Fr. Antony Cruz Michael, SAC is a Pallottine priest who celebrated his 15th Anniversary to the priesthood this year. He is pastor of Holy Family Parish, St. Albert and  holds additional responsibilities as Provincial Delegate/ Delegate Superior for the members of Our Lady of Good Health Province (OLGH) in Canada and Dean for the Edmonton North Deanery. He lives his life imitating his Patron, St. Anthony of Padua; knows Christ through daily prayer; discerned his vocation before the Blessed Sacrament and seeks holiness for himself and the flock he shepherds. His homily was so on point to the Conference theme that we have shared it below because it was not recorded. The flow of the homilies and talks throughout the conference were definitely the inspiration of the Holy Spirit who continues to lead us in this ministry.

 

Fr. Antony's Homily at the WOD Authentic Catholic Women Conference

A 100 years ago, most Catholics knew what it meant to be Catholic. Today though, we have many different types and flavors of Catholicism. We don't all agree on what it means to be Catholic.
Here are just a few examples: 

Cultural Catholics - Baptized Catholics that rarely attend mass. 

Pro-choice Catholics - Catholics who openly disagree with the Church's teachings on life. 

Cafeteria Catholics - Catholics that attend mass regularly, but consistently, and obstinately disobey church teachings on faith and morals. 

Radical Traditional Latin Mass Catholics - Catholics who believe that the Latin mass is the only true mass, and that Vatican II was an illegitimate council. 

 

Many people think that being "an authentic Catholic online" means they need to push their faith onto everyone around them a little more. 

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The Vision of Authentic Catholicism, does create some division. An essential ingredient of human authenticity is the moral factor understood in the religious sense as an openness to the transcendent (however understood) as well as the human.

 

Micah 6: 6-8, "With what shall I come before the LORD, and bow myself before God on high? Shall I come before him with burnt offerings, with calves a year old? Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, with ten thousands of rivers of oil? "He has told you, O mortal, what is good; and what does the Lord require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?" 

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Disobedience in Genesis chapter 3, an illegitimate desire to be like God permitted sin to enter the world. The lie the serpent told Eve, is still told to the women of today, that you are God's final creation, but you are still "not enough," develop masculine behaviours, fight like men. Above all, reject motherhood. Only then a woman (you) can reach her true potential. 

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Motherhood, religious and a single state are choices women should feel free to make without feeling detested by a society which is building a false narrative by looking down on women's unique gifts. If women (you) want to discover what it really means to be a woman, they (you) must look deeper than answers provided by our culture. 

 

What was once a legitimate and rare psychological condition has now become a social contagion (infection). Many young women, (still immature and vulnerable), buy into the lie that they are "not enough." They are manipulated into making life altering decisions before they fully realize who they even are. As a result, this world's disordered "sexual revolution" disfigures women, and furthers the divide between women, men, and God. The primary implements of self-destruction in the revolution are artificial contraception, abortion, various forms of "adult entertainment" and especially pornography, along with an obsession with, and glorification of "masculine" sins. 

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Blessed Pope Paul VI, the author of Humanae Vitae, like a prophet, said that contraception would increase infidelity, disrespect of women, sexual abuse, and the "right" to alter one's own body. (All these would happen because the sexual act is no longer tied to reproduction, but rather merely recreation).

 

The good intentions of standing for equality, dignity, and respect by women have been turned into a rejection of their own feminine attributes. "They [women] let themselves become convinced that femininity meant weakness. They started to look down upon virtues -- such as patience, selflessness, self-giving, tenderness -- 

and aimed at becoming like men in all things...

 

True femininity, in the likeness of the Blessed Virgin Mary, is women's hope. Mary crushed the head of the serpent and at the same time was perfectly true to her feminine nature. She was not dominated by woman's inheritance from Eve. Instead, she was miraculously conceived without sin.

 

If you need to cultivate authentic Catholic identity focus on the following: authenticity, intentionality, and consistency. 

1. Educate yourselves in the Virtues. Our culture trains people to make money, manage business and develop technological innovations but does not deliberately pass on the basics of the virtues. With this deficit in our personal formation, we might wonder, how can I personally grow in virtues and how can I pass them on to my children? We can do this many ways: reading the Bible and Catechism, reading good books about virtues, reading the lives of the saints and living in Catholic community. 

