Annual day of reflection for women held May 11 in Munhall, Pa
The 16th annual Day of Reflection for Women, sponsored by the Office of Religious Education, was held May 11 at the Cathedral of St. John the Baptist in Munhall, Pa. The program was entitled, “God Speaks: Do We Listen?” Popular piety encompasses many forms of devotion to the guardian angels. St. Basil the Great taught that “each and every member of the faithful has a guardian angel to protect, guard and guide them through life.”
Lillie Leonardi, a retired FBI agent who was one of the first responders to the crash site of Flight 93 in Shanksville, Pa., shared her experience of witnessing the presence of angels in the midst of that disaster. You can read a detailed account in her book, “In the Shadow of by Sister Marion Dobos, OSB Director, Office of Religious Education the Badge: A Memoir About Flight 93, a Field of Angels, and My Spiritual Homecoming.”
Joni Sturgill, a registered yoga teacher, studied at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in New York and holds a Master of Science in Counseling Psychology. She guided the participants in exercises on how to prepare your body for meditation and communion with the Divine. She demonstrated prayerful posture sequences, each invoking a different attitude of the heart and mind in prayer, manifested through the body.
She reminded her audience that our bodies are the temples of the Holy Spirit, the indwelling presence of God. Enthusiasm and energy were clearly manifested by Jennifer Miele, former Westmoreland County bureau chief for WTAE-TV and presently Communications Officer for the Diocese of Greensburg. Jennifer addressed the topic of “Evangelization” and how it is interpreted by different generations. She spoke about the hesitancy Catholics have in speaking about their faith especially during times of crisis. Her message was our faith is so much more than knowing all the answers or being able to cite Scripture verses when prompted.
At the heart of evangelization is nurturing a personal relationship with Christ, who is the same “Yesterday and today and forever” (Heb. 13:8). n A video recording of all three presenters for the sixteenth annual Day of Reflection for Women can be found at the Archeparchy’s website, www. archpitt.org.
