GRAND ISLAND
DIOCESAN COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC WOMEN
OCTOBER 2017 NEWSLETTER
SAVE THE DATE: FALL DEANERY MEETINGS
ALL CATHOLIC WOMEN ARE INVITED!
GI Deanery CCW Fall Meeting: Oct. 28, St. Theresa Catholic Church, Ericson. Coffee & rolls with registration at 9:30 am CT. The 10 am speaker is Jim Bertrand sharing on the Shroud of Turin.
Alliance Deanery CCW Fall Meeting: Oct. 7, St. Bridget’s Parish Center, Hemingford with coffee & rolls with registration at 9 am MT. Fr. Joseph K. Joseph is sharing “Ministering in Northern India.”
NP Deanery CCW Fall Meeting: Oct. 21, St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Mullen with coffee & rolls with Registration at 8:30-9 am MT. Deacon Michael Davis is sharing “Pope Francis is Calling You to SHARE THE JOY of the Gospel. . . Who do you say we are? Joyful Missionary Disciples.”
Kearney Deanery CCW Fall Meeting: TBA
Spiritual Advisor Report
Rev. Stephen Deaver, Spiritual Advisor (308) 631-2428
On July 1 Fr. Dave Rykwalder retired from the active Pastoral Ministry. He was living in Bridgeport and served the Alliance Deanery as Spiritual Advisor. He did an outstanding job both in his parish work and in DCCW. He is retired now and lives in Grand Island. We wish him a long, healthy and happy retirement.
The new Pastor of Bridgeport, Bayard and Dalton parishes is Fr. C.P. Varghese S.D.B. He belongs to the Religious Order commonly known as “Salesians”. The letters behind his name stand for Salesians of Don Bosco. Fr. C.P. also has a Doctor’s Degree in Psychology. He has consented to follow Fr. Dave as Alliance Deanery Spiritual Advisor for the Council of Catholic Women. We welcome him and are very glad that he is willing to work with us in that capacity.
The Priests of the Diocese made our annual retreat last week at the Benedictine Retreat Center a few miles north of Schuyler, Nebraska. We were led by Fr. Ken VanHaverbeke, a priest from Wichita, Kansas. He did a very good job in leading us into a deep consideration of our following of Christ through the years of priesthood, with several meditations from the Ordination Ceremony, for a lot of us, many years ago.
Autumn is a nice time of year, not too cold and not too hot. I hope all of you enjoy this season. The flowers seem to be at their most beautiful now. May God bless you in your continued work to serve the Lord and His people.
Deanery Spiritual Advisors
Rev. C.P. Varghese S.D.B., Alliance Deanery (308) 530-6733,
Rev. Ray Kosmicki, Grand Island Deanery (308) 754-4649,
Rev. Neal Hock, Kearney Deanery (308) 234-1539,
Rev. Lou Nollette, North Platte Deanery (308) 750-1205,
President Report
Barbara Sack, President, (308) 754-4072
My Dear Friends in the Council of Catholic Women. I am so very grateful to you for giving me the opportunity to serve as your GIDCCW President. I have been so blessed by being a part of this organization. I have met hundreds of wonderful, faith filled people from all over the United States. People I would have never met if it weren’t for the CCW. Thank you for helping me to grow in Spirituality, Leadership and Service.
Every fall, we ask our parish CCWs to collect dues or contributions to help support the Council on the Parish, Deanery, Diocesan and National levels. Once again, I am asking for your financial help. Does your Parish have an active CCW? If not, ask your Priest for permission to educate the parish on Council through a letter or from the pulpit. By educating them on the three commissions, we can empower women to grow in Spirituality, Leadership and Service. They will grow in holiness, enriching themselves, their families, parishes and communities. Once again, thank you for your generous contributions and for Living the Joy of the Gospel. (Contributions can be sent to the Diocesan Treasurer: Deb Kearns, 2797 560th Rd. Rushville, NE 69360.) May God Bless you and your families.
President-Elect Report
Deb Eschliman, President-Elect, (308) 750-6869
I attended the NCCW conference in Dallas, TX last week. It was amazing to see how all the Province leaders and national leaders work so well together and could witness the "changing of the guard" as our new leaders took their offices. So many women put God first in their lives, as they are willing to embrace where God is leading them. I applaud them for their service to God and to all of us. It was fun getting to know some of the ladies from the Lincoln and Omaha dioceses as we rode 10 hours on the bus there and back. One ofour main speakers was a hometown girl, Stacy Tomlinson from Lincoln. She WOWed us with her stories and her faith in God. It was a very inspirational conference, and I left with a lot of good ideas to bring home to our ladies.
Leadership Commission
Sherry Weatherly, Chairwoman, (308) 530-1474
Susan Johnson, Co-Chairwoman, (402) 823-4251
The Council of Catholic Women: WHO ARE WE? Women of Prayer and Action
· Provide a Common Voice for All Catholic Women
· Promote Catholic Values and Principles
· Provide greater Service and Have a Greater Impact
The National Council of Catholic Women was established on March 4, 1920, under the guidance of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. They put forth a threefold purpose for this unified group. First, it would give a common voice to all Catholic women in the United States in matters of national welfare and issues of concern to the Church. Secondly, a large, unified, national group would ensure that national committees and national movements would recognize our Catholic values and principles. Third, the bishops felt that uniting the work of existing Catholic women’s organizations would enable greater service and have a greater impact in meeting the needs of our times. In a nutshell, providing Unified Service!
Visit nccw.org Material may be reproduced if credit is given to National COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC WOMEN.
Who are the National COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC WOMEN, Diocesan, Deanery & Parish COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC WOMEN? Your Parish Council is where the rubber meets the road. The programs, service projects, prayers get done in the pew. We are the hands & feet of Jesus, uniting the 33 million Catholic women in our country.
