Living out the call to discipleship
CWL members of the archdiocese come together for spiritual workshop
Over the past 75 years, the Catholic Women’s League have been beacons of faith and witness in their homes, in their churches and in their communities. To both celebrate and help continue this long and cherished legacy, CWL members from across our archdiocese came together recently to reflect on the league’s current theme – which so encompasses the legacy of those 75 years – “Catholic and Living It”.
This event was the CWL’s annual spiritual workshop in the Archdiocese of Grouard-McLennan, held this year at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Bezanson on Saturday, Feb. 11th. Over 30 members from 13 different councils across the region attended, offering them the chance to reconnect and grow together in their faith. This spiritual workshop is part of several general meetings the archdiocesan CWL host each year, including an annual meeting in April and an educational workshop in the fall.
Along with Mass, lunch and opportunities for discussion and reflection, talks were given to the members by Fr. Ed Ehrerer, CSsR and Fr. Jeyapaul Packiasamy. Father Ehrerer’s talk focused on the call to discipleship. Particularly, he called on members to recognize the bigger picture of what it means to be a disciple – beyond the needs of our local parish and local council, we are ultimately called to do our part in building the kingdom of God.
“To renew our parish, our archdiocese, our Church – we need to move beyond being merely a parishioner, to being, in an intentional way, a disciple,” said Fr. Ed. “We are part of a bigger endeavour – we are building the kingdom of God.”
Father Ed noted that this call to discipleship runs constant throughout our lives, that God continuously calls us to the next challenge and the next adventure. Jesus is not looking to make minor changes in our lives. Rather, he wants to turn our whole lives upside down; he wants to give us a complete renovation. To be a disciple calls us to give a total investment of our time, energy and our very selves.
While he offered much guidance for the faith of the members, the CWL has also played its own intimate role in Father Ed’s faith. The CWL was dear to his mother’s heart, who has been a long-time member of the league – joining in 1954 shortly after she married and became Catholic.
Eherer says the witness of his mother is in large part the source of his faith.
“I know Father Ed’s mother, she is a very prayerful woman and as I’ve gotten to know Father Ed he is very much the same kind of prayerful man,” noted Sexsmith CWL member Lucille Partington.
Reflecting on this vital role that the example of a faithful mother can have on a son, Fr. Ed noted that St. Monica is a saint for our times, when many Catholic families have children who have fallen away or never embraced the faith. St. Monica was the devout Christian mother of St. Augustine of Hippo – a saint who is regarded as one of the most influential and important in all of Christian history. It was St. Monica, and her witness of faith, that very much laid the foundation for her son Augustine’s world-changing conversion.
This is only an excerpt. Read the full story in the March 2023 edition of Northern Light