Few souls understand what God would accomplish in them
if they were to abandon themselves unreservedly to Him
and if they were to allow His grace to mold them accordingly.
St Ignatius of Loyola

For more information, contact Mary Walek 453.0413.

Session 1 Mary of Magdala
Rabbouni, you call us by name and our hearts leap within us. Can it be that you are alive - so close, so real? Darkness and death are scattered in the light of your being and we dare to believe.

We want to hold this moment, hold you forever. Yet you would have us carry our new-found belief to others. It is your trust in us that sends us in your name. We hear the news that you are alive! That everything is now changed and made new in you.

We cannot contain it! The joy spills and spirals out until we hear our own words echoing back, "I have seen the Lord!" May our lives proclaim to all whom we meet that you are alive and in our midst.  Amen.                       
Kathleen MacInnis Kichline     

Session 2 The Woman at the Well
Give us to drink, God of the Living Water, that we will never thirst again. Fountain of Eternal Life, spring fresh within us - a stream flowing fro our baptism. May the Living Water we carry pour out to others.

May our lives and words so mirror their Source that others will come to drink as well. May they come to know for themselves that you truly are the Savior of the World.                            Kathleen MacInnis Kichline
 

Session 3 Elizabeth
Visit us, O God of Elizabeth. May our spirits quicken at your coming, the doors of our homes and hearts be swift to swing open and embrace you. May we recognize you in whatever form your coming takes, in the needy friend, the stranger, the child, the unexpected interruption. May we learn to trust you with our deepest longings and heartfelt dreams, to remember how you kept your promises to Elizabeth and Mary, and to trust that you will remember us as well, for nothing is impossible for you.  Amen.  Kathleen MacInnis Kichline

Session 4 Mary as well as Anna, the Prophetess
God of wisdom, God of all women, maidens and mothers, widows and wives, look with favor now, today, on the graying of our gender. Aging women carry the cross of dual discrimination. May all who are insecure and anxious feel themselves set free.

As we grow in age, may we also grow in wisdom and grace and the gracious art of learning to let go. May we not be afraid to speak Your Word as we await our liberation. So that on That Day we may hear you say:

Well done, you who were faithful, well done, and welcome home. In Christ we say: Amen      Miriam Therese Winter

Session 5 The Syrophoenician (Canaanite) Woman who asked Jesus to Heal her Daughter
O Nourishing, Nurturing, Mothering God, You know how much  we love You. With You and through You and in You, we make our way back to the womb that gave birth to our bringing to birth on every level of living.

May You never fail to feed us all with Your presence and Your promises, for from the beginning and always, we belong to You, we came from You, and to You we shall return.  With joy we say: Amen!    Miriam Therese Winter
 

Session 6 Women Who were Healed by Jesus: the Woman with the Hemorrhage, Jairus' Daughter and the Crippled Woman
Holy are you, O One Who Sings, the song of the new creation, in Whom there is no separation into hierarchical clusters of gender, race, or class. As we await that redemptive moment of our cosmic liberation, let us work to release from bondage all who are imprisoned in the quiet desperation of their little locked lives.

Holy are You, O One Who Frees. We need Your affirmation now and forever. Amen     Miriam Therese Winter

Session 7 The Women Who Anointed Jesus
Come, O Holy Spirit, O Sanctifying Spirit, fill our hearts, fill our lives, with the feel of Your fiery Presence, so that all that we do, all that we are, comes from You within us.

Anoint us now, so that from this day we are Your disciples only, committed to carrying out faithfully
Your mission in the world, now and always. Amen.    Miriam Therese Winter
 

Session 8 Mary and Martha
A Psalm of Love

I love you, O God, with all my heart, and with the whole of my being.

Wide open am I to love and be loved because You have first loved me.

Daily I seek to share that love as I touch the lives of others.

Teach me to serve you generously as a sign of love extended.

Teach me to sit at the feet of Your Word made love in history.

Your love is a friend who is there for me in the silence of my mourning.

Your love is a resurrected hope to one well beyond surprise.

Love grows greater by loving You and loving one another.

Love grows bigger and better by living the love that never dies.       Miriam Therese Winter