Showing All Brothers and Sisters Love and compassion

…no matter what their background…

After a week off to celebrate the resurrection of our Savior, the NCCW blog is back in action!  This week, we are graced with a guest blogger, Ms. Catherine Jarboe!  Ms. Jarboe is the Director of Information and Issues Management here at NCCW.

In his address to the New World Congress on the Pastoral Care of Immigrants in 1985, Blessed Pope John Paul II, stated: “Every human being has the right to freedom of movement and of residence within the confines of his own country. When there are just reasons in favor of it, he must be permitted to migrate to other countries and to take up residence there. The fact that he is a citizen of a particular state does not deprive him of membership in the human family, nor of citizenship in the universal society, the common, world-wide fellowship…” Holy Father clearly reminds us of the God-given dignity of all our fellow human beings. This means that all nations, especially ours which is so richly blessed, have an obligation to facilitate legal migration to the greatest extent we are able. As Catholic women, we are called to welcome the migrant, the traveler, the sufferer. We are called to welcome the immigrant family.

While Congress currently has failed to address this critical issue, hundreds of state legislators and local governments are taking the reins, passing laws in the name of progress and reform. For example, laws passed in Alabama and Arizona, halted now as they are challenged in courts; include provisions that prevent renters without legal status from receiving water service, renewing their mobile home licenses or signing rental agreements. These laws make it is a crime to “transport” a person without status, including giving a wage-earning father a ride to his workplace. When it is illegal to reach out and help our neighbor, these statutes strip Catholic women of our religious freedoms to exercise our faith. Misguided and mean-spirited efforts to keep people in the dark, without water and without a home, without access to the dignity of work, are reminiscent of pre-civil war era efforts to strip human rights and dignity from those of color.

Our immigrant brothers and sisters are hiding in fear, afraid to settle down and plan for their future here in this land they love so much. More than half of the 11 million immigrants without status have been here five years or longer, working in our local economy, renting homes, volunteering at church, sending their children to our local school. More than four million can’t leave, as that would mean tearing apart their families and leaving behind their US citizen children. (Despite this, almost one third of those deported in the US are forced to leave behind their American-born children.)

As Catholic women, we are not only called to honor our fellow human beings but to love them, as Christ himself has told us to do. This is especially true of the immigrant, of those who have travelled great distances, endured countless hardships and established themselves in our community as neighbors. At this time, more than ever, it is imperative that we be the welcoming, family-centered, loving voice of Catholic women with our state legislators, in our community, and in our parish.

~Catherine Jarboe

Caring for the least of these

With Holy Week upon us, let us take a moment to pause and reflect on our duty as Christians to love our neighbors around us.    How do we love those around us?  We show our love of Christ by caring for those in need – our neighbors  - helping them in times of trouble. 

We, as good Catholics, care for the least of our brothers and sisters when we volunteer at soup kitchens and donate to homeless shelters.  We care for the least of our brothers and sisters by genuinely meeting them where they are, and providing for their needs when they cannot provide for themselves. 

We help alleviate the problem by giving of our time, talent, and treasure to those around us. 

We must remember that we are the hands and feet of Christ here on this earth. 

NCCW has long been an advocate for the poor and those in need , working with organizations like Catholic Relief Services and Catholic Charities.. We are able to demonstrate our Christian love and compassion by realizing our own call to be Christ to those around us. 

Take a look around you this week. Find ways to be Christ’s hands and feet on this earth.  It is during Holy Week that the Church focuses on Christ’s passion and death.  Let us remember that it is His passion and death that freed us to love Him, treating others as He would have treated them.

Women’s History Month

How NCCW has made a difference and is continuing to do so.

March is Women’s History month so it seems appropriate to look at one of the women in NCCW’s history who not only made great contributions to our organization, but who served as a role model for us today.    As she proved, being a strong, Catholic woman is more than enough to move mountains. 

