ST. JOHN – Seeking spiritual inspiration geared exclusively toward them, women parishioners at St. John the Evangelist and their neighbors have embarked on a new path that views them as God’s ‘Masterpieces of Creation.’
Meeting for the first of nine weekly sessions on Sept. 14, more than 35 women joyfully shared fellowship and appetizers before watching a video and participating in small group discussions.
“Women have incredible power – we can give birth – and we need to realize it,” said Deb Stirn, a parishioner who volunteered to lead the first season of the program “She Shall Be Called Woman,” called a transformative journey that introduces two new seasons of sessions each year. “Men in our parish have ‘That Man is You,’ a companion program, and women were asking why they didn’t have something similar focused on us. This fills that gap, and it has been accepted so well that I think we are going to have to move to a larger room.”
SJE parishioner Ruth Martini Walsh echoed Stirn. “I’m excited for women to have something just for women, to help us work and build community and relationships,” she said of the new program. “It’s great to see such a wide age range of women, because we all have experiences and some of us may be able to help young mothers who need help.”
“My husband participates in ‘That Man is You’ and we’ve been saying, ‘What about women?’ It’s important for us to be counted. We may not have time to build camaraderie at Sunday Mass,” added Leny Pearman, another SJE parishioner glad to join “She Shall Be Called Woman.”
The first video session, entitled “His,” focused on women as God’s greatest masterpiece, presented by “She Shall Be Called Woman” content coordinator Katie Hartfiel. “Who are you?” she asked the audience. “At the core of your being, what is your identity?
“The way we see ourselves – as a daughter, sister, friend, spouse, an artist, an introvert or extrovert – they are characteristics, but not who you are,” she said in the video. “At the very core, who you are is the daughter of God. You may realize that, but because we don’t really understand what it is to belong to the Lord, it may seem like it is a message only for young people, but I find it resonates with adult women, and men, too.”
Hartfiel offered three reasons that realization “is so important if we want to grow closer to God. One, if you don’t love yourself, you will spend your life chasing after people who don’t love you either. Two, if we don’t appreciate how God loves us, we won’t know him, and three, people who see themselves as God sees them don’t sin.”
She gave a new perspective on the creation of Adam and Eve, pointing out that God could have created both man and woman together, but he held back on woman’s creation to create a loneliness and a longing in Adam for a worthy partner.
“Holding Eve back (on purpose), I never thought of creation in that way,” admitted Regina Puch, of St. John, a young woman who attended the first session of “She Shall Be Called Woman” with her sister. “I’m interested in learning more about femininity and how it plays a role in our lives. Society tells us to go against it.”
Hartfiel recalled the Gospel story of the woman who was accused of adultery and brought to the town square to be stoned. After Jesus suggested that the person without sin cast the first stone, prompting the crowd to disperse, he was left alone with her. (John 8: 9) He tells her to “Go forth, and do not sin again,” with the understanding that you are mine, noted Hartfiel.
“What do you have to lay at the feet of Jesus?” she asked her audience. “Let him look deep inside. Let Jesus come in. ‘I want to offer you forgiveness and healing,’ he says to us. We want to heal ourselves so we can be loved like Mary is loved by God.”
In the seven small group discussions, 5-6 women gathered with a group leader to consider three questions stemming from the video presentation. Asked why women find it difficult to embrace the idea that they are God’s masterpiece of creation, Connie Swidergal suggested that women “may not feel worthy of God’s love.”
Diane Brown said that “Women get caught up in people judging us. We need to stop worrying about that. I have to like me. When you can look in the mirror and say, ‘I like me,’ you know who you are and (that) God already loves you.”
After the first session ended, Mary Rose Gianotti, of Beecher, Ill., was glad she joined the program. “It was great; there was so much to think about, like the fact that Adam’s journey of loneliness was intentional.” Gianotti said she came to the first session hoping “to find a better community with (other) women and to build it together.”
Sharon Smith said, “If we can make a whole lot of disciples for God, and they don’t even all have to be Catholic, the world would be a better place.”
For more information about joining “She Shall Be Called Woman” on Mondays at 6:30 p.m., email Deb Stirn at debrastirn@yahoo.com. Following the completion of the first season in November, Season Two: The Virtues of Mary will start in spring, 2027.
Caption: All ages of women are participating in the new, nine-week program, “She Shall Be Called Woman” that began on Sept. 14 at St. John the Evangelist in St. John. Among the young adults who shared snacks and fellowship before the first video and small group discussion are (from left) Regina Puch of St. John, her sibling Mary Rose Gianotti of Beecher, Ill. and Yesenia Lopez of Lansing, Ill. (Marlene A. Zloza photo)
