A regular meeting of six married women in Canberra eventually grew into a national event for Catholic women. Perth Respect Life Officer Bronia Karniewicz reports on the Sisterhood conference and its brand of the new feminism.
By Bronia Karniewicz
“The deepest cry of a women’s heart is ‘Am I beautiful?’ The answer must come from God first, only then can a woman approach a man from a position of inner strength and security,” says Karen Doyle from Choicez Media.
It seems like we are all under pressure today, particularly women. There is a loud call for women to do all and be all. The images from our culture portray us being able to maintain great careers, have fabulous social lives and, if we choose to marry, we have the added pressure to ensure the husband and children are cared for and looking sharp.
Add to this the extra strain of making sure we always look breathtakingly beautiful, are toned, tanned and wearing fabulous clothes and perfect makeup.
Then as Catholics we have the added extras of finding time to pray, discover our vocation and then either be joyfully happy as a religious or find a good Catholic husband and have many well behaved children. With this message in our face we can ask “do I measure up?”
Six Catholic married women from Canberra felt these pressures and decided to meet regularly for prayer, friendship and formation.
In due course they were approached by some single girls in their church who also felt the need to meet and thus Sisterhood meetings began.
Gradually the idea of sharing the Sisterhood experience to a wider audience took shape and, with a vision to support women and provide a place for some solid formation on what it means to be a Catholic woman, a truly national conference came to be.
Held this year in Sydney, 140 women, married, single, mums with bubs and religious women from every state and territory came together for prayer, praise and sisterhood time.
Three Perth women were among the participants blessed with the opportunity to participate and represent their state. Karen Doyle from Choicez Media, Anna Krohn from the John Paul II Institute in Melbourne, Francine Pirola, Australian co-founder of the Celebrate Love marriage education program and Bernadette Black, Barnardo’s Mother of the Year, were among those who spoke.
Each laid out how we can embrace femininity and remain strong in our faith. The Sisterhood conference was an opportunity to explore femininity and a chance to discover the “new feminism” which John Paul II often spoke about, a feminism that is about complementarity and does not just fight to be the same as men.
The new feminism is for equality while recognising our differences, embracing our strengths and understanding that each of the sexes are called to image God in a unique way.
The Sisterhood Conference was about an encounter with God who loves us beyond measure.
The conference was also a chance to form ourselves in the strength of His love so that we can approach the men in our lives from a place of inner strength and security, safe in the knowledge that we are beautiful and do not need to cheapen our dignity for the attention of men.
It was about spending time together to deepen and strengthen our faith, discovering God’s plan and the beauty and truth of the Catholic faith.
It can be difficult to be a Catholic woman in today’s culture but the Sisterhood conference was an injection of hope, a reminder to be a feminine witness of the love of God. However it’s not just about sisterhood – the guys have their time too!
The Young Men of God national conference “You Were Born to do This!” is being held this October. See: www.ymgmovement.org
Girls doing life together
By Silvana Scarfe, Project Officer, Respect Life Office
I was very blessed to be given the opportunity to attend the Sisterhood Women’s Conference in Sydney.
Unknown to me, Divine Providence had it planned magnificently, as usual. I brought to the conference many questions and prayers relating to my life – many things that needed to be answered, and laid at the foot of the Cross. As I prayed and journeyed throughout the conference, I was inspired by the many wonderful women who were striving to live after God’s own heart.
One of the speakers at the conference, Anna Krohn, a lecturer at the JPII Institute for Marriage and Family, Campion College and the Australian Catholic University, touched upon the writings and insights of a great woman – St Edith Stein (Teresa Benedicta of the Cross). Edith Stein once said: “without the contribution of women, society is less alive, culture impoverished, and peace less stable…” This talk and many others were a catalyst in opening my heart to experience the love of Christ and the Catholic Faith in a renewed and deeper way. A way linked essentially to my inner person, as made in the image of God – as a woman, created with a unique purpose in mind, a purpose only I can fulfil. A purpose each woman is created for – one that ONLY SHE can accomplish through Christ.
Encouraged to embrace our feminine genius, the participants were encouraged to connect and mentor with one another in support and genuine friendship, to walk with each other on our journey in life, to defend our dignity and help other women defend their own dignity, and uphold character and virtue as the sources of beauty.
The conference was brought to a climax on the Saturday evening when Fr Ken Barker MGL, spiritual director of the Sisterhood Women’s Group spoke on ‘being captivated by Christ’s love’. For me and many women at the conference, during this talk, we came to a realisation that Jesus can make something beautiful of our life even through our brokenness and strife. God comes to us in our deepest struggle and loves us even before we can love ourselves again. God’s power is at Its best in human weakness – His Grace is enough for you, lay everything down at His feet.
It was at this point and the many moments of God’s grace that followed that I realised how profoundly the Holy Spirit and our Blessed Mother had worked through me throughout the conference – I hadn’t realised until now that God had brought me to the conference at the most perfect moment in my life to pull me through and place a deep desire within me to pursue His Will for my life with renewed vigour and trust in the amazing plans He has laid out for me.
The Sisterhood Conference was definitely a spiritual turning point in my life, and I look forward to journeying with other women as ‘everyday girls doing life together’.