Agnes Regan, The National Council of Catholic Women’s first Executive Director, then called Executive Secretary, was exactly that: an inspiring Catholic woman.  Regan was elected the NCCW’s first second vice president, and later, elevated to the Council’s Executive Secretary position.  When the NCCW established the National Catholic School of Social Service in May of 1920, Regan was appointed an assistant director at the school.  Ruth O’Halloran remarks in her chronicle of the NCCW, “National Council of Catholic Women: The First 75 Years”, “Regan’s intelligence and dedication in her executive role account for much of NCCW’s early success.  Without her unstinting labor at the National School of Social Service it is doubtful if that institution could have survived.” (O’Halloran, 26)  Although the school, like most, struggled financially when beginning, Regan’s attitude was much what kept it afloat. Shortly after Regan’s death in 1943, the National Catholic School of Social Service merged with a Social Service School on the Catholic University of America’s campus and still operates to this day.  Agnes Regan’s tenacity and inspiration demonstrated what a strong Catholic woman of faith can achieve.

It’s especially fitting today on the Solemnity of the Annunciation to also look at Mary, our ultimate role model for being a good and true Catholic woman.  Our Lady truly exemplifies the virtues and strength that Catholic women everywhere aspire to.  She was meek (in her acceptance of God’s will in the Annunciation), yet strong (in her ability to continue through the seven swords that pierced her heart as Simeon foretold).  She was humble (in her proclamation of the greatness of God in her Magnificat in the Visitation), yet sure (in her words to the servers at the wedding feast at Cana).  She holds every virtue and quality that defines a true, good, feminine woman.  NCCW looks to her, Our Lady of Good Counsel, for guidance and protection.  It is through Mary that we find the definition of true beauty, and that we realize that each of us is beautiful in the eyes of God, with or without our mandatory makeup and hairspray.

As we think about Women’s History Month, let’s also look at the women in our own lives to find confidant, strong, good Catholic women, including our mothers, sisters, aunts, and friends who are also models of strength and achievement.  After all, without women, where would the world be?

God Bless,
Caitlin McMullen, Assistant, Operations and Meetings

~NCCW

Domestic Violence

and its offense to women’s dignity

Just as Congress begins to look at reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act,  NCCW reignites its efforts to educate members about our call to end domestic violence.

NCCW has long been an advocate for victims of domestic abuse, advocating for policies that protect children and families on Capitol Hill, developing educational materials (such as the updated Domestic Violence Resource Packet) and working in coalition with faith leaders to brainstorm solutions and address mutual concerns.  The NCCW Domestic Violence resource packet includes the “Women Healing The Wounds” brochure that can serve as an aide and guide when helping victims of domestic abuse.

NCCW has begun to address the issue of teen dating violence, and in October (Domestic Violence Awareness Month) co-sponsored a Capitol Hill briefing on this important issue.  The issue itself has always been heinous; however, the issue came to national attention with last month’s verdict in the death of University of Virginia coed Yeardley Love.   In the past, the issue itself was often not separated, but treated as part of domestic violence as a whole and thus sometimes overlooked.

According to a National Coalition Against Domestic Violence study, one in four American women will encounter domestic violence in their lifetime- an estimated 1.6 million women a year!  While it is true that domestic violence can also happen with a male victim and a female perpetrator, this same study reports that 85% of domestic violence victims are women.  It is precisely because of these staggering statistics that we at the National Council of Catholic Women feel called to stand up and say something.  Domestic violence affects all women, whether victim or simply empathizer.  

Teen dating violence is harder to recognize, though sometimes more damaging to young woman.   Young women, by nature, are more vulnerable and trusting of their boyfriends.  In this way, they allow not only physical violence, but also emotional abuse to occur; sometimes, without even realizing what’s really happening. Teen dating violence can have long-term, damaging consequences because young women form a lasting impression of mature relationships, and may come to believe that this behavior is “acceptable.” 

Statistics show that domestic violence victims are sitting in your pews. Find out what your parish is doing to reach out, to educate, to advocate.  Does your pastor share Catholic teaching on this important issue in his homily? See that the USCCB brochure outlining the bishops’ statement, “When I Call for Help” is on your church’s brochure rack, along with brochures from nearby shelters and counseling centers. NCCW resources are useful tools to help combat these crimes.   It is time for us as women to stand up for each other, especially those that are most vulnerable.

