- WINONA DIOCESAN COUNCIL OF CATHOLIC WOMEN October, 2017 Mission Statement: The Winona Diocesan Council of Catholic Women acts through its affiliated organizations to support, empower, and educate all Catholic Women in the areas of Spirituality, Leadership and Service. WDCCW programs respond with Gospel values to the needs of the church and society in the modern world. Upcoming Events: October 14, 9 am to 2 pm. WDCCW Convention at St. Francis of Assisi Church, FUN FOR ALL AGES! PLEASE COME!’ October 24, 9:30 am Austin Area meeting at St. John Baptist de la Salle, Dodge Center. Meeting, Mass and speaker featured President’s Message: Dear Sisters in Christ, On Saturday, October 14 in Rochester at St. Francis Assisi the WDCCW will hold its Convention. Speakers will be Bishop Quinn, Msgr. Thomas Cook, and Father James Seitz talking on many different topics that are thrilling, informative and spiritual. The Courier has the registration form and article with the information. Our newsletter will also have the poster for the event that you can use for registration; we will be installing our new officers also during the convention. It will be a very spiritual day for all, please bring a car load of women with you. The only way to fill it is to ask someone, you may be surprised by their answer. Don’t forget to bring your items for the missions; we want to load the trucks up with mercy. I just came home from the NCCW Convention in Dallas, Texas where I listened to many speakers with motivational themes. They talked of hardships they went through but the theme for each of them was how present the Lord was with them. With each hardship we have choices; with each step we take every day we have choices. It is what we do with these choices that we determine our outcomes of our situations. If we do or don’t chose the Lord, what will our life be? I used to call them priorities but I think that scared me, so now I call them choices. We have choices to place our Lord on top, our family next, and our jobs last. It is said that all things can be done through Christ. I feel that our next generation has made their choices-family, work, the Lord, and that is where our organization needs to step in and show them, teach them, and support them in the choices they make. Help them to realize that the Lord needs to be first in all things that we do in our own life, in our family life, and our work life. This will be my last newsletter to you as the President of the Winona Diocese Council of Catholic Women. My thoughts and prayers will be with each of you as time goes on; I pray that the organization of WDCCW will grow stronger with insurgence of younger women. We need to reach them through their children, by incorporating them into our gatherings. Bringing forth programs that will help raise their children in the Catholic faith. This organization was start by the Bishops of this country to support, empower, and educate all women in spirituality, leadership and service. How can we do this through our young people? That is the question, the thought provoking question I leave with you. Help WDCCW evolve from an organization of the funeral ladies and dinner organizers to an organization that involves all ages in everything we do to continue to do mercies all over the world and in our back yards. This is the Day that the Lord has made, let us Rejoice and be Glad Teri Rosendahl – Organization [email protected] 507.498.3250 St. Francis of Assisi/Saturday, October 14, 2017 Our Mission Statement The Council of Catholic Women acts through its members to support, empower, and educate all Catholic Women in spirituality, leadership & service The following article is "Redefining our priorities, commitments and our relationship with God," by Lindamarie Richardson Kelly, leadership commission chair, is from Catholic Woman/Vol.43, Issue 3/nccw.org page 24. When the leaves start to turn colors and many are beginning a new school year, we often feel motivated to take a fresh look at our goals and priorities. We can take this time to stop and look over what priorities and commitments are in our lives. Are they what we want? Have they changed with the times and relationships in our lives? How is our relationship with God? These are all questions we should be asking ourselves from time to time. Sometimes we just get in a rut and continue doing the same things without thinking. Most of us lead very hectic lives and we rarely take time to look after ourselves. The saying "stop and smell the roses" comes to mind. We need to slow down and look at the things in our lives that are missing - sometimes we don't even know they are missing. When was the last time you and your spouse went on a date or spent time alone together just talking? Do you have dinner as a family? Have you taken a spiritual retreat? Do we nurture these most important relationships? Stop and look at the charity work you do: Does it still satisfy you? Are you doing it with pure intentions ---for God's glory and not your own? Just as our taste in food changes, so do our desires to help and to serve the Church. Make a list for the new year of things you would like to help with and find a charity to work with to help you complete those goals. Are your commitments to NCCW and your local Council of Catholic Women as strong as they were when you joined? If not , why not? Work toward finding the answer to this question, along with a solution. Both you and the Councils will be stronger for it. Our relationship with God can sometimes be taken for granted. Do you just go through the motion at Mass? Do you really listen to the sermon or does your mind wander? Do you remember to pray every day or do you pray just when you need something? Let us all recommit ourselves to our faith and to working within the Church and Catholic organizations. Church is not an event that happens only on Sunday for an hour each week. It should be a way of life. Often, we forget to prepare for Mass by: Tips • reading the Scriptures ahead of time and praying about what we have read. • closing our eyes when we get to the pew and settling ourselves down while praying. • be open to what we will hear. Let' take some time this fall to reflect on our priorities, commitments' and relationship with the Lord. This newsletter will be my last for Winona as my husband and I will be moving to Iowa, at the end of October. This is a very sad time for me as I have truly treasured all the dear people I have come to know! I hope to become involved with the Council in Iowa as soon as I can so I will see you at Nationals at some point. Life has always been about change and adapting for me, so here goes! God Bless you all! Teri Rosendahl INTERNATIONAL SERVICE COMMISSION October, 2017 Rosanne Buehler: Email: [email protected] (507)895-2403 406 N. Hill St., La Crescent, MN 55947 Linda Thesing: Email: [email protected] (507)895-2146 424 N. 1st. St., La Crescent, MN 55947 The fall convention is only a couple of weeks away. It is our highlight of the year for Council of Catholic Women in the Winona Diocese. Trucks from Rochester Medical Missions and Sacred Heart Haiti Missions will be at St Francis of Assisi, 1114 3rd. St. SE, Rochester, MN to collect the many items that you have been sewing and collecting during the year. Thank you to Diane Wagner, Director of Rochester Medical Missions and Dale and Joyce Grabarkiewicz, Directors of Sacred Heart Haiti Missions for all the dedicated years they have worked with their missions. Some of you have delivered items during the year to both of these missions in Rochester which they have appreciated. Both missions take monetary donations to help defray the cost of shipping their goods to the areas in need. Thank you to all of you who have devoted many hours of sewing making quilts, diapers, blankets, pillowcase dresses, fabric bags, angel dresses, britches and more for the missions. These items are greatly needed and appreciated. Haiti fortunately, received little damage other than a little flooding in the low land from the recent Hurricane Irma. There was devastating damage from Hurricane Irma on many Caribbean Islands, all of Florida and the surrounding states. Hurricane Harvey wreaked havoc on Houston Texas and the surrounding area. These areas also need donations of goods and money. National Council of Catholic Women (CCCW) will be accepting donations for the Hurricane relief efforts at their national office located at 200 N., Glebe Road suite 725, Arlington, Virginia 22203. Make checks payable to NCCW and write “Hurricane” in the note section or call (703) 224-0990 to donate. All proceeds will be forwarded to Catholic Charities USA the official domestic relief agency for the U.S. Catholic Church. Keep these people in your prayers. We look forward to this year’s convention. If you have any questions, please email or call either one of us. Thank you for helping us to serve others. Spirituality Commission: Legislative, Anti-Pornography & Respect Life Eleanore Jones 17434 Co.