Photo Caption: Linda Howley-Skuby, president of the Women in the Church and in Society, reads a framed copy of the group’s charter before presenting it to Bishop Jenky.

By: By Jennifer Willems

With the Year of Faith fast approaching, the 70 people who attended the annual Day of Recollection sponsored by the Bishop’s Commission on Women in the Church and in Society wasted no time in heeding the day’s theme: “Intensifying Our Faith through Prayer, Love and Action.”

Gathered at the Spalding Pastoral Center in Peoria, they shared stories of faith, heard words of encouragement from Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, CSC, and honored him for his 10th anniversary as spiritual leader of the Diocese of Peoria, and were guided in reflection by Father Julius Turyatoranwa, parochial vicar of Holy Trinity Parish in Bloomington. Participants also had an opportunity to spend a holy hour at nearby St. Mary’s Cathedral, where they prayed the rosary and celebrated the sacrament of reconciliation before joining the cathedral parish community for the regular 4 p.m. Mass.

Noting that their numbers might not be large, commission president Linda Howley-Skuby said, “If 12 was good enough for Jesus, then 70 is good enough for us. Each of you is here for a particular reason.”

She noted that when Jesus selected his first disciples they didn’t know what they were in for. He assured them that they would not be alone, however, because he would send the Holy Spirit to help them.

“Think that Jesus is standing in this room,” Howley-Skuby told her listeners. “He knows the challenges that face us. We are not alone.”
It was a message they would hear again from Bishop Jenky, who was the keynote speaker for the day and stayed to have lunch with them.

“WE HAVE TO DO MORE”
“We can’t let our fears, our faults, our sins get in the way of responding to God’s grace and doing what God asks,” the bishop said.

He acknowledged that these are difficult times to be Catholic, especially when mainstream America no longer shares the same basic values.

“It’s amazing how often the holiest things of our religion are held up for ridicule,” he said. “We’re so used to it that I wonder if we notice anymore.”

The good news is that the faith is alive among 40 percent of baptized Catholics, who attend Mass on a weekly basis, and is burgeoning on high school and college campuses, where young people are intrigued by the eternal truths of Catholicism, he said.

The work done through the Reid study, “Growing in Faith Together,” is an attempt to use wisely all our resources — human, as well as bricks and mortar — so the Gospel goes undiminished, according to Bishop Jenky.

“We have to do more. We cannot use all of our energies just to maintain,” he said. “We have to do more so we can go out and bring everyone back to the Catholic practice, so we can go to those people who do not know the Lord.

“If we live our faith, people will be attracted to it. It’s the greatest good news ever heard in the world,” Bishop Jenky said.

He encouraged them to lean on the Blessed Mother and her rosary when things get tough — especially during October, the month of the rosary.
“People say it’s repetitious. Well, yes — ‘I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you,'” the bishop said. “It makes the space for us to remember that God is God. And we’re not praying it alone. Our Lady prays for us and with us.”

He called the rosary “the engine for a Year of Faith and a new evangelization.”

GIVING THANKS
After Bishop Jenky thanked them for all they do for the church, those present returned the favor. Among those presenting tributes were Howley-Skuby, who presented a framed copy of the charter establishing the Bishop’s Commission on Women in the Church and in Society to him; Nympha White, president of the Diocesan Council of Catholic Women; and Joan Weber, a former commission president who spoke of his vision in asking the group to bring the Christ Child Society to the Diocese of Peoria to help at-risk babies and their families.

Sister Ana Pia Cordua, SCTJM, executive director of Catholic Charities, thanked Bishop Jenky for modeling a father’s love and praised his courage in taking the agency in a different direction after it became clear that Catholic teaching would no longer allow them to enter into contracts with the State of Illinois.

Among those who shared their stories of faith during the day were Deena Pavinato, a commission member from Oglesby, who spoke about being a Benedictine Oblate of St. Mary Monastery; Susan Wyckoff of Metamora, who talked about becoming a member of the Secular Discalced Carmelites; and Sandi Calvin of Normal, who explained what it means to be a Secular Franciscan.