PARTICIPANTS AT THE MCCW MALVERN RETREAT – OCT. 4 - 7 OCTOBER 2013 WITH MONSIGNOR PHILIP HILL (BACK ROW 4TH FROM THE LEFT) AND SISTER MAUREEN COLLEARY (DIRECTLY BELOW MONSIGNOR HILL)
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t the core of Why Catholic? is the formation of small Christian communities for prayer, reflection, and sharing. These small groups provide an ideal, supportive environment for awakening and deepening faith in a way that is both effective and engaging. The resources then encourage small group members to put their deeper faith into action in their lives.
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his past September and October, we completed Why Catholic? training at two installations in Germany – Vilseck and Grafenwoehr. While in Germany, I had the opportunity to accept invitations from the MCCW (Military Council of Catholic Women) communities at Wiesbaden, Vilseck and Grafenwoehr to do presentations on Mary. One of the suggestions from Pope Benedict XVI at the beginning of the Year of Faith was to encourage us to recognize the special role of Mary in our faith lives, in the New Evangelization and to follow her as a model of faith and virtue. At RENEW we have a faith sharing resource called “At Prayer with Mary” and we created a presentation entitled Mary: Her Story as First Disciple and Evangelizer to introduce the resource and to highlight how Mary can be the instrument through which our relationship with Jesus is deepened. Catholic women from Ft. Belvoir, Ft. Lee and Aberdeen Proving Ground, on a retreat at St. Joseph Retreat House in Malvern, PA, reflected on the importance of Mary in their lives. More than 75 women and several men participated in prayer and sharing. Bishop Richard Spencer and Father Ed Ohm joined us in Wiesbaden and Monsignor Philip Hill attend the Malvern Retreat. Some reflections from the participants include: “As military faith communities and sisters in faith we are unique and very blessed. Nourishing our relationship to God is a must in this time of deployments and family commitments. We were blessed to enjoy the spiritual leadership on this retreat of Monsignor Philip Hill, Father Vincent Fortunato, O.F.M.Cap. and Sister Maureen Colleary, F.S.P. They helped to remind me of our need for faith sharing and support of our continued journey in the footsteps of our Master, Jesus.” — Bernadette Kovalsick, Aberdeen Proving Ground MCCW (continued on page 36) christmas 2013 |
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