St. Faustina s Court Forum Court St. Faustina #2478 Catholic Daughters of the Americas 9933 Midway Road. Dallas, TX 75220 Volume VIII No. 3 March 2015 Dear Sisters-in-Christ, We are well into the Lenten season and have been blessed with countless opportunities to do what we can to follow Christ s model of self-sacrifice and prayer during this holy time. Some may be fortunate enough to attend retreats, daily Mass, adoration of the Blessed Sacrament and other manners of spiritual enrichment and faith growth. Personally, I never feel that I am doing enough to show Our Lord my love and gratitude for all the gifts and blessings in my life. As I get older and health issues become a part of my daily life, I have come to value all the more the blessing of a church community, my church family. For the most part, women supporting women, we need one another and should never let pride or the need to mind my own business keep us from reaching out for help or to assist. In John 5: 2-9 Jesus asked the man who had been ill for 38 years if he wanted to be made well. The man s response was, Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; and while I am making my way, someone else steps down ahead of me. What is keeping us from the healing waters? Are we not reaching out to those who need our helping hand? Are we letting pride get in the way of asking for a hand up? In spite of the man s long explanation for not making it to the healing waters, Jesus said, Stand up, take up your mat and walk. At once the man was made well, and he took up his mat and began to walk. Jesus did not wait to be asked before he healed the man, he just did what he could to help. We are sisters-in-christ! Let s not wait to ask or be asked, we truly need one another. Prayers are wonderful and necessary, but a visit or phone call could save/chance someone s life, including our own. We are preparing for our 3 rd annual Day of Reflection and you have all received notice of this Retreat on March 14. We are up to about 40 registrants as of today, unfortunately only 10 or so are Court members. Here is a perfect opportunity to support our Court and one another. Are you being called to assemble with other court members and church community to support this very special event? Please consider it seriously. Love and Blessings, YSIC - Mary Louise Ludt Our Mission Statement Catholic Daughters of the Americas Strives to embrace the principle of faith working through love in the promotion of justice, equality and the advancement of human rights and human dignity for all. Regent: Mary Louise Ludt Editor: Marilu Kameliski Chaplain: Fr. Marco Rangel 5024 Stanford Ave. 3700 Preston Rd. Apt.#332 9933 Midway Rd. Dallas, TX 75209 Plano, TX 75093 Dallas, TX 75220 marylouiseludt@mac.com maryluluk@hotmail.com mrangel@st.monicachurch.org 214-335-3259 214-883-4806 214-358-1453 Ext. 112 Upcoming Dates to Remember In this Issue First Friday Adoration March 6th Have you met Martha Smith? Eggs Due for Austin Street Shelter March 9th CDA Monthly Meeting 6:30pm...March 10th CDA Retreat....March 14th CDA Lenten Retreat Information National and State News Local News Palm Sunday....March 29th
Have you met Martha Smith? Martha Smith has been a member of Court St. Faustina #2478 since 1995. She is our court s treasurer. Martha is also active at her residence as the president of the Acadia Resident s Council. She is retired from Dallas County auditor s office. She used to teach Catechism for many years. Martha is a member of the craft group that meets at her cousin's home every Wednesday. This group makes items for newborn babies at Parkland Hospital that need things like afghans, quilts, baby caps. She make the caps, two of the ladies work on baby quilts, and three of them crochet afghans for the babies. It is their way of giving to our community. Martha used to be active in just about every organization at St. Monica s. She is originally from Beaumont Texas. She recently had a birthday on February 19th. To celebrate her birthday, our court had a birthday party for her on Saturday afternoon February 21st. We gathered in Martha s TV room to view the movie The Way. Pictured above is our court and Martha at her birthday celebration. Pictured in the bottom image is Kristin Buehler (court member who organized the event), Martha, and Theresa the weekend charge nurse from the Acadia. Court St. Faustina is proud to have such an active member as Martha in our court! 2
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National News www.catholicdaughters.org All Catholic Daughters will be remembered in a Mass celebrated by our National Chaplain during the Easter Season at St. Henry's Church in Perham, MN. National Membership Contest 2014-2016- BOGO! Bring one; Gain one! (Members into your local court) Contest Dates: August 1, 2014 to June 1, 2016. Goals: Every member will participate in BOGO! Bring one; Gain one. Every state will institute Five new courts! Local court prizes: $200 1st place, $150 2nd place, $100 3rd place, to the courts that bring in the most new members. Division 1: 1-75 members, Division 2: 75-150 members, Division 3: 150+ members. How will you BOGO? More information at: olgasamaniego@hotmail.com. Pope Francis has asked us to pray this year for our brothers and sisters in Consecrated Life. I ask you to join me in prayer and fasting on the first Friday of each month this year for the sake of religious Vocations. Our religious brothers and sisters dedicate their lives to prayer, so let us set aside