helps separate any obstacles that prevent us from being in union with him. Then we are in the best possible position to say ‘yes’ to him.” She said trust is very important. “The last hour abounds with mercy for us. Trust in his mercy. It gives us the invincible power of his constancy.”
The message of mercy really hit home for DeAnna Pirtle, of Davison, who attended the conference with her mother. She said her mother needed to hear it because she has been struggling with issues of letting go and forgiveness. “The message was an eye-opener for me,” she said, “because I realized how subtle the devil can be in tempting us.”
Ahlam Shango, of West Bloomfield, said the speakers ignited a fire in her. She was encouraged to go out and live the message even more. “I feel so affirmed, more accepted and valued. I want to live to be an instrument of mercy for others,” she said.
Kelly McKeough, of Gun Lake, said the talks helped her “be more honest in her confession” and she experienced “freedom in her soul.” She added, “The archbishop displayed mercy to us women through the respectful way he spoke to us and his presence among us.”
“It has been very inspiring and wonderful to come to be with this community of women,” said Sue Schafer, of Sterling Heights. “I have felt the Holy Spirit really move.”
Iklas J. Bashi is a Licensed Professional Counselor who specializes in combining her training in psychology and the Catholic faith. She works as a writer, speaker, and life coach. She writes a regular column, “The Counselor is In,” in the Chaldean News.
