- Endow's Evening of Enchantment 2007

ENDOW's Evening of Enchantment 2007
Mother’s Day and the Dignity of Women

Photos courtesy of James Back (DCR)
ENDOW honors Julia Greeley Award Recipient

From San Antonio's Today's Catholic - written by Most Reverend Archbishop Jose Gomez

During the month of May, which is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, we also celebrate Mother’s Day. This holiday, created and promoted by a woman with deep Christian roots in the United States, is one of the greatest tributes we can pay not only to to our mothers, but to all women.

Our beloved Servant of God John Paul II in his letter about the dignity of women, explained in a very clear way how the life of Mary can shed light upon the lives of all women: “virginity and motherhood co-exist in her: they do not mutually exclude each other or place limits on each other. Indeed, the person of the Mother of God helps everyone - especially women - to see how these two dimensions, these two paths in the vocation of women as persons, explain and complete each other” (Mulieris Dignitatem, 17).

Obviously, the most natural and customary way of expressing the maternal vocation of every woman is physical motherhood; that ensures the existence of the human race and which is the immediate cause of our existence; but it is not the only way.

In fact, the Church has also seen in sacred virginity, manifested in so many varied religious families and charisms, a way to imitate the supreme model of Holy Mary, who was both Virgin and Mother; and who therefore embodied in her life the fullness of motherhood.

Mother’s Day is an occasion, therefore, to give thanks to God for having given us the mother who brought us to life and who taught us to love Him; and to give thanks to our mothers for all they have done for us, especially for those things we were never aware of: their sleepless nights while we slept, their efforts while we were sick, their efforts to give us their own gifts that we often received absent-mindedly and without thanking them.

But this celebration is also a chance to promote that “new feminism” proclaimed by Pope John Paul II, acknowledging the dignity of women and the valuable contribution that the “feminine genius” –as the memorable Pope called it- brings to the family, the community and society.

We should remember that we Catholics recognize the historic value of women in the life of the Church and society as a good that is complementary to the mission of men, and not in opposition to them.

The Pope’s preacher, Fr. Raniero Cantalamessa, during last Holy Week, said that the Lord’s Passion leads today’s world to recall the role of women, “who at the Golgotha were the last to leave the dying Christ and those to whom the Lord was first revealed.”

“The women, Pope John Paul II wrote, are the first at the tomb. They are the first to find it empty. They are the first to hear: "He is not here. He has risen, as he said.” They are the first to embrace his feet. They are also the first to be called to announce this truth to the apostles.”

Women, blessed with the gift of giving life, are naturally endowed, as Pope John Paul II explained, to defend life, promote peace, and become an agent of reconciliation in families and in the world.

They are able to do it, because “Among the fundamental values linked to women's actual lives is what has been called a “capacity for the other”. Although a certain type of feminist rhetoric makes demands “for ourselves”, women preserve the deep intuition of the goodness in their lives of those actions which elicit life, and contribute to the growth and protection of the other” Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the collaboration of men and women in the Church and in the world, Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, May 31, 2004, 13.

Most Reverend Archbishop Jose H. Gomez and Julia Greeley Award Honoree Hanna Nevin
Photo Credit: Dan Bettinger

This past weekend I had the blessing of learning about two exemplary women, Julia Greeley and Hanna Nevin. Julia was an African American woman, who lived in Colorado at the beginning of the 1900. She was a convert to Catholicism, daily communicant and who in an adverse culture, dedicated her life to help others.

Hanna, at 94, is a lovely mother, grandmother and great grand mother who received the ‘Julia Greeley Award’ this past Saturday in Denver, for the fullness of her life of dedication to God, family and friends. There is nothing spectacular in her life, but the extraordinary quality of an ordinary life filled with love and care for God and others.

On Mother’s Day, let us ask our universal Mother, the Virgin Mary, to abundantly bless all women, especially our mothers; and let us pray that our society will know how to value and respect every woman; that it will know how to be open to the numerous gifts that they have to offer within the family, the Church, and in our society.

Denver Catholic Register recognizes Julia Greeley Award Honoree

Local woman honored for overcoming hardship with faith to live life of loving service
By Roxanne King

“Acts of love do not pass away” — so said Pope John Paul II during his Good Friday meditation in the year 2000. And so believes Hanna Nevin, 94, this year’s recipient of ENDOW’S Julia Greeley Award.

The award is named after a humble ex-slave who was beloved in Denver for her acts of charity.

ENDOW, an acronym for Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to teaching the “new feminism” of Pope John Paul II. On May 5 the organization held its second annual benefit gala, An Evening of Enchantment, at the Grand Hyatt Hotel.

San Antonio Archbishop José Gomez, an ENDOW board member, was the main celebrant of a Mass that opened the gala. The festive event included dinner, a dance and entertainment.

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Archbishop Jose H. Gomez's homily from ENDOW's Evening of Enchantment

Most Reverend Archbishop Jose H. Gomez
Photo Credit: Dan Bettinger

My sisters and brothers in Christ,

In today’s Gospel, Jesus gives a new commandment to the disciples: ‘I give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have love you, so you also should love one another.’

Throughout his public life and in different ways, Jesus made clear to the apostles that this was a central aspect of his doctrine. It is so important that Jesus says to them ‘this is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.’

