September, 2011
Endow Presents New Study Guide: God Is Love
We are pleased to announce the debut of our newest Endow study, God Is Love, based on Pope Benedict XVI’s first encyclical. It is a beautiful commentary on the virtue that is at the heart of Christian life. And – good news for women in the Denver area – a special class will be held beginning Wednesday, October 12 at the John Paul II Center. Don’t miss this opportunity to embark on a life-changing study, especially for you.
To register for this special class, click here.
To learn more about the new Endow Study, God Is Love, click here.
To find a study group in your area, click here.
Julia Greeley Award Winner 2011
Jennifer Ricard has been using her God-given gifts in the service of love and life, spreading the Gospel in her home state of Ohio. Professionally trained as an engineer, she traded the world of aerospace technology for another kind of heavenly calling.
Her early days of outreach were spent caring for pregnant and newly delivered moms. She indulged her passion for reading by delving into spiritual classics that shaped her understanding of Catholic theology.
She loved John Paul II’s teachings on authentic feminism and theology of the body and when Endow came along, she embraced the role of facilitator. In addition to rearing six children with her husband Frank, Jennifer is a spiritual mother to seminarians as well as to the women in her many Endow groups. Like Julia Greeley, Jennifer loves worshipping God at daily Mass and faithfully prays for all those entrusted to her.
Endow Gala Guest Speaker 2011
Author, Academy Award Winner, Holocaust Survivor and Human Rights Activist, Mrs. Gerda Weissman Klein shared her personal testimony “at the service of love and life” through the lens of what she personally experienced during the Holocaust of World War II.
Please click here to read a biography of Mrs. Gerda Weissman Klein. Mrs. Klein shared this: “Ilse, a childhood friend of mine, once found a raspberry in the concentration camp and carried it in her pocket all day to present to me that night on a leaf. Imagine a world in which your entire possession is one raspberry and you give it to your friend.”
Endow Gala 2011
Endow’s Annual Fundraising Gala
”Evening of Enchantment” was a great success!
Endow’s 6th Annual Fundraising Gala was more than just an “Evening of Enchantment” it was an evening of elegance, generosity, fellowship and faith. The event drew a record crowd of 430 people to the Grand Hyatt Hotel in downtown Denver the evening of May 7. Archbishop Gomez from Los Angeles was on hand to celebrate Mass and the evening included our honoring of facilitator Jennifer Ricard, and a keynote address from renowned author and humanitarian, Gerda Klein. We are so grateful to our staff and supporters who made this event such a success.
Read the article in the Denver Catholic Register today! Click here.
And take a look at the elegant event on our Facebook. Click here.
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Guest Speaker Mrs. Gerda Klein
It is with great excitement that we invite you to this year’s “Evening of Enchantment!” The 2011 Gala theme is “At the Service of Love and Life,” and we are honored to welcome Mrs. Gerda Weissman Klein as our guest speaker. Click here to read more about Mrs. Klein.
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Award Winner Jennifer Ricard
Every year at the Endow Gala we present the Julia Greeley Award to a woman who exemplifies the feminine genius. We are excited to honor Endow Facilitator Jennifer Ricard as the 2011 Julia Greeley Award Recipient. Click here to read more about Jennifer Ricard.
October 2011: Book Review
Childless by Brian J. Gail
Book Review by Eileen Love
Fasten your seat belts. Brian Gail is back and his newest book is a wild ride.
For those living under a rock, Brian J. Gail is the CEO turned writer whose explosive contribution to Catholic literature is the acclaimed “American Tragedy in Trilogy” – a series that explores a forty year period of insidious attacks upon the family.
The previous books Fatherless and Motherless explored the darkening landscape of American Catholicism. They centered upon the protagonist, Fr. John Sweeney, a good-hearted but poorly formed priest whose advice to his people was often a watery gruel of religious platitudes rather than the hard truths they required. A trip to Rome and a life-changing meeting with the moral giant John Paul II straightened him out and he returned to his people ready to do the hard work of pastoring a flock in moral peril.
The books are a progression of thought and drama, all revolving around St. Martha’s Parish in the fictional Pennsylvania town of Narbrook.