2. Choose your role models wisely. While many choose celebrities and fashion models as their role models, a young woman striving for true femininity should instead turn to and imitate women of strength and moral character, such as the saints, especially the Blessed Virgin Mary, and "The Virtuous Woman" 

3. Put in much effort and be consistent. There are three main battle grounds where the struggle for virtue is fought. First in our thoughts. The battle for virtue begins in the mind. Second in our words and in our actions. Do not change your values depending on the situation. Act and behave in a way that reflects who God is calling you to be no matter what situation you find yourself in. Do not go with the majority just because it is easier, if it is not what you believe. Do not compromise your values just to fit in. Pretending to be someone else is exhausting. 

4. Rely on God's Grace. "Apart from me you can do nothing." (Jn 15:5). Humbly recognize how small we really are, how weak really, we are and how deep our problem with sin really is. Lord, I need you. 

5. Faithfulness in small things. Saint Teresa of Avila reminds us that God is found not only in silence and prayer, but also in our daily duties. You may find God among the pots and pans. 

6. Finally, one of the characteristics of authentic living is to be conscious of death. 

"And now I will no longer be in the world, but they are in the world, while I am coming to you. Holy Father, keep them in your name that you have given me, so that they may be one just as we are." (Jn 17:11) 

Authenticity has no place on the "walk of fame." Walk humbly before your creator. Become who God created you to be by living according to the dignity with which He created you. Our authenticity is manifested not in seeking what perishes, but in Christ. 

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Women of Dignity Survey Results (We received a >20% response. THANK YOU! The below are some of the written responses for one of the questions. Most of our questions were ratings from poor to excellent. Of those, there was an ~95% response of excellent to those questions. We are blessed!)​

What did you like about the Conference?

The Mass and the priests were excellently suited for the group. You had really good speakers this year. There are a lot of older women who attend too, so perhaps here and there you can have someone who has lived a lot of life be a speaker. There were a lot from each age group this year. It was a large group and that was great! The music ministry was super lovely. The food was great.

Speakers were awesome.

 

It was a great Conference, with great speakers, great vendor tables and wonderful opportunities to enjoy fellowship during scheduled meal times.

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Speakers were excellent - I especially enjoyed Rita Taylor's enthusiasm, positivity and explanations. I feel like I finally have a better understanding of grace (I had been searching for an explanation that resonated with me for years). I appreciated that the conference sessions were in the church rather than the hall. Fr. Kris Schmidt was also excellent and offering confession on Friday evening was a great idea. Food was delicious. I appreciated having some vendor booths to explore also.

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Mealtimes were a good opportunity to meet some people. Perhaps encouraging participants to meet a stranger sitting in the same pew earlier in the conference would be beneficial.

 

I will recommend the conference every year to those I know. I found Rita Taylor’s talks informative with practical applications. I appreciate that an effort is made to meet the need of younger women than myself. Seeing the young women gives me hope for the future of the church. I appreciated having presentations Friday evening. The food was well done. The social was a good addition and also gave a bit more time for people to check out the vendor tables.

 

The speakers this year were amazing. They were dynamic and their talk topics were thought provoking and relevant. The schedule was also great- start and end times made it conducive to attending.

 

The talks were practical and relatable.

 

The speakers. The venue. Very good sound system. The lunch was very enjoyable.

 

The speakers were awesome! The food was very good and plentiful. The musicians were great! I just wanted to say a big Thank-You to all the volunteers for giving so much of their time to make this conference a success!

 

I really liked the speaker, Rita. I had lots of takeaways from her. I liked getting away from my kids and having time to myself. I found Rachel was geared towards really young girls and may be better suited to a youth conference.

 

I felt welcomed and enjoyed the interaction with those present. The Speakers spoke to my spirit and I received a lot of peace during the talks. I will definitely come to the next one if God allows it. Loved Janelle and her daughter who were the vocalists during Mass.

 

I LOVED Rita as a speaker, to me she was the highlight of the conference; really inspired me. Also loved the adoration (wish we had another one on Saturday, even if it's just a 15 min. one after Mass, or an end of the day or something). Everything was so well organized! The food was great, the setup was well-done. I don't think there's anything I didn't like!