Until next time,

God Bless,

~Caitlin McMullen, Assistant
NCCW

Human Trafficking and Pornography

and the link between the two

Hello again, blog followers! We are once again going to talk about the topic of NCCW’s “Campaign for Human Dignity.” This blog post will be dedicated to two of the most egregious violations against human dignity: human trafficking and pornography.  The eradication of both of these offenses is central to the National Council of Catholic Women’s Campaign for Human Dignity.

We here at NCCW are dedicated to the eradication of these two offenses against morality.  The NCCW has addressed human trafficking, both with a resolution and through the ongoing education of our members.  Affiliates on the local level raise money and awareness in order to fight this evil in society.  NCCW also supports efforts to fund federal programs that support survivors of trafficking.

One member of the NCCW Staff (Andrea Schellman) and a past president (Bobbie Hunt) sit on the executive committee of RAAP. RAAP is the Religious Alliance Against Pornography an interfaith organization founded in 1986 dedicated to the ending of pornography and the negative effects that it has on society. It is now known as PUREHope.

  Human trafficking is sometimes thought of as a foreign problem, but the sale and solicitation of young women, and young girls, is prevalent in America as well; these exchanges are happening right in our own backyard.  In fact, sources say as many as 14, 000 people are trafficked on American soil each year. Human trafficking exploits young girls, introduces them to a world of perverted sexuality before many of them have even hit puberty, and robs them of their innocence.  Human trafficking is slavery in its modern day form and it’s more prevalent than drug trafficking. After all, a human being can be sold over and over again. We encourage you to check out the NCCW resource information on this issue, here.

Pornography is, simply, a degradation of human sexuality.  In The Basic Principles of the religious alliance against Pornography, Joseph Cardinal Bernardin laid out an excellent articulation of the reasons why.  “It exploits and degrades the human person, it undermines families, it twists personal and social relations, [and] it reduces God’s gift of sexuality to a level that lacks a sense of personal dignity, human tenderness, mutual love, and ethical commitment that are part of the divine plan.”  There is simply no better way to explain why pornography is bad, nor is any further explanation needed.  Pornography is an attack on human dignity, plain and simple. It’s addicting and – as of 2011 – the leading cause of the breakup of marriages in the US. 

Up until this point, we have discussed two separate offenses to human dignity, without connecting them to one another.  However, not only can these two societal issues be connected, but also, they must be connected.  Influential faith leaders believe that pornography drives the market for human traffickers.   The opposition to pornography as defined in Cardinal Bernardin’s outline for RAAP is also an insight into our over sexualized culture as a whole.  It is those very things he outlined that contributed to human trafficking in the first place.  If we as a society recognized God’s gift of sexuality as what it is, a gift, we would hold it (and ourselves) in such esteem that human trafficking would never be tolerated.   As it is, all people, regardless of faith, gender, or economic status, have to fight against this travesty every day.

So, women of NCCW, our challenge to you this week is once again to educate yourself.  We, as Catholic women, stand as beacons of hope, and of strength, in today’s society.  We must be educated about issues that are most important to us in this world, in this organization and stand for them.  We must be CATHOLIC, universal, women, fighting for the just causes we believe in.

God Bless,

~NCCW

International Women’s Day

John Paul II’s Letter To Women, Mulieris Dignitatem, and the Dignity of Women

Hello again! In honor of International Women’s Day, which was yesterday March 8, 2012, this blog is dedicated to women, and how awesome we are just because we’re women! That’s right, this blog is totally and completely an empowerment of women blog! We’ll talk about the late great Blessed Pope John Paul II and all he did for the advancement and recognition of women’s dignity. We’ll look at two of his prominent writings on the dignity of women. Also, his papal audiences dedicated to the THEOLOGY OF THE BODY have some great things to say about women and their dignity and vocation just for being women.

Blessed Pope John Paul II had some great things to say about women. He truly knew how to capture the unique privilege women have in this world and translate it to the modern world. His LETTER TO WOMEN truly captures the sentiment of the day in regards to women’s issues and concerns. It was written for and presented to the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing in September 1995.We encourage you, if you have not, to read the letter. It can be easily accessed on the Vatican website. The thoughts and words presented in that letter are merely a reflection of ancient Church teachings.