In Fatherless, we saw the alarming effects of technology seeping unfiltered into our homes almost like invisible radon gas. Through the seemingly innocuous channels of computers and TV, a culture of death threatens to paralyze consciences and marginalize men out of their God-given role as spiritual leaders and protectors.
Motherless visits the crisis that is the chilling result of assisted reproductive technology operating apart from moral references. The question of frozen embryos comes up; what to do about nascent life suspended in a cryogenic warehouse? Taken to extremes, if we can “create” life in a sterile petri dish, we may convince ourselves that there is no need for spousal love making, nor yet a womb, and a heartbeat, and arms that encircle a newborn with a mother’s love.
The books are populated with characters as diverse and familiar as the folks sitting behind you at Mass. Gail shows us everyday people who lose their moral bearings and begin to drift with the current of creeping secularism. Infected with a contraceptive mentality, imprisoned by their failings, and mired in vague but persistent unhappiness, they struggle against a rising tide of moral relativism until it appears they are going under.
It is the job of Fr. John Sweeney to see that doesn’t happen.
In Childless the plot has progressed from the original problems to an ominous science fiction freak show where current trends are taken to not-so-far-fetched extremes. Childless takes us to a future place where nanotechnology runs amok and individuals are coerced into implanting computer chips in themselves, the better to access necessary health care and even food. Along the way, their human freedom is impinged on, their privacy obliterated, and their every thought and action subject to scrutiny by a Godless government.
Against the odds, but proving nothing is impossible with God, a small, faithful remnant emerges and manages to stay spiritually intact. I won’t spoil it by giving details, but let’s just say you’ll be rewarded at the book’s conclusion.
Stylistically, Childless is not without its flaws, but overall Gail has proved that he is a competent novelist and an even better catechist.
If you are the kind of reader who can’t commit to a hefty novel and prefers to skip around, may I direct you to Chapter 13. Here, the impassioned Fr. Sweeney is giving a homily that is the teaching crux of the book. Don’t be surprised by the deafening noise that accompanies Sweeney’s words, not unlike the rumble strips on the freeway that jar a dozing driver. That’s Gail trying to shake complacent Catholics out of their slumber.
This book reads like science fiction but is an arrow straight to the heart. Brian Gail’s passionate love for the Church will break your heart as it grabs your attention. His message for today’s Catholics is that much at stake. Everything really. Readers would be well-advised to reckon with that, so to avoid the crash that awaits.
Is it okay for your husband to beat you?
This gut-wrenching question came from the 22 year old woman in the dingy sweatshirt who is a new resident of the Samaritan House. She is separated from her husband and her children have been sent to foster care. She wants them back.
Recently Endow was invited by Samaritan House,Denver’s homeless shelter run by Catholic Charities, to offer a class for women. The Director explained that residents take all kinds of classes in life skills and he wondered if maybe it was time for a class that spoke to the heart and soul of a woman.
Endow was honored to help. After all, the Board and Staff had pondered ways to connect with the underserved populations. They are the ones who most need the message of truth in concrete teachings that affirm their goodness and right to live with dignity.
Two women stepped up to facilitate the class that would take place Monday nights from 7:00-8:00: Martha, married mother of four and an Endow Board member, and Shaina, a young woman newly graduated from college, who is also an Endow facilitator and Christ in the City missionary.
The first night all the women of various ages and backgrounds crowded into a small room. One middle-aged woman shared that she was battling cancer, a twenty-something mother of two spoke about growing up in an endless tangle of foster homes and having aborted her first baby when she was sixteen. There was plenty of pain to go around, but the women listened to the story of the God-man who loved us so much He took on human form and suffered on a Cross for our salvation. A Baptist grandma led the closing prayer.
On the second night, Martha distributed John Paul II’s Letter to Women. She had tucked the letters into white envelopes and fastened them with sealing wax imprinted with a “J” and a “P”. Shaina had secretly scripted their names onto the envelopes. The women squealed like children on Christmas morning at the surprise piece of mail. One woman refused to open hers, preferring to keep the perfect seal intact.
