Women's convention offers spirituality, education

Friday, Apr. 29, 2016

SALT LAKE CITY — With inspirational speakers, fellowship and the traditional awards banquet, the 88th annual Diocesan Council of Catholic Women Convention drew almost 300 participants from throughout the state to the Sheraton Salt Lake City Hotel April 23-24.

The convention theme, Be the Voice of Catholic Women, Sowers of Hope, was reflected in the annual report of Bonnie Siegrist, whose two-year term ended with the convention. 

“Ladies, we are sowers of hope every day in the big and small things we do. Often, without even knowing it, we plant the seed of hope, and make a difference,” Siegrist said. 

Marcie Downs was installed as the 38th DCCW president; the convention-goers also learned that Monsignor Robert Servatius will continue as the organization’s spiritual advisor even though he will retire from active ministry in August.

The convention’s keynote speaker was Gail Miller, owner of the Larry H. Miller Group of Companies.

“I chose today to speak on ‘an expanding heart’ because I think that’s what women do best. We spend our lifetime increasing our capacity to do good and growing in our own lives those things that enrich those around us,” said Miller, who shared several stories of turning points in her life.

As a child, she developed a bad habit of lying, she said, but that changed after a particular instance in which she realized not only has she lied, but “I had actually damaged my heart, and I had damaged my relationship with my brother and my mother,” she said.

Values such as truth, integrity, kindness, compassion, humility, reliability, stewardship and charity “promote individual and collective goodness” and “are the essence of character,” she said.

Growing up in a poor family, she knew if she wanted new clothes she would have to make them herself, and she learned to cut her own hair, she said, but “I knew that being poor didn’t mean I was limited.”

She married at 21, and at first she made more money than her husband, she said.

Another turning point came when the couple, with their first two children, took a trip to Colorado Springs for the national softball championships, sleeping in the car because they couldn’t afford a hotel. On the return trip, they ran out of gas in the middle of the night and were helped by a stranger, who asked them to repay him by aiding the next person they saw who was out of gas.

“That made us aware that we are our brother’s keeper, and as we help others our own lives expand and we become more aware of our blessings and all the ways that we can share them with those who need them,” Miller said.

After the couple purchased their first car dealership, the company grew. 

“We built it on the values that represented who and what we are,” Miller said; this opened doors for them so that now the company does business in every state.

When her husband died after 50 years of marriage, “What that left for me was, ‘What do I do now? How do I live my life alone?’” Miller said, but “I knew that whatever I did, other people would be watching, and I wanted to do it with dignity.”

She decided to help ensure the company’s succession procedure, and also continue with the charitable activities. 

“’I‘ve asked myself many times why have I been so blessed, why have we been successful, and the answer that always comes back to me is virtue based: We believe that what we have is not ours, it’s a stewardship. We must do what we can to create goodness wherever we are,” she said.

Among the other speakers at the conference were Maria and Tom Devereux, who are active in various ministries in the diocese. Their topic was “Forgive and Forget?!...The Power of Forgiveness.”

Forgiving others or one’s self can be difficult, Maria Devereux acknowledged, but it’s “something we do for ourselves, not for others.” 

She added that people need to admit when they’re not ready to forgive, and work forward from there. 

To understand God’s love, people must first accept his mercy, Tom Devereux said, but sin often prevents people from believing in his forgiveness. Still, “if we have admitted, if we have confessed, if we have repented of our sins, we have been forgiven by God, whether we like it or not,” he said.

A panel titled “Every Life is Worth Living: Dignity at the End of Life” gave those at the convention an overview of some end-of-life issues from the Catholic perspective. 

One difficulty is that many questions regarding these issues are closely linked to a person’s financial status, said Fr. John Norman, pastor of St. Vincent de Paul Parish. “The Church would say that being unable to afford the treatment should not be a reason to deny it,” he said. 

Dr. Catherine Stokes, MD, quoted the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services: “The role of medicine is to care even when it cannot cure.” 

Decisions about what technology, medication or therapy to use should be based on the benefit to the patient weighed against the burden it imposes on the patient, the family and the community, she said; these decisions can be complicated. At times, a decision that is appropriate for a person in one situation may not be appropriate in another, so Stokes suggested that people choose a health care advocate who can express a person’s desires if the person is unable to do so.

Addressing the assisted suicide bill that has been before the Utah Legislature for the past two years and is expected to be brought forward again, Jean Hill said that much of the testimony in favor of the bill was that people don’t want to be a burden on their family, or they don’t want their family to see them disabled.

However, the law should not say, “rather than help you with your financial burden, we’ll just help you take your life,” said Hill, the diocesan government liaison. “Suicide doesn’t solve the issue. If the issue is, ‘I’m too much of a financial burden on my family, I can’t afford the treatments that I need,’ the state’s answer can’t be suicide, it has to be ‘How do we help you find those things you need? How do we help families deal with the suffering of their loved one?’” 

The final presentation at the convention was “The Gift of Life,” which advocated for organ donation.

“By saying ‘yes’ to organ donation you can save the lives of up to eight people, and [help] countless more through tissue donation,” said Patricia Voorhes, a licensed clinical social worker who works with transplant recipients at the University of Utah Medical Center.

Currently, 122,000 people in the United States await organ transplants; 8,000 die each year while waiting, she said.

“I highly encourage everyone who is willing and able to be an organ donor,” said Jeanne Audiss, who donated a kidney to her husband. Audiss went on to say that she has suffered few health side effects from being a donor. 

“I am no super hero,” she said. “I gave the gift of life to someone I loved. The super heroes are those who give the gift of life to another person outside of their family.”

Being able to authorize the donation of organs from deceased family members means knowing that they will “be living on in someone else,” said Judith Greene, whose high-school aged son was killed by a drunk driver, and years later her daughter died of a heart attack.

Greene authorized organs to be donated from both her children.

Receiving a kidney “gave me new life,” said Kathleen Wright, who was diagnosed with a hereditary kidney disease at the age of 23 and started dialysis in 2010; in 2015 her kidneys were removed, and then “I received a miracle,” she said – an organ donor died and Wright received one of her kidneys.

Now, Wright no longer requires 12 hours of dialysis each week or a strict diet. There’s “no more being tired all the time,” she works full time, and is able to help her husband with everyday chores, she said.   

In addition to the informative presentations, the convention was an opportunity for fellowship.

“It’s wonderful to see so many Catholic women in one spot,” said Lorraine Martinez of Saints Peter and Paul Parish, adding that the convention also was a chance for spiritual renewal, while the Women of the Year banquet was inspiring.

“It’s very spiritual,” agreed Judie Barron of St. Helen Parish, who also appreciates the friendships she has developed at the convention, she said.