Formation
Formation is personal preparation toward configuration of a woman’s person to that of Our Lord and the Blessed Virgin, the highest expression of the ‘feminine genius; and a source of constant inspiration.
Archbishop Fulton Sheen said the level of every civilization is the level of its woman. When she is virtuous and good, civilization is virtuous and good. When she is not, civilization is not. The woman must be well-formed intellectually, humanly, spiritually, and in her particular genius of femininity. Good formation contributes significantly to the making of a good woman, and a good woman makes a good daughter, sister, mother, wife, religious, and saint.
We offer opportunities of formation through small-group studies such as “Endow” (Education on the Nature and Dignity of Woman), bible-studies, webinars, seminars, conferences, and classes which occur online, in-person at the Mary and Elizabeth House, and at various parishes.
“How rare it is to find a valiant woman! It is perhaps necessarily so, since Scripture says that they are more precious than pearls and diamonds. Let us however work to train a few. For in this century we must no longer count on men to preserve the faith. The grain of faith that will be saved will hide itself among women. A woman cannot remain neutral in the world. She too is set for the fall and resurrection of many.”
- St. Madeline Sophie Barat
Be Healed
“Do you want to be healed?”
Our Lord asks that question many times in the Bible; to the woman at the well, Bartimaeus the blind man, the woman caught in adultery, the rich young man, and to us.
Our missionaries offer a five-week, small-group formation event. Women will come together as a group for four gatherings to share the Lord’s movement in their lives as they work through 2-3 passages a week in their prayer life.
Through the five movements of reading, meditation, prayer, contemplation, and action, those attending in-person or via zoom will recount their encounters of the biblical figures who received the healing words of Jesus, undergo their own spiritual healing and discover their personal response to Jesus’s most probing questions, including:
- Do you want to be made well?
- What are you thinking in your heart?
- Has no one condemned you?
- Can you drink the cup?
- Have you come to believe? and
- Do you love me more than these?
This formation offering is to prepare Memphis for the Healing the Whole Person Retreat in Fall 2023, hosted by Pew Ministries and Mary and Elizabeth. This retreat will bring together 1000 people nationally to experience the healing presence of our Lord. The John Paul II Healing Center will travel to Memphis to accompany Memphis through the retreat. Dr. Bob Schuchts, Sr. Mariam James, Dr. Bart Schuchts, and the team of the JPII Center will be coming to Memphis September 2023.
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Called and Gifted
Everyone is given by the Lord spiritual gifts in their lives which they have received from the Holy Spirit for the building up of the Kingdom.
“Called & Gifted” is a discernment process designed through the St. Catherine of Siena Institute that our missionaries have been trained in to guide women.
It has been used since 1993 by over 100,000 lay, ordained, and religious Catholics and other Christians around the world. It helps a woman to understand the spiritual gifts (charisms) given to all Christians and to discern what those are in her own life for the building up of the Kingdom. This awareness fosters an appreciation and awe of the Holy Spirit, while self-knowledge assists the woman in discerning the unique movements of the same Spirit in her life.
We will offer this discernment process and seminar to 36 women annually beginning January 2024