Get the word out, because women don't know what you do or why you do it! YOU might need to provide a Pulpit talk Contribution Sunday in October, which is National Rosary Month. October is also National Prolife Month & National Domestic Violence Month- women need to know who we are & what we do.
What does the Diocesan COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC WOMEN dues & Parish COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC WOMEN dues cover? In our Parish at Holy Spirit we used to just attach an envelope to the bulletins & have a pulpit talk. Now with permission of Fr. Jim, we mail out a Council letter with a self-addressed envelope inserted made out to our Treasurer of our Holy Spirit COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC WOMEN to every woman over 18 in our parish with an explanation of what we do & where the dues money gets put to work. We've increased our giving by threefold! We now have over 140 women who donated last year! This has been increasing every year since its inception! Contact me if you'd like a copy of the letter we sent out.
Make your meetings fun, but make sure they go away with something that makes them want to come back next month. Have your calendar of events and meetings planned out and printed for at least the first six months, if not the whole year. If you need help with that remember you can DELEGATE to someone who's in the know!If you have someone attending for the first time, make her feel welcome and introduce her to the group, but do not overload her at this first meeting. Remember every one of us is the face of our Catholic women's council, so we need to mentor those that are new by being supportive, encouraging & motivating. We need to empower them & be a good communicator, which also means LISTENING & Building relationships. "The delicate balance of mentoring someone is not creating them in your own image, but giving them the opportunity to create themselves" - Steven Spielberg
An agenda for each meeting is important for, not only the members attending, but for the president, so that she can run an orderly meeting. Ask the ladies in your area parish a few evaluating questions:
1. What do you do for new members?
2. How do you let them know about COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC WOMEN, Deanery COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC WOMEN, DIOCESAN COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC WOMEN?
3. Is the meeting time convenient and well run?
4. If you were a new member, would you want to return?
Spirituality Commission
Pat Knutson, Spirituality Chairwoman, (308) 750-3532 or 754-5528
Patricia Ferguson, Co-Chairwoman, (308)458-9595
How do we increase the Spirituality in our churches & congregations?
No matter how much we are currently doing or how much is being done within our parishes, there is always room for more to be accomplished. How do we get our fellow parishioners involved…call people, sometimes that is all it takes. Sometimes several calls.
Always set aside time every day to pray. Prayer is the most important part of our day…our life. It brings us closer to God, to Jesus, and our Heavenly Mother. Attend daily mass.
Get your Guardian Angels involved in your life…your decisions. God gave each of us an angel to help us, AND they really do want to help us, they are waiting to help us. When you need help or some direction, ask for their help. When someone else needs help, send your Angel to help them…they can bi-locate and aide in the help of others. Before mass, ask your Angel to take all the petitions you hold in your heart to the altar for the mass.
October is the month of the Rosary and Pro-Life – What are some things that we can do?
- Noon Hour rosary in the church during the week for the month of October
- Pray the Rosary before masses
- Pray a public Pro-Life Rosary (We are doing all 3 of these at Sts. Peter & Paul)
The Rosary can be prayed over the noon hour during Lent, during May…the month of Mary, and October…the month of the Rosary. Also, this year of the 100th Anniversary of Fatima, have a special Rosary, Litany of the Blessed Mother, etc. for the 13th of October, the Miracle of the Sun.
Attend CCW Meetings--Always invite the pastor making him feel a part of the group and ask for his input.
Get the CCD kids involved in the Rosary; assisting with the Liturgy at least once a month. Our children are the churches future. If we don’t get our children involved when they are young…the chances of them becoming and staying involved as an adult is very slim. Research has found that a child that is brought up with a strong church going/religious household, those children have a much lower rate of becoming involved in drugs, alcohol, and crime.
Adoration: The Bishop wants all parishes to have Adoration. If your church is not doing this, talk to your parish priest, ask him if he would try this. You can do it once a month.
If you were arrested for the crime of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
2017 Service Commission
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Lorraine Pozehl, Chairwoman, (402) 760-0469
DeAnn Morse, Co-Chairwoman, (402) 387-1044 or (602) 359-5758
“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, a stranger and you welcomed me, naked and you clothed me, ill and you cared for me, in prison and you visited me. Then the righteous will answer him and say, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? When did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? When did we see you ill or in prison, and visit you? And the King will say to them in reply, ‘Amen, I say to you, whatever you did for one of these least brothers of mine, you did for me.’ Matthew 25:35-40
This is our call to service. Our call to have a “servant heart”. The main function of the Service Commission Chairperson is to: provide the officers of the DCCW, the Deanery presidents, and parish representatives programs and ideas that can be used throughout the diocese. These programs are to cover three (3) areas: Family, Community and International.
Ideas and programs are brought back from National Convention each year while other programs and ideas can come from our own area also. Here are ideas and programs that we implemented, and what area each one includes—Family, Community and International.
Mission II Haiti
Improving Water Systems--Mission II Haiti is a tax exempt, non-profit, non-denominational organization based in Kearney, NE. They work to provide water for the people of Haiti by repairing and placing pumps over open wells. So far in 2017, 10,000 Bar Codes have been redeemed, with another 4,000 collected! With the redemption, matching funds and cash donations, this year GIDCCW sent Mission II Haiti $778.50. Best Choice Bar Codes are available at all AWG grocery stores -- (formerly Affiliated).
Dresses and Shorts for Haiti--Also included in our Mission II Haiti project is our “Dresses and Shorts” that we make for the Haitian children. This past May, DCCW ladies packed 7 suitcases with 616 dresses and 35 pairs of shorts and sent with the Haiti II Group on their May trip to Haiti. They are also now taking unused priest vestments in suitcases. I have been told that the Haitian priests are “ecstatic” with these vestments.