Welcome to The July NewsNotes |
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Women and Spiritual Advisors of our Council, you have a great group of ladies as your officers! We met Saturday, June 18 in Lincoln. We came with our ideas we wanted to discuss. I wish you could have seen how gracefully we moved through each item! There was a solid sense of professionalism, spiritual grounding, and charity among us. It is an experience I will remember with fondness. We have some new ideas we will be sharing with you. A sentiment that I heard expressed often was how good it is to be with likeminded Catholic women.
One of the new items we will initiate, is a faith sharing time on the second Sunday of the month, via Zoom, from 7:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. I know all of us won’t be able to call in each time and that is ok. Join in when you can. Our plan is to begin with a prayer followed by one of our ladies, pre-arranged, telling her story of the wonder of God’s presence in her life. We quickly agreed on the time and concept and then each officer took a month in which she will share what she wants you to know about her journey with God. Almost as soon as I had introduced the idea we had a plan in place, the Holy Spirit was in charge of organization! We hope you will join us for whatever amount of time you have. The officers volunteered to cover the coming months thru March 2023, please be praying about your personal story you feel called to share beginning in April of 2023.
I recently discovered a YouTube faith story that popped on after I had listened to Lisa Cotter speak about her understanding of Feminine Genuis, in which she reflected on Pope John Paul II’s writings. YouTube’s choice for me was incredible! It was produced by Word on Fire and is in their series “The Making of a Catholic Priest”. The storyteller was Fr. Stephen Gadberry of Arkansas. His story was powerful, he vulnerably shared his story from youth and how he was led to become a priest, and then experiences of witness he has encountered. If you have a chance to watch it I certainly recommend you do at the following link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HumCsGbVAp4
He concludes the hour video telling why personal witness is so very important. He said he believes a story can change people’s lives, that it also helps him personally grow closer to the Lord when he tells his own story. He shared the following thoughts about the power of our personal story. The story of God’s love is integral to our humanity. Our personal story is the second most important story in our lives, after the story of Salvation. I like how he said together our stories make a great library of love. Suggestions he gave for us to form our own story was to wrestle with how we tell our own story, what do we want to shout out , what are the low points, what are the dots in the middle, how do they show God’s beauty? He dreams of everyone in his Parish being excited to tell their story, to see their story as a life worth living, as an adventure, to tell the Gospel story with their own story.
Join us as we build our Council’s library of love!
Trudy Burenheide, President
“Together, sharing our faith as Catholic women so the power of the Gospel shines forth in our families”
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Province Director Teresa Pavlik
Dear ladies of the Lincoln Diocese,
Blessings and Peace to you. The Spring Convention was filled with wonderful reports of
prayer, education, service, and leadership. The activities and programs that you present
demonstrate that your Council of Catholic Women’s organization is energized and vibrant.
Education is definitely in focus with the writing, printing and distribution of the Parent
Education books. The donations that you give to charities, convents, and seminaries are
admirable. Congratulations on your diaper drive service project being chosen as one of the twoservice projects sent to Pope Francis as part of the Spiritual Bouquet from NCCW. Truly, you are participating in NCCW initiative of “Walking with Mom’s in Need”.
Jesus speaks to us in the everyday occurrences in our lives. As we encounter moments
that seem to be a “coincidence”, we grow more in understanding His presence, more “seeing” takes place. Those “seeing” moments” are also called “God moments”.
The experience of being with you will always be close to my heart. May Jesus continue
to bless you and all your works in Spirituality, Service, and Leadership.
God bless you,
Theresa Pavlik
Director, Province of Omaha
Note: Couple upcoming dates to remember:
July 1 st Registration for NCCW Convention opens
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There is a significant amount of housekeeping to cover in this email.
To begin with the printer which has served us for 15 years has now met its end. We are currently waiting for the new printer to be delivered to our president. The NewsNotes will not go out via mail until it arrives to Trudy. If you know of someone who likes to receive the NewsNotes through the mail. Please copy it off and deliver to them or even copy offf and deliver to your parish priest.
The NewsNotes and The Effect. The Effect provides more recent up information to the commissions and presidents. Our world is moving quickly with information and this is a more efficient way to get it to our women of faith.
- The NewsNotes includes messages from the Spiritual advisors and the President as well as timely information and reports from the commission chairman.( pg. 25 LDCCW Resource Manual)
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Spirituality Commission - Teresa Koch
gtkoch@diadecom.net 402-766-3601 (h) 308-469 -1061 (c)
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Here we are to July, busy with ball games, preparing for the county fair and all the summer projects that
await us. Before we know it school will be starting and fall will be upon us. Coming up on the fourth
Sunday in July, near the liturgical memorial of Saints Joachim and Ann, the grandparents of Jesus, Pope
Francis has established throughout the Church the celebration of the World Day of Grandparents and the
Elderly. This year it will be Sunday, July 24 th. Take some time to remember those special people in your life
with a phone call, card or a visit. Make sure no one feels alone on this day.
This year's theme is "In Old Age They Will Still Bear Fruit."
Divine Mercy Reflection
…prayer joined to the act of mercy….will defend the souls of children against the
spirit of evil. (Diary, 1156)
Reflection Our faith needs to be presented to each new generation, and we must never take for granted that our children will automatically continue with attending Mass, frequenting the sacraments, just because we are their parents (grandparents) and expect them to do so. Parents have a special obligation to talk to their children about God and to show them the ways of love and mercy in not only our words, but more
importantly in our actions and behavior, especially in acts of mercy. To form kind and merciful hearts in their children, parents need to plant the seed of God and prayer in those young hearts, or else children depart into godlessness. Children are like sponges – they absorb all that they see and hear. So, make sure it is the message of the Gospel.”
