Please Join Me in this Women's Study

I hope that you will join me in participating in this wonderful study, slated to begin in January 2008. I just completed my online registration and am looking forward to making this study one of my spiritual resolutions for 2008. Won't you please consider joining me? What a lovely way to begin our new year! The following information was shared by Cheryl Dickow of Bezalel Books who will be running the Women's Study:

Woman’s Study Sponsored by Catholic Exchange

In 1988 John Paul II wrote an Apostolic Letter on the Dignity and Vocation of Women titled “Mulieris Dignitatem.” He began the letter with two very critical references. His first, appearing in the initial, opening paragraph, was taken from the Second Vatican Council and states, "The hour is coming, in fact has come, when the vocation of women is being acknowledged in its fullness, the hour in which women acquire in the world an influence, an effect and a power never hitherto achieved. That is why, at this moment when the human race is undergoing so deep a transformation, women imbued with a spirit of the Gospel can do so much to aid humanity in not falling." The subsequent reference, appearing in the second paragraph of his letter is a quote from one of Paul VI’s discourses which states, "Within Christianity, more than in any other religion, and since its very beginning, women have had a special dignity, of which the New Testament shows us many important aspects...; it is evident that women are meant to form part of the living and working structure of Christianity in so prominent a manner that perhaps not all their potentialities have yet been made clear."

Together, these statements lend additional historical authority to the crux of John Paul’s Apostolic Letter in which he goes on to say that A woman is to be found at the center of this [Christ’s death] salvific event. John Paul’s words on this important subject are absolute poetry and reveal the way in which he truly moved and had his being with God. John Paul’s understanding and mission to empower women to acquire the influence and power to aid humanity from ‘not falling’ was clearly evident. Further on John Paul writes The Church gives thanks for all the manifestations of the feminine "genius" which have appeared in the course of history, in the midst of all peoples and nations; she gives thanks for all the charisms which the Holy Spirit distributes to women in the history of the People of God, for all the victories which she owes to their faith, hope and charity: she gives thanks for all the fruits of feminine holiness.

To celebrate the twenty years since John Paul’s 1988 Apostolic Letter on the Dignity and Vocation of Women, Catholic Exchange is presenting a unique, timely look at some of these women John Paul referred to when he gave thanks for all the manifestations of the feminine “genius.” This enlightening ten week course will begin January 7, 2008 and conclude March 10, 2008 and can be enjoyed from the privacy of your own home while conversing with women around the world. There are three components of the women’s study where the overall objective is for each participant to get to the heart of her worth and value in Christ by knowing, more intimately, her sisters in faith. Women will receive the book “Renewing Your Christian Self in a Secular Word: Wisdom from Old and New Testament Women” by award winning author and speaker Cheryl Dickow and access to Catholic Exchange podcasts and online discussions. Registration is now beginning. The cost of the program is $35.00.

To register for the program download the registration form from Catholic Exchange and send it, with your check or money order to: Bezalel Books P.O. Box 300427 Waterford, MI 48330. You will receive your book, an introductory letter outlining the course, and your password for the podcasts and online discussions within three weeks.