YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!

Come and see...........YOU are unique....loved by God and made for MORE!

ENDOW helps women to come to SEE their beauty, their DIGNITY in the eyes of GOD! Come, learn...and grow in love! Check out all the ENDOW classes near you here.

YOU ARE BEAUTIFUL!

Give the gift of facilitating an ENDOW study.....

If you haven’t facilitated an ENDOW study....might this be the call to give this gift to the women of your parish? Please prayerfully consider facilitating....it is a blessing which cannot be fully described! Please check out the available ENDOW studies here and start planning a new study group. Bringing women together to discover their God given dignity...and to grow in the love of Christ and his Body the Church! .....YES! God loves a cheerful giver!

ENDOW studies in action.......transforming lives and increasing love of Christ and of our Mother, the Church.......

These words speak for themselves...I gathered them from a recent letter from an ENDOW participant to Executive Director Terry Polakovic:

“I felt a strong urge to write this letter........I have just started my first Endow class, “Pope John Paul II’s Letter to Women.” Even though I have only finished the first chapter and Appendix 1, I had to express my wonderment at what I have read thus far...........Just reading these few pages.......have caused me to stand in much more appreciation of the Catholic Church than I ever have before..........Because of this study I have become aware of how the Church has fought and defended the rights and dignity of women throughout the world. For years I was ignorant of this, but my eyes have finally been opened, leading to a much greater appreciation of the Church that has been a part of me all my life.......I thank the Holy Spirit for guiding me to this class.......I am looking forward with great anticipation to continue on with this course, and I would encourage every woman to take the opportunity to attend the Endow classes.”

This is the story of ENDOW. Here is “Love the learning. Build the friendships. Live the Faith” in living action. Praise be to God for the apostolate of ENDOW which helps bring women into knowing the fullness of their dignity and their role in humanizing and transforming society into a culture of life. Thank God for this living example of yet another heart converted to deeper understanding through an ENDOW study...and this is only after the first chapter of her first study!

“Out of his heart shall flow rivers of living water.” Jn 7:38 Come Holy Spirit!

An invitation for YOU....come and embark.....discover YOUR dignity...

(Kelsey Teran, a 23 year old participant in ENDOW studies in Boulder, CO...and my daughter ;) , was asked to share her thoughts about her participation in ENDOW studies at an upcoming event called "Date with Dignity." Below are Kelsey's thoughts.... )

One best comes to know an artist by examining his work. Who is an artist more worthy of examination than our God? Every beauty we can see with our eyes or imagine with our minds is the Art of our God, for he Himself is Beauty. The world as we know it, and far beyond what we know, is the wonder-full creation of The Creator. Should we not examine his work? And upon examining his work, should we not realize that we are his masterpiece? Are we - humans, that is - not the only creatures of this world given the prize of being made in His own image and likeness? We are his greatest work of art! St. Clement of Alexandria said, “To know ourselves has always been the greatest of all lessons. For, if we know ourselves, we will know God. And in knowing God, we will become like God.” Is it not our duty to examine ourselves, in order to know the Artist who formed us? So what are we, us humans? The most simple answer comes from The Beginning: Male and Female he created us (Genesis 1:27). And just as is the mystery of our faith and our existence, the most simple answer is also the most deep and awesome adventure. Endow is a journey of exploring what it means to be a human female - the perfect complement to a human male - the necessary component of the human race that allows us to exist in the image and likeness of our God. The human race is not complete as God’s artistic masterpiece without female, without woman. Women exist to humanize the world - to complete God’s image and likeness in this existence where “we cannot see him as we do an apple tree or a neon sign, that is, with no interior commitment” (Pope Benedict). We must look interiorly, look inside ourselves to know ourselves and thus to know our God, the perfect artist. Endow sets out to do just this. In our current world the idea of a female has become just that - an idea - and an idea does not have to be true to exist. We need to examine the human female on the level of Reality to know what she is, to know what she is as a human, body mind and soul. We deserve to be only exactly what we are. And this discovery of what we are and thus what we should be is in no way disappointing - it is as gazing upon the perfect work of the perfect Artist.

I will leave you now with two more things: first, a few lyrics from the song that has been playing repeatedly on my iTunes and also in my head which I find rather apropos when contemplating the beauty of male and female complementarity (from a song called January Wedding by the Avett Brothers):

“I hope that I don’t sound too

insane when I say there is darkness

all around us.