at least one holy hour of prayer for them each month. Thank you for the work CDA has done to promote religious life. Fr. Matthew Kuhn CDA National Chaplain Shirley Seyfried CDA National Regent We have been very busy on the National level. We were very excited to institute a new court in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in December. Then on January 21st, we attended the Opening Mass of the Vigil of Life at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington DC. The next day, we participated in the March for Life. There was estimated to be over 600,000 at the March. The March was lead this year by the students from Shanley Catholic High School in Fargo, North Dakota. Following the March and our legislative meeting in Washington, we went to Pennsylvania to begin plans for the 2016 National Convention. Then Helene, Father Matthew, and I went to EWTN to tape two more episodes for The Church Universal Series about Catholic Daughters. We are very pleased to hear of the institution of several more new courts. We hear that many more are being proposed. Keep up the great work. I am also very pleased that courts have begun to send me information and pictures about their new projects. They will be featured in our next issue of Share. If you have a new project that you can share with me, I would love to hear about it. Remember, each court is asked to start one new charitable project in each of these two years. We are nearing State Conventions so preparation is in high gear. Attendees will come back to their local courts with renewed vigor for Catholic Daughters. Thank you for the invitations to your State Conventions. I wish I could attend every one, but of course A National Officer or Director will attend each of your conventions. Please welcome the National Representative at your state convention that I send in my absence. Blessings! 4
National News www.catholicdaughters.org CDA Pilgrimage November 1, 2015 14 Days There is still room on the CDA Pilgrimage to Rome and Medjugorje! November 1, 2015, Leaving from New York 14 Days. For information about the trip, check out the web site at catholicdaughters.org and click on the CDA Pilgrimage to Rome Registration link. There you will find details and registration forms. This wonderful pilgrimage, lead by our National Chaplain, Father Matthew Kuhn, is filling up fast, so don t wait we would love to have you join us. BOGO! Is Getting Hot! It is almost spring, and CDA is blooming! Since our kick-off in August, 10 new courts have been instituted and five more are in the planning stages. Our dream to have CDA courts in all 50 states is on its way to becoming a reality! 2015 will be the 7th year that CDA has participated in this event sponsored by the Saint Michael the Archangel Organization. The three day event will take place May 1st-3rd. Persons participating in this multinational pro-life prayer event will pray at least one Rosary for an end to the surgical and non-surgical killing of unborn human persons. Please contact your Court members and parish to promote this event so that the One Million Rosaries goal will be met. You may find additional information on their website saintmichaelthearchangelorganization.org Morality In Media Founded in 1962, Morality In Media (MIM) is the leading national organization opposing pornography and indecency through public education and the application of the law. MIM is one of our National Charities and all courts are encouraged to maintain an annual membership. 5
National News www.catholicdaughters.org Priest Appreciation Day this year is June 7th. Please show your appreciation to your priests for all they do for us. Pictured in the above photos from left to right is our priests at St. Monica s Dallas, TX. Fr. Edwin Leonard- Director of Vocations, Fr. Stephen Bierschenk Pastor, and Fr. Marco Rangel Parochial Vicar. State News www.texascda.org 49th Biennial Texas State Convention Austin, Texas April 9-12th, 2015 The State Convention is very soon! We will gather at the Renaissance Hotel in Austin on April 9-12 2015. There will be daily masses, workshops, a silent auction, raffle, vendor booths, and so much more! Friday night will be a Fun Night CDA Goes to the Cinema, on Saturday a banquet and Liturgies. Early Sunday morning we will have a Fun Walk/Run before the closing ceremonies. And of course the annual meeting where we will vote and induct the new state officers. See you soon in Austin! 6
Local News W E L C O M E Pledging of New Members One of our newest members, Veronica Bowersock, was pledged and received as a Court St. Faustina member, at our meeting on Tuesday January 6th. Mary Louise Ludt, Regent, pledges Ronnie in as a new member. Welcome Ronnie! Happy Valentine s Day Court St. Faustina! Thank you Christine Bukowsky for creating a very festive Valentine s Day presentation at the Monthly Meeting on February 10th. Standing beside Christine at the refreshment table is Regent, Mary Louise Ludt. Save the Date! The Annual Bake Sale has been rescheduled for May 2-3, 2015. More information to come! 7
Local News March Birthdays Mary Burgess 12th Theresa Rivera-Sosa 13th Diana Turner 29th Repose of the Soul of: Jesse Ortiz Maria Plank s Cousin Lisa Taylor For Healing: Mary Lou Fife Monica Noyes Martha Smith Carolyn Bowen & Husband Frances Aaron Christine Bukowsky s sister Elizabeth DelBosque Renew your Membership Today Dues are to be mailed to our new Financial Secretary: Elizabeth DelBosque 9211 Garland Road, #5228, Dallas, TX 75218.. 8