(Blessed) Pope John Paul II begins by thanking women. He thanks them simply for the fact that they are women. He thanks them by “thanks to women, to every woman, for all that they represent in the life of humanity” (Letter to Women, Number 2). He then breaks down every facet of femininity and proceeds to thank them directly. From mothers, to wives, to working women, to consecrated sisters, and every woman, John Paul II leaves none out. His letter to women then proceeds to discuss and mention the great impact that women have had on society. It is then that Blessed John Paul II mentions the genius of womanhood for the first time in this work. The genius he mentions is a unique quality that women possess that makes them special. It makes them irreplaceable to this world. It makes them incomparable. “Woman expresses the “human” as much as manhood does, but in a different and complimentary way.” He even goes on to say, “It is only through the duality of the ‘masculine’ and the ‘feminine’ that the ‘human’ finds full realization”.(Letter to Women, Number 7) The letter concludes by pointing to Mary as the perfect example of the feminine genius. “Putting herself at God’s service, she also put herself at the service of others: a service of love.” (Letter to Women, Number 10) It is through this conclusion that we should take our charge. Our feminine genius, the very fact that makes us special, unique, and well, amazing, is how we should hear our call to serve. What Pope John Paul II is saying in this letter is that it is our ability to love, our ability to serve through love, is what makes us so awesome.

His papal encyclical, MULIERIS DIGNITATEM, is a little heftier (38 pages printed from the Vatican website), but offers invaluable insight into what it means to be a woman. The English translation of the title, ON THE DIGNITY AND VOCATION OF WOMEN, (does anybody else ever wonder how Latin fits so many words into one?) really summarizes the focus of the entire article. Even after studying the document in college, this blog writer still can’t explain the document adequately. So, we are just going to encourage you to read it. It is full of important truths about what it means to be a true woman of God, and after all, isn’t that what we’re all striving for?

To wrap up, let’s just say that we, as women, are extremely blessed, called by God to do wonderful things. Our challenge this week is to embrace our femininity. It is both a challenge and an opportunity to work within a society that sometimes devalues the privilege that our femininity brings us, motherhood. It is our call to portray the authentic woman the Catholic Church embraces through Our Lady, by being that authentic woman in a way that our society will recognize. Read his LETTER TO WOMEN and embrace it. Embrace the femininity that you already possess, and then heed the call that it sets upon your heart. Love, embrace, and serve those around you simply because we uniquely can.

God Bless,

~NCCW

The HHS Birth Control Insurance Mandate

A Threat To Religious Liberty

We said last time that we would take a look at the Campaign for Human Dignity, but with the threat to religious liberty still very prevalent in our government and our media, we thought we would take a look at that instead.   With the firestorm over the administration’s HHS mandate, it’s hard to sift through the political rhetoric to get down to the real issue.  Hearing from some, you might think this fight is a “war on women”. 

What’s really going on here, though, takes a little bit more thought to get at the heart of the issue.  What is really happening is an unprecedented attack on religious freedom in this country.  The Catholic Church has in the past received a religious exemption from health insurance requirements.  Under the new ruling the Catholic Church would no longer have this option.

As Americans living in a free country, not only is it the US Catholic Bishops’ right to protect their Church and her prerogatives, but also it is their duty.    It is an attempt to strip Churches of their ability to serve people according to their principles and beliefs.  The threat to religious liberty is real, it is tangible, and it is easy to see.  A particularly thoughtful homily given by a priest in Indiana describes the threat better than this blog writer ever could.  The link to the homily (uploaded to youtube) can be found here.

 This fight is an attempt by some to impose their own morality and conscience on others by stripping them of their religious freedoms.  Again, look to the homily linked above for clear and concise arguments.     

Next time, this blog look at two other offenses against the dignity of human beings- pornography and human trafficking.  We will explore the link the two share and the affront they are to human dignity. 

Until next time, the challenge is to become educated.  Use the resources mentioned in this blog and elsewhere to become knowledgeable about the HHS mandate, and what it really means for Catholic women.  Look at the statement that NCCW issued (found on our website), and take action because ultimately, this mandate handed down by Health and Human Services affects us all.  It not only affects the religious liberties of the Catholic Church as an organization in this country, but also our individual freedom of religion- telling us which services to purchase and from whom. 

God Bless,
~NCCW