11.25.07 | AVOW Study Group, Breakfast for Women Offered
Published in IC Good News, Parish Paper

AVOW Study Group, Breakfast for

Women Offered

By Karen Stein

Good news from AVOW International Center! Study Groups for Women are starting soon. AVOW stands for Advocating the Vocation of Women. Itʼs a local Catholic organization dedicated to advancing the dignity of women and promoting our authentic roles as revealed in the Word of God. AVOW offers conferences, study groups and a monthly newsletter.



AVOWʼs courses are based on Scriptures, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and the writings of well-respected Catholic thinkers. Women meeting and sharing their faith and life experiences will discover the inspiring truth of the New Feminism, as defined by Pope John Paul II. Our first course, on John Paul IIʼs "Letter to Women," will run for eight weeks beginning October 10. You can register and purchase study materials at www.endowonline.com or by calling (303) 715-3224. Scholarships are available. No homework is required. Contact Jackie Rhodes (637-9840) or Kathy Hixson (655-8594) for information.



Please join us for the AVOW Breakfast for Women on November 10 at Justinʼs Grill, Carrier Circle. Our speaker is Dawn Eden, author of "The Thrill of the Chaste." Tickets are $30. Reservations are required and seating is limited. For more information, contact Karen Stein, 655-3837 or karentkc@aol.com

03.15.07 | Women’s organization hosts breakfast and adds perspective
March 15-21, 2007
Authentic women
By Connie Cissell/ SUN editor
Women’s organization hosts breakfast and adds perspective
EAST SYRACUSE — “Through the insight which is so much a part of your womanhood you enrich the world’s understanding and help to make human relations more honest and authentic.”
This quote from John Paul II is excerpted from his “Letter to Women” written in June 1995. The words are part and parcel of the group AVOW — Advocating the Vocation of Women — that has surfaced from the diocesan Commission on Women in Church and in Society. AVOW hosted a breakfast with two speakers on March 10 at Justin’s Grill. Diocesan Director of Communication and Assistant Chancellor Danielle Cummings spoke, as well as national speaker Emily Sederstrand.

AVOW sprang from another group within the women’s commission, one whose focus was on the Jubilee Year in 2000 and raising awareness about women within the church and embracing what they see as their role, and reclaiming the dignity of women all over the world. That particular group did not disband after the year 2000, rather it grew in number and expanded its mission.

Cummings spoke about the media’s image of women. She highlighted Anna Nicole Smith who recently died leaving a baby daughter whose paternity is not yet resolved. There were clips of Smith looking increasingly out of it or drugged as time progressed through the footage.

“Anna Nicole Smith epitomized an image of women that many mothers and many women are growing angry with,” Cummings said. “Her goal was to be famous, to create an image so she would be loved, revered and sought after. Well, she was sought after all right.” Cummings asked the approximately 200 women attending the breakfast what words came to mind when they saw the pictures of Smith. “Sad,” “pornographic,” “confused,” “exploited” and “no sense of self” were some of the answers.

She also brought up names like Paris Hilton, Hillary Clinton and Condelezza Rice asking what adjectives came to mind for these women as well. “Every day these confusing images of women are in the forefront of what we see. Even the best of us are affected by these images,” Cummings said.

And, Cummings asserted, if women do not have a strong sense of who they are, these images can have a real impact. She cited eating disorders, aggression, depression, low self esteem and more factors which have become more and more common among young women and girls. “One out of four college-aged women have practiced unhealthy weight control,” Cummings said. Thirty-eight percent of females in video games are scantily clad, she said. Saturday morning television viewing for children features commercials geared specifically to the image of girls and beauty. “Fifty percent of our Saturday morning commercials are focused on girls’ attractiveness. Not one focuses on boys and how attractive they are,” Cummings said.

Instead of viewing these constant messages, Cummings suggests women take time to really know themselves and find the beauty in understanding that they are each “a child of God.” Through prayer — and by that Cummings said she meant quiet time with no distractions so that one may focus on listening to what God wants for that person — through awareness of the messages and how they exploit, and through limiting exposure to such images, women can influence their own thinking and that of their children. She quoted Henri Nouwen and said, “‘Jesus Christ doesn’t identify us based on our success, popularity and power. You are not what the world makes you but you are children of God.’ If you know this and live it, these images will not have an impact on you,” Cummings told the women.

Sederstrand speaks at national conferences and workshops on women’s reproductive health, marriage and family, and cultivating a spiritual life. Sederstrand explained that she had gone through a conversion experience that led her to Catholicism and changed her life. Today she and her husband have four children. She admitted that they sometimes get the better of the both of them. “It’s not that we’re outnumbered,” she joked, “it’s that they are just smarter than us.” Sederstrand also referred to the images seen on television. “We’re all guilty of it,” she said. “That diamond commercial makes me feel all warm and then guilty.” Sederstrand was talking about a commercial where a man shouts how much he loves “this woman” and then presents her with a beautiful diamond ring. “What I’m really thinking is ‘Hey, this man just made this multi-thousand dollar purchase without even consulting me!’” Sederstrand said she was raised by a feminist who was a gourmet cook but didn’t bother to teach her how to prepare meals. “She told me later she didn’t want me to become ‘some man’s cook,’” she said.

Sederstrand spoke about how women are “made for love.” She said they are life-giving, nurturing and intuitive — all qualities God possesses as well. She became familiar with Catholic teaching on women while reading a book about fertility. Sederstrand and her husband originally planned to adopt children rather than have their own. Someone gave her the book as a gift before she got married. “This book made me crazy. No one had ever told me I could learn to interpret my own fertility. I started telling everybody about this. I became an activist,” she explained.

The Catholic Church was a hidden treasure for Sederstrand, she said. As an evangelical Christian prior to becoming a Catholic, she had not thought much of Catholicism. She came to study the writings of John Paul II, the Catechism of the Catholic Church and other church documents. She formed study groups with other women and they came to understand the church’s understanding of the gifts of women.

Locally, AVOW proposes to facilitate women’s recognition of their dignity, acceptance of their role in society, family and business. It is open to women of all ages, Catholic or non-Catholic. The group is in its early development and is looking to expand and to offer education through the ENDOW (Educating on the Nature & Dignity of Women) program headquartered in the Archdiocese of Denver. ENDOW operates study groups all over the country. They recommend study of John Paul II’s “Letter to Women” and writings of other Catholics. The program allows women a forum to grow in understanding and to build community with other women.
Women interested in any of these topics can contact AVOW by calling (315) 655-3837.