Florida Council of Catholic Women/Province of Miami at P. O. Box 1811, Labelle, FL 33975 US - Council Sunday

Suggestions for Affiliation Presidents

to include in the Presentation to Your Congregation

created by the Palm Beach Diocesan Council of Catholic Women

These are suggestions and should be customized to suit your individual affiliation.

They can be further customized by adding the phrase or

theme that was used in the bulletin announcements.

• We are dynamic Catholic women filled with the grace of God, the love of Christ, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit.

• We are members of a national organization, the National Council of Catholic Women, consisting of over 5,000 affiliated organizations across the country.  Through NCCW we are members of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations.

• We acknowledge Mary as our role model and vow to imitate her by developing a deeper devotion to and a greater reverence for the Eucharist.

• We uphold the dignity of marriage and defend marriage as defined by the United State Council of Catholic Bishops as being between one man and one woman.

• Central to all our programs is the sanctity and dignity of human life.  From conception to a natural death, we passionately embrace the precious gift of life.  Our affiliation supports (list here if you participate in the following):

Ø  Mothers Outreach to Mothers – mentors and supports young women who choose life for their unborn child.

Ø  Help A Child – trains village health care workers and offers immunizations and nutritional supplements necessary for survival.

Ø  Madonna Plan – educates women in third world countries on proper nutrition and childcare.

Ø  Water for Life – reduces disease by making clean drinking water available in third world countries and offers emergency services during natural disasters.

Ø  Respite Care – through trained volunteers, offers relief and renewal to family members caring for loved ones at home.

• Committed to solidarity with women and children world-wide, we collaborate with Catholic Relief Services in raising awareness and money for programs to aid women and children in dangerous or desperate circumstances.

• In our local communities we advocate against domestic violence through collection of discarded cell phones, programmed to dial 911 in case of an emergency.  We also advocate against child abuse and support local facilities that meet the needs of abused and battered women and children.

• Proudly we have a legislative voice at the Florida Catholic Conference’s Catholic Days at the Capital, speaking on issues central to our Catholic belief system, such as partial birth abortions, human cloning and stem cell research.

• We are vehemently opposed to the Trafficking of nearly 20,000 Human Persons in the United States annually, and so, we work to raise awareness in our membership, our communities, and in our government as to the tragic reality of this modern-day slavery.

• Through workshops, conferences, and conventions offered at the diocesan, state and national levels we are educated on issues of Catholic social justice.  We see through direct and measureable results that collectively, as the Council of Catholic Women, we have a powerful voice and we are making a difference.

• We support vocations through contributions to the burse fund and recognition luncheons for our religious.

• We support the spirituality of our membership through Days of Reflection offered at the parish and diocesan levels, through Memorial Masses, and through the Living Rosary.  Our patron is Our Lady of Good Counsel; prayer opens and closes each business meeting.

• We are stewards within our parish community.  Our service projects include (list projects).  During the 200?-200? Council Year, we donated _________ volunteer hours of service to our parish and community.

• We are Catholic women who embrace each others’ individuality, yet nurture shared beliefs and values, acted upon through services and programs that promote Catholic social justice in our communities and in the world.

• We are women united across the country and as the National Council of Catholic Women, we have a history that began in 1920 – a history rich with spirituality, leadership development, legislative and administrative reform, but above all, passion for following in the steps of Christ as we serve one another.