I don’t feel weak but I do

need sometimes for Her to protect me

and reconnect me

to the beauty

that I’m missin’ ”

and second, with a recommendation to seriously consider embarking on the journey of discovering what it means to be a woman, the woman you are intended to be, by walking the beautiful path Endow, through the work of the Holy Spirit, has put before you.

Thanks for listening :)

Kelsey Teran

To find our more about ENDOW and ENDOW studies which are beginning soon, please click here.

What does “feminine genius” look like? Pope Benedict XVI speaks of Hildegard of Bingen...and of Mulieris Dignitatem.....

How blessed we are to have such beautiful Church teachings! This week, Our Holy Father spoke about the role of women in the life of the Church. He referred to John Paul II’s Apostolic Letter “Mulieris Dignitatem” (On the Dignity and Vocation of Women). Our Holy Father expressed his thanksgiving for all the manifestations of the feminine ‘genius’ which have appeared in the course of history, focusing on one saintly woman in particular: Hildegard of Bingen. Hildegard was a mystic who was the recipient of many visions and supernatural gifts. Hildegard is put forth as an example of those who used great discernment and who rightfully respected Church authority to guide them in using what they received from God.

The Catholic News Agency reports “‘Benedict XVI also recalled her mystic visions which she first shared with people in confidence, including her spiritual director, a fellow sister and St. Bernard of Clairvaux. ‘As always happens in the lives of the true mystics,’ said the Pope, ‘Hildegard also wished to submit herself to the authority of wise people to discern the origin of her visions.’........’This,’ taught the Pope, ‘is the seal of an authentic experience of the Holy Spirit, source of every charism: the person (who is the) repository of supernatural gifts never boasts, does not flaunt them and, especially, shows total obedience to the ecclesiastical authorities.......

Every gift distributed by the Holy Spirit, in fact, is destined for the edification of the Church, and the Church, through its pastors, recognizes their authenticity.’” (read the CNA article here).

It is the time of year when many ENDOW studies are beginning for the fall semester. Studying the beautiful Apostolic Letter mentioned, Mulieris Dignitatem, is sure to be a great blessing in the lives of many women. This Letter sheds light upon the beauty of our God given feminine genius. How are we called to use our God given feminine gifts in humanizing our culture? Come find out in an ENDOW study of this Apostolic Letter written by John Paul II in the Marian Year of 1988. This document is written in the form of a meditation. In a meditation, we ponder the truths of the faith and the role faith plays in our own lives. In Mulieris Dignitatem, John Paul II meditates on the anthropology of man and woman, God's intention for their relationship, and the result of original sin. He also explores the relationship that Jesus had with women and the reason for the all-male priesthood. Please click here for more information about an ENDOW study of Mulieris Dignitatem.

Reason for Hope

Several years ago, I delivered a speech at a Pro-Life Conference in Dallas. I wish I could say that it was the most memorable presentation of the day, but it wasn’t. In my opinion, a Boston attorney named Frances Hogan claimed that honor. I have never forgotten her story. Ms. Hogan spoke about graduating from Boston College Law School in the early 1970’s, at the height of the cultural revolution, the effects of which are still evident today. Eager to include women, various organizations such as the American Bar Association, the American Medical Association, Teacher Associations, etc., snatched up these young female attorneys and signed them up as board members.

As Catholic professional women coming of age during this turbulent time, Hogan and the others quickly realized that the organizations with which they had associated were adopting pro-choice positions. In protest, they resigned, which she claimed was the biggest mistake of her life. In her words, “we left the table.” As a result, they lost their voice. The rest is history.

All of this reminds me of my daughter. Newly graduated from Providence College in Rhode Island with a degree in Theology, she and four of her college roommates just spent the last couple of weeks driving up and down the West Coast. Since Denver was their beginning and ending point, I made sure that we had time for Mexican food, margaritas, and some lively conversation before they ventured off. What a gift!

As I listened to them, I thought of Frances Hogan and her graduating class of 1972. As the saying goes, “you’ve come a long way, baby…” These 2009 graduates are different. Full of life and confidence and smart as a whip, these young Catholic women are armed with all of John Paul II’s teachings on the dignity of women. They aren’t going to leave anyone’s table. We have every reason in the world to be hopeful.