Hello all! It has been an eventful past couple of weeks. I just went on a women's retreat this past weekend run by the women of the People of Hope (a Catholic Charasmatic Covenant Community http://www.peopleofhope.net/ ). It was a much needed weekend to recharge and just be with the Lord :)
Before going into talking about the goodness of the awesome pictures that are on this blog, I also wanted to share a little bit about a picnic in the rain that just occured in the last week! As I know I have mentioned before, alot of my job here at CSA is to work with the women here and help them in whatever way I can to go deeper in their faith. This past week we had a picnic with about 7 new girls and 3 veteran girls on a green by Scott Hall I realize many of you have no idea where that is, but I just thought I'd say it :) . I was just stoked to have so many of these girls come out. For alot of them, it was their first CSA event! It was great to have all those newer women connect with some veterans. I'm always trying to think of different ways to have some of these new girls get connected with the CSA community. It's a blast because you just have to be creative and sometimes have great conversation and food in the rain!
Anyway...in the weeks prior, the women staff here have been very busy coming up with ways to bring all the women together. Women's Group happens each Thursday night. It's a meeting catered particularly for women to learn more about who we are as women of God. Sometimes, though we discover the beauty of ourselves covered in flour and rushing around rooms to carmelize apples. This past Thursday we brought APPLE IRON CHEF to the Catholic Center!!!
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| The set up room. Contestants were divided up into 4 different teams! |
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The DREAM TEAM! From left to right: Bobble Flay's aunt, Giada de Laurentiis, Anne Burrell, and Rachel Ray
It was a true priviledge to have these women come all the way to New Brunswick to be a part of our women's group! |
Apples were the main ingredient OF COURSE! Prizes were given for "Best Overall Taste, Best Presentation, Best use of Bonus Ingredients, and Best Group Work." The girls were really creative and in the end we had some really interesting uses of carmel, ginger, and nutella!
At the end of the night I gave a little exhortation to the women. Part of my job and one of the goals of the Catholic Center is to empower women. Not in the way the world thinks it should "empower" women, but in a way that really opens us up to see our TRUE beauty and to the One who can truly empower us. Though the night consisted of apples, sugar, vanilla extract, and cooking oil I think it was a great way for us to come together and see how we each bring so many different gifts to the table (no pun intended). We closed the night with some quotes that I'd like to share with you on true beauty and the gifts of women.
"True Beauty is when we love and when we love together..." Bl. Mother Teresa
'The feminine species has two essential characteristcs. Woman is, by nature, peron or subject focused rather than thing or object-oriented. Quite simply, the woman embraces the personal aspect of life, i.e., she is interested in living breathing people and all their individual needs. A woman manifests this natural feminine quality in a desire to assert her own identity and in her interest in the identity of other persons (Edith Stein).' Blessed John Paul II insists 'that because of a woman's moral and spiritual strength, God entrusts the human being to the woman in a special way.'
Much love and prayers,
Ericka
