SALT LAKE CITY — "Without mentoring, our women’s councils would eventually cease to exist," said Dominican Sister Janet Stankowski at the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (DCCW) Convention held at the Sheraton City Centre in Salt Lake City April 28-29.
This year’s theme was "Yes Lord, Your Servant is Listening." The convention included three workshops offering insightful and practical knowledge and advice.
Sr. Janet gave a workshop on mentoring for the Organization Commission. Dr. Julie Boerio-Goates spoke on behalf of the Family Concerns Commission. Her talk was "Speak Lord, Your Servant is Listening… Wait a minute, you want me to do what?" Father Rick Sherman, pastor of St. Pius X Parish, Moab, gave a workshop for the Legislation Commission titled "Justice Through Mindful Living."
Sr. Janet is rector of Walsh Hall at the University of Notre Dame in Indiana. She said, "A mentor is a trusted counselor or guide. Mentoring happens when a role model offers support to another person making connections that benefit both the teacher and the learner.
"Mentoring for some comes easily, while others must practice the skill and develop habits of good communication," said Sr. Janet. "Most of us participate in informal or unstructured approaches. This involves conversations that happen by chance or arrangement among people who are most like ourselves. The challenge is to reach out to someone unlike ourselves, and invite that person to our Council of Catholic Women (CCW) meetings or other group activities."
Sr. Janet said we have to remember we cannot do all the jobs that need to be done ourselves. We must always invite others to help. No one wants to jump in if you have everything under control. It is in assisting that we develop the confidence to be a leader.
She told participants to realize general announcements only get a few volunteers. You can build up the outreach by personally inviting people to bring their gifts and talents to your meetings, and you will be more likely to get a response.
"We are all different," said Sr. Janet. "So how do we include the economically poor or the struggling single parents who would like to participate? One way is to invite them to help plan something that would address their concerns and issues and get them to come to the meetings. When you make a place for them, they will see how they can participate."
Sr. Janet said the CCWs are organizations that can incorporate other programs such a book clubs, scripture reading, and craft nights because CCWs are more than cleaning the church and bake sales. They are a place for people who want to think outside the box, so we must be open to new ideas.
Julie Boerio-Goates is an author, a professor of chemistry at Brigham Young University (BYU), and an active member of St. Francis of Assisi Parish, Orem.
"In 25 years of being in Utah and at BYU, I sometimes feel like I am a woman without a country," said Boerio-Goates. "When I am in the midst of Mormons, I explain Catholics, and when I am in the midst of Catholics, I find myself defending Mormons. As an instructor, I know from an educational point of view, sometimes the most important lessons can be learned when you are hearing something from a completely different perspective that does not jive with your own."
Boerio-Goates said the theme of this convention is how Catholic women have listened and responded to God’s call living and raising families in Utah. We are individuals and our experiences are varied based on our past and the present, and they influence our teaching. Religion and faith can be used as a weapon to divide us, or they can bring us together in compassionate service and friendship.
Boerio-Goates has said many times, "You want me to do what?" She grew up Catholic in Pennsylvania and met and married a Mormon man with very different and strongly held religious beliefs. They moved to Utah in 1980, where she and her husband both applied for jobs in the same department at BYU. She was seven months pregnant and not sure which was worse, being Catholic or being pregnant. At the age of 32, with a 5-year-old daughter, she was diagnosed and successfully treated for breast cancer. After several years of trying to have more children without success, she found herself pregnant at age 39 and facing morning sickness the entire nine months. Her in-laws have supported her in raising her children Catholic.
"Even though I have built bridges and been walked on, my experiences at BYU have been positive from both a professional and a personal perspective," said Boerio-Goates. "It is unlikely that I would have had an opportunity to grow in my understanding of my religion and my faith if I had taught at a Catholic college. I help my colleagues understand the Catholic position on a wide-range of issues that are far outside my professional field of chemistry and physics. It is in living together with our differences, that we must foster world peace."
Fr. Sherman is a member of the Peace and Justice Commission for the Diocese of Salt Lake City. He said Catholic social teaching is the middle language between the church and our mainstream culture, and between the church and the legislature. We need to be active in dialog in order to build relationships to try to raise the standards of discourse and search for solutions that address the root causes of our problems. He discussed the seven themes of Catholic social teaching according to the United States Council of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) Administrative Committee, "Faithful Citizenship: A Catholic Call to Political Responsibility."
"Every person is created in the image and likeness of God," said Fr. Sherman. "Therefore, each persons’ life and dignity must be respected, whether that person is an innocent unborn child in a mother’s womb, a person who has worked in a market in Baghdad, or a convicted criminal. The human person is not only sacred, but social. The God-given institutions of marriage – a lifelong commitment between a man and a woman – and family, are central and serve as the foundations for social life. Marriage and family should be strengthened not undermined."
Fr. Sherman said we are our brothers’ and sisters’ keepers. "Loving our neighbor has global dimensions in a shrinking world. The economy must serve people, not the other way around. Work is more than a way to make a living; it is a form of continuing participation in God’s act of creation.
"Every person has a fundamental right to life – the right that makes all other rights possible. Each person also has a right to the conditions for living a decent life – faith and family life, food and shelter, education, employment, and health care.
A fundamental measure of our society is how we care for and stand with the poor and vulnerable. The world that God created has been entrusted to us. Our use of it must be directed by God’s plan for creation, not simply for our own benefit.
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