As we know, Pope Benedict XVI dedicated his 1st encyclical letter to the virtue of Charity. He says that love is the heart and summary of Christian life. His purpose, he says, is “to call forth in the world renewed energy and commitment in the human response to God's love”

As we all know, it is easy to talk about love, but it is much more difficult to practice it, even in small things as trying to be understanding or forgiving with others. Real love demands the good understanding of self-giving. In the words of Pope John Paul II, "The whole history of mankind is the history of the need of loving and being loved...To love is ... essentially to give oneself to others..." JPII to youth France, p. 26

So, it is important but difficult. That’s what the first two readings of today’s Mass refer to. The 2nd reading talks about how the goal of our life is going to Heaven: the New Jerusalem … where ‘God himself will always be with them as their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death or mourning, wailing or pain, for the old order has passed away’

And, in the 1st reading, St. Paul tells some of the first disciples that ‘It is necessary for us to undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God’

The interesting thing, as contradictory as it sounds for us at the beginning of the 21st Century, is that this kind of love, which is difficult is the only one that gives us real happiness. It is this kind of love that helps us to enjoy life and to reach Heaven, where happiness will be forever.

The love Jesus commands of us is no human love but a supernatural love. We love each other as Jesus loved us in suffering and dying for us. We love in imitation of His love.

This kind of love is only made possible by the Spirit poured into our hearts at Baptism, renewed in the sacrifice His priests offer in every Mass.

By our love we glorify the Father. And by our love all peoples will know that we are His people, that He is our God.

So, the question for us today is, How can make the ‘new commandment’ a reality in our lives? What do I need to do to practice it?

In his encyclical letter, Pope Benedict XVI, reminds us of two basic ideas that help us to practice charity. First the fact that love of neighbor is a consequence of love of God: “Love of neighbour is thus shown to be possible in the way proclaimed by the Bible, by Jesus. It consists in the very fact that, in God and with God, I love even the person whom I do not like or even know. This can only take place on the basis of an intimate encounter with God, an encounter which has become a communion of will, even affecting my feelings. Then I learn to look on this other person not simply with my eyes and my feelings, but from the perspective of Jesus Christ. His friend is my friend” n. 18.

It is important for us, then, to develop our relationship with God, through prayer and the reception of the Sacraments, especially Reconciliation and Holy Communion.

In the words of Pope Benedict XVI: “The saints—consider the example of Blessed Teresa of Calcutta—constantly renewed their capacity for love of neighbour from their encounter with the Eucharistic Lord, and conversely this encounter acquired its real- ism and depth in their service to others. Love of God and love of neighbour are thus inseparable, they form a single commandment” n. 18.

Then, in the second part of his Encyclical letter the Holy Father, Pope Benedict XVI, describes the exercise of charity as an essential responsibility of the Church: “Love of neighbour, grounded in the love of God, is first and foremost a responsibility for each individual member of the faithful, but it is also a responsibility for the entire ecclesial community at every level: from the local community to the particular Church and to the Church universal in its entirety” n. 20.

This has been the history of the Church and it is a tradition and reality in the local church. But, the Pope makes the point that for the Church the practice of charity is as important as the love for the Sacraments: “As the years went by and the Church spread further afield, the exercise of charity became established as one of her essential activities, along with the administration of the sacraments and the proclamation of the word: love for widows and orphans, prisoners, and the sick and needy of every kind, is as essential to her as the ministry of the sacraments and preaching of the Gospel. The Church cannot neglect the service of charity any more than she can neglect the Sacraments and the Word. n. 22.

But there is still much to be done. Starting with respecting the dignity of the human person. It seems to me that we cannot be indifferent to the challenges that we have in our society and keep trying, to the best of our abilities, to remain people about the dignity of the human person.

There is so much that we can do in our society to foster respect for the human person, starting with the right to life from conception to natural death, but also "We have a duty to defend the personal freedom of everyone...the right of all men to live, to own what is necessary to lead a dignified existence, to work and to rest, to choose a particular state in life, to form a home, to bring children into the world within marriage and to be allowed to educate them … and above all the right to know and love God..." FG, 171

As a sign and witness to this culture, I believe we also must foster the understanding of the nature and dignity of women, ENDOW’S mission. To promote that ‘new feminism’ proclaimed by Pope John Paul II, acknowledging the dignity of women and the valuable contribution that the “feminine genius” –as the memorable Pope called it- brings to the family, the community and society.

We should remember that we Catholics recognize the historic value of women in the life of the Church and society as a value that is complementary to the mission of men, and not in opposition to them.

Women, blessed with the gift of giving life, are naturally endowed, as Pope John Paul II explained, to defend life, promote peace, and become an agent of reconciliation in families and in the world.

Finally, I wanted to share what I was told a few weeks ago. I went to Central Catholic High School, to talk to some of the students. We were talking and at some point, I ask them about something in their opinion that will make the Catholic Church exciting. What is it that you find interesting in your faith? Why are you a Catholic?

One of them said that for him what makes the Catholic Faith exciting was the fact that it is the only religion that asks you to forgive your enemies. It was a very good answer. It is true that we are asked to forgive our enemies: “I say to you, Jesus says in St. Matthew’s Gospel, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust” (St. Mt. 5, 44-45).

Jesus’ teaching is that his followers have no personal enemies. The only enemy is evil, sin, but not the sinner. That was Jesus’ example as he forgave the ones who crucify him. “This is the apex of Christian perfection –to love, and pray for, even those who persecute and calumniate us. It is the distinguishing mark of the children of God” (NB, note St. Mt. 5,43-47).

During the month of May, which is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary, we also celebrate Mother’s Day. So this month, let us ask our Blessed Mother, the Virgin Mary, to abundantly bless all women, especially our mothers; and let us pray that our society will know how to value and respect every woman; that it will know how to be open to the numerous gifts that they have to offer within the family, the Church and in our society.

Let us rejoice that every human life is sacred and let us continue to work for the "culture of life" and the ‘civilization of love’ in our society, that Jesus’ words become a reality: ‘this is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another’.