A few days after the first class, a young woman who had said little showed up to pray the rosary Shaina was leading. She mentioned that she had no religion but believes in God. Then out of nowhere came the question: “Is it okay for your husband to beat you?”
Shaina knew at that moment that nothing quite prepares you for such a question. But she knew something else as well. The simple question asked in a soft shaky voice was a reminder of the urgency of the Endow mission: to remind women of their dignity and to be a feminine presence of Christ-like love.
October 2011: Facilitator of the Month
Dr. Michelle Stanford
If you’re looking for Michelle on a Wednesday, better be prepared to run after her.
Just last week, Michelle had spent her “day off” volunteering at her son’s morning pre-school, putting him down for a nap, tending to household chores, then taking her two other children to catechism class. That would be followed by dinner and a meeting of the Denver Catholic Medical Association, of which she is president.
You’d be forgiven for thinking Michelle is an unlikely candidate for Endow. Not because she wouldn’t love it but because she is so busy with her own medical practice, Centennial Pediatrics, and raising three children Michael, 11, Kaitlin, 8, and Austin, 3, with husband Phil, a Denver Police officer. Yet Michelle felt powerfully drawn to it.
In the fall of 2008, Michelle and her mother attended the Annual Endow Women’s Conference and heard a presentation on “Humanae Vitae: Forty Years of Life and Love.” Afterwards, there was a panel discussion and one member, a nurse anesthetist, spoke about her refusal to participate in medical practices that were against her religious convictions. Michelle listened, riveted, and felt a stirring in her heart. She reflected that in bringing her to this place, perhaps God had a message for her not only personally, but for how she practiced medicine.
Blessings flowed from that conference. Soon Michelle learned about the Catholic Medical Association and began attending meetings. Over time, she discussed what she was learning with her medical partner, a Catholic woman 20 years Michelle’s senior, and their staff, many of whom are Christian.
It didn’t happen overnight, but they came to see the wisdom in teaching chastity and values over prescribing contraceptives. Michelle explains that you’d be surprised at how many mothers of teenagers think this is the safe and best route for girls. They eventually stopped prescribing the contraceptive pill altogether. Has her practice suffered? Not really. While she lost a few families, she picked up more and she reports that these days office visits usually include a lot of good discussions with young people.
Endow has been a big part of her journey. A couple of years ago, Michelle gathered a few friends, who, like her, were all catechists at Light of the World Parish in Littleton, and shared with them her desire to start an Endow study group, which she would facilitate. Says Michelle, “I had a strong desire to learn more about my Catholic faith and Endow is the place. It is so grounded in the fundamentals.” She has been happily and fruitfully facilitating her group since. They have picked up a few new members as well.
Her study group probably has the distinction of latest meeting time, from 8:00 until 9:30 p.m. But since three of them are mothers of little ones, homework and bedtime routines come first. Their meetings are lively affairs that sometimes run a little over but Michelle always ducks out in time to make her Adoration hour from 10:00 – 11:00 p.m. It is part of her new direction in life to spend this time with Jesus.
October 2011: Donor of the Month
Suzie LaVelle
They say that stewardship takes three forms – time, talent and treasure. In stewarding the gifts God has given her, Suzie gives back all three.
If the name Suzie LaVelle sounds familiar, it might be because she has been part of Endow since its beginning and in 2006 Endow was honored to choose her as the first recipient of the Julia Greeley Award. She was selected in part for her passionate work in the Pro-Life movement.
Suzie’s main apostolate is tending the Memorial Wall for the Unborn which is part of Sacred Heart of Mary Parish in Boulder. Erected in 2000, the wall began as a response to the nearby Boulder Abortion Clinic’s practice of sending the remains of aborted fetuses to a local mortuary for cremation. What the mortuary was receiving were the chillingly recognizable bodies of tiny babies who never lived outside the womb. The mortuary agreed to entrust the remains to Father Kemberling, pastor at the time, and he began doing funerals for these “holy innocents.” Suzie was right beside him. She had found her calling. 