Prayer Lord, may my acts of mercy, small though they may be, help defend the children I know againstthe spirit of evil of this age. Jesus, have mercy on us and on the whole world.”
The above was a daily reflection from - 365 Reflections Jesus Speaks to Faustina and You by SusanTassone. Let this be a reminder to pray and live the spirituality of St Faustina and Divine Mercy.
May God bless us all!
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Service Commission - Kathy Rentschler
Krentschler21@gmail.com 402-423-8210
8200 S. 91st Street Lincoln, NE 68526 402-429-4706
Community Service projects. The service commission encourages women to volunteer in service to their local communities by alerting them to areas of need, such as nursing homes, home bound, bloodmobilies and Meals on Wheels.
Catholic Relief Services: Works of Peace Programs
For more that 60 years the National Council of Catholic Women has worked in partnership with Catholic Relief Services on community-based programs and solutions called “Works of Peace” that address the specific needs of poor women and children around the world. These programs are the Madonna Plan, Help a Child, Water for Life and the Refugee Women Emergency Fund.
Madonna Plan— projects meet the health, nutritional and educational needs of women as well as funding development projects which help women improve their economic security and therefore the life of their family.
Help a Child—was established to respond to the emergency or long term needs of children throughout the world. Funds are used to provide food, schools, health care systems and youth centers.
Water for Life—programs provide communities with resources to build a water system allowing them access to a convenient source of clean water. Jobs are created and skills in water sanitation are developed. The community is taught basic hygiene methods.
The Refugee Women Emergency Fund supports women and children who are refugees, internally displaced or victims of natural disasters and provides food, water, medicine, shelter and opportunities to secure future jobs and income for them.
Donations can be sent to: NCCW , 10335-A Democracy Lane, Unit 201, Fairfax, VA 22030.
Website-www.crs.org
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Leadership Commission - Michele Chambers
ldccwleadership@gmail.com 402-613-9269
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Hello, ladies! This is Michele Chambers, newly appointed to the Leadership Commission, writing for the News Notes for the first time! I have been saying for many years that I would help Judy with the newsletters and such, but didn’t really think that she’d actually brought me on board to show me the ropes! I am grateful to be the beneficiary of her generosity and patience! I do have some experience working with publications, so I hope that I am able to meet the high standard that has been set by Judy, and that you’ll be patient with me while I learn the ropes. I look forward to serving in this position, and if you have suggestions or ideas for the work of this Commission, please let me know!
Please update your officers
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Legislative Chair - Ginger Jelinek (Hartman
ldccwlegislativechair@gmail.com 402-525-0663
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Nebraska-Related Issues:
To follow is a quick run-down of election results from the Nebraska May Primaries for the State Board of Education. Some of these candidates may not be in your district but please forward this information to friends and family so they are aware when it comes time to vote again!
District 5 - Kirk Penner will run against Helen Raikes in the November election. Kirk would be the better candidate to support.
District 6 - Sherry Jones will run against Danielle Helzer. Sherry would be the better candidate to support.
District 7 - Elizabeth Tegtmeier handedly beat incumbent Robin Stevens. They will have to run again on the November ballot. It would be great to get Elizabeth a seat on this board and replace Robin who has held the seat for quite some time and definitely sides with the more liberal stances.
District 8 - This is another important race/district. Marni Hodgen is challenging incumbent Deborah Neary. Ms. Neary was heavily involved in the ideology presented in the Health Education standards and it would be great to get her off the board and replaced with Marni.
The special election from this week between Mike Flood and Patty Pansing Brooks went to Mike Flood. He will be the one to fill the seat left vacant by Jeff Fortenberr.
National Issues:
The U.S. Supreme Court has finally overturned Roe v. Wade and Casey v. Planned Parenthood! This brings these decisions back to each individual state to take political action to protect unborn life. The work isn’t over. It’s time to start contacting your state representatives and tell them how you feel about abortion and the need to protect life from the beginning.
From the Nebraska Catholic Conference on how to live in the “culture of life:”
Prayer - engage in personal prayer for pre-born babies still facing the threat of abortion, abortion-vulnerable mothers and fathers
Promote communal prayer among your parish, community, friends, bible studies, etc
Educate others on how damaging abortion is. Learn how to have these conversations. Here are a few resources:
Humanfromdayone.com
Equalrightsinstitute.org
Abortiondialogueacademy.org
“Persuasive Pro-Life: How to Talk about our Culture’s Toughest Issue” by Trent Horn
Contact your elected officials and ask for regulations that make Nebraska abortion-free
Supreme Court rules in favor of praying football coach:
The supreme court ruled Monday that a school board in Washington state discriminated against a former football coach when it disciplined him for postgame prayers at midfield. This latest decision is a win for protection of religious faith!
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UPCOMING EVENTS
Future Events - July
Fairbury Deanery – St. Monica Prayers
July 18 – Omaha Province Council of Catholic Women meeting Grand Island Sacred Heart.
July 24 – Word Day of Grandparents & Elderly
August 26 - Executive Board Kamp Kateri McCool Junction
August 27 - Full Board Kamp Kateri McCool Junction
Pope's intentions: For the Elderly- We pray for the elderly, who represent the roots and memory of a people, may their experience and wisdom help young people to look towards the future with hope and responsibility.
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Lincoln Diocesan Council of Catholic Women| 308-991-6054
ldcccwpresident@gmail.com
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