Genevieve,

Thank you very much for sharing the experience at the International Congress so eloquently. Let us pray that we can take this message to the ends of the earth helping women to understand their God-given dignity and their beautiful gifts. In a culture that is constantly attacking women with confusing messages about their worth and their place in this world, let us each pick up this beautiful Apostolic Letter, Mulieris Dignitatem and read and reflect upon it so that we may be more able to feel confident in our own dignity as women and able to pass that message on to all other women around the world–the women in our everyday lives. I think that the words that Blessed Mother Teresa wrote in the foreword she gave me for my book, Prayerfully Expecting, are beautiful words to ponder. She said, "Just as love begins at home, so also peace and the woman being the heart of the family–let us pray that we women realize the reason of existence is to love and be loved and through this love become an instrument of peace."

God bless!

Donna-Marie

I prefer the bumper sticker, "A woman's place is in the House….and the Senate. "

 My own feeling is that the feminist-types have let men get away with too much. (So have the non-feminist types, for that matter.) I think that if women were  really serious about equality, a strike would be in order. Until women are either recompensed for what they do, or men pick up their half of the housework, just don't do it. Let the kid screech until Dad changes the diaper. Do your own laundry only, if it's his turn, and let the kids' socks pile up to the ceiling if someone else doesn't do something. And if all this leads to a split, make sure he's stuck with full custody of the little buggers.

What a blessing to have been part of such an event!  You are so right in saying that while we have all, to some degree, appreciated the document when it was written in 1988, there has been a very real embracing of it and its message, even unknowingly, over the years. 

We are now understanding the Truth of our worth and dignity as found in Christ as John Paul II wrote, "Christ speaks to women about the things of God, and they understand them; there is a true resonance of mind and heart, a response of faith."  It is a wonderful time to be a Catholic woman!  Thank you for sharing this experience with us.

Cheryl

How much more realistic and hopeful is this teaching of the Great John Paul II.  God did not create females so that they are to struggle and compete with males. Only in finding the complimentary part are women made whole, and holy.

"Do not try to please everybody. Try to please God , the angels, and the saints. These are your public. If you are afraid of other people's opinion, you should not have become Christian." St John Vianney