Key to Suzie’s work with post-abortive women is the tender message from John Paul II in his 1995 encyclical Gospel of Life. Often they read from the letter where the Pope speaks words of hope and consolation to the woman who has had an abortion.
The Pope acknowledges the grief and shame she may be feeling as she grapples with her participation in an act that is intrinsically evil. But he does not leave her there mired in sorrow and regret. He points her in the direction of forgiveness and assures her of God’s mercy even as he indicates a bright future can still be hers. With God’s grace she may likely become one of the most eloquent defenders of life.
Suzie says that she has seen for herself that this message “touches deep within a woman’s soul and she grabs it and holds on like a life ring.” It is a private moment of grief meeting solace. “When I see God touch them it is a holy moment that I am not even sure I should be a part of.” Yet she never doubts that God placed her in this ministry for His own reasons and that being an instrument of empathy and healing is her call.
“Endow has given me tools I never knew were out there. I’ve learned that the truth is written in our hearts. I’ve been reminded that human dignity comes from God and extends to all persons and cannot be diminished by man.”
In addition to the time invested in this good work and the talent that comes with pouring out her feminine genius on the women she serves, Suzie and her husband, Terry Lavelle, are generous financial donors to Endow. Terry also serves on Endow’s Board of Directors.
She explains, “I want to see this program go to every woman. I have seen women weep when they have felt the love of God. Whatever I can do for Endow, I will. It’s not about me, it’s about God.”
Endow Sixth Annual Retreat “Courage to Love”
Endow Retreat a blessed event
Prayers were answered and hearts were light on the weekend of September 9 and 10. Endow’s Sixth Annual Retreat, which began under sunny skies in the middle of a perfect Colorado Indian summer, had record attendance and was pronounced a success from start to finish.
A warm welcome from Nativity of Our Lord Parish Staff
For the first time, the annual fall retreat was held “up north” at Nativity of Our Lord Parish in Broomfield. The parking lot told the story – women came from nine states and many had mothers, sisters, and daughters along for the experience.
The retreat was formerly known as a conference, but this year’s Retreat Committee members, led by Committee Chair, Shar Messaros, decided on the softer-sounding “retreat” believing it better described a time of spiritual refreshment.
The Prelude
Friday morning following Mass the “Prelude” began, a special day-long retreat given by Fr. Michael Carvill, F.S.C.B., pastor of Nativity. With depth and passion, he spoke on the topic of love – what real love is and what it isn’t; about how we are made and what true love requires of those who bravely seek it. Creatively weaving opera – yes, opera! – and film into his moving presentation, Fr. Carvill held the retreatants transfixed and left them much to reflect upon.
Also on the agenda: a Facilitator Training at which 11 women from five states learned to become leaders of Endow groups. And teen girls enjoyed an event of their own – an overnight retreat based upon True Beauty Revealed, the Endow high school program.
Welcome Bishop Sheridan!
Women sipped wine and looked over merchandise from popular vendors before the dinner Friday evening, which was held in a room committee members had transformed into a thing a beauty. Following dinner was the keynote address by Bishop Michael Sheridan of Colorado Springs, who had only hours before returned from Archbishop Charles J. Chaput’s installation in Philadelphia.
Worship, fellowship, amazing speakers
On Saturday the room was abuzz with women reconnecting with friends and settling in to listen to three outstanding speakers: Denver’s well-known and much-loved Fr. Bernie Schmitz, pastor of Mother of God Parish, Mother Regina Marie Gorman, O.C.D., from the Carmelite community in Los Angeles, and Sacred Heart Seminary Professor Mary Healy from Detroit. In between talks women shared insights in round table discussions. One woman reported that her table was so bonded by day’s end, they are getting together next month!
With grateful hearts
We are grateful to all who made the trip to Broomfield to be personally enriched and to support the mission and message of Endow. We hope you’ll come back again and bring friends with you.
Also, our thanks go out to Endow Operations Coordinator, Jamie Gruber and the Retreat Committee of creative and energetic women who gave countless hours over six months to arrange this event. Thank you for sharing your “feminine genius” with us.
See you next year!
We hope you’ll come back. To view photos from this event, click here.