 

Gathering together to share our faith. Having reconciliation to start, the masses, rosary and fellowship. The music was beautiful. I loved Rachel’s sessions but didn’t feel the connection with Rita. Would be nice to have some break-off discussions and group activities.

 

The whole event was so well planned and there was lots of time for everything. Food and breaks were really good. Lots of very good vendors and great speakers. I thought that both speakers were great and having them speak twice was perfect.

 

I liked the location. The time of year was great. The food was excellent! I’d maybe appreciate more variety in speakers.

 

Celebrating Mass with Fr. Kris Schmidt; the Rosary prayed together; the music and singing; the speakers; the number of priests available for Confession; seeing so many women with their children; all the delicious food, the Vendors; the BEAUTIFUL CHURCH; meeting so many women - even one I hadn't seen for 40 years.

 

I liked the content of speakers and their relative material.

 

Best speakers yet! Challenging, theological, Catholic and personable. Just perfect! Could be longer with an opportunity for reflection and discussion.

 

The music, Mass, having many Priests for reconciliation, the timing with a speaker and then a break. This was my first time to attend this conference and and it was very insightful.

 

Not much down time - well paced; facility is very good with everything nearby; local vendors; inspiring speakers; great food/meals provided and included in costs of registration. It was not long enough.

 

Loved the speakers; availability of priests; and church; very well run.

 

I really enjoyed Rita’s talks! The food was also amazing especially the chocolate fondue!!!!! The opportunity to meet other women was very neat! Thank you Catholic Family Ministries and all the volunteers who made this event happen! Was very nice to go to this conference with my two sisters and my mom!

 

Topics, location, food. Need a restroom break Friday night between Mass and the speaker. It was very well done though. Appreciate all the hard work involved and people and time commitment to those running it and volunteers. The musicians were very good and the singers and choice of musicians are excellent as always, however, the music seemed hard to sing along too.

 

Excellent speakers!

 

Rita Taylor was an outstanding choice. She was a compelling speaker with practical content grounded in Catholic tradition and theology. For Rita’s first talk, she got into quite a bit of technical theology, which was great, but she did not source herself. It could be an idea to encourage speakers to increase the authority and credibility of any technical theology by referencing their sources. I would book Rita Taylor again for a follow-up series that explores the integration of psychology and virtue in more depth. Rachel Wong spoke with beautiful authenticity, however some of her testimony was so recent and still "in-process" that it could be seen as imprudent or misleading for someone to share about personal challenges that are ongoing or in the recent past. Adoration was beautiful, especially with the sacred music played. It felt heavenly! Having confession available was wonderful as well.

 

I really appreciated how the speakers brought us to a greater call to action in our daily lives. They both spoke in earnest about our daily vocation while giving useful tips and tricks that went well beyond what I experienced any other time I have come. I also REALLY appreciated the extra protein offerings this year! I felt really hungry last year as a mom with a 6 week old and this time was way more satiated with the chili. I was sad to have to miss the breakfast due to babysitter needs. The conference was too short.

I felt I could actually sit for longer to listen to a few more topics but was still very filled up from it.

 

Speakers and Homemade food.

 

The food was great! And the location was wonderful. The speakers were good, but it would have been nice to have more speakers rather than hear the same two speakers twice. I know it must be difficult to find speakers.

 

Enjoyed starting with Rosary/Mass and ending early on Saturday. It was nice to socialize and speak to so many God-filled women from different Parishes. The food/coffee that was provided was excellent and thanks to the men who served us.

 

Excellent speakers. I liked starting early with Rosary/Mass and then ending early. And good food/coffee. Thanks to those men who worked for us!!! Really enjoyed meeting other ladies from so many other Parishes. Very nice to be with such God-filled women.

 

One of the speakers, Rita, was phenomenal! I would actually love to listen to her again. She was so knowledgeable and on point. The music was also fantastic. Very beautiful and talented singers. The acapella singing of Ave Maria was incredibly beautiful at the Saturday morning mass. Adoration and confession are always a highlight of course as well. I would absolutely love to hear Rita again! I feel like I could listen to her for hours!

 

Rachel Wong was amazing. Hot food was definitely a plus.

 

The speakers were very good, location was good and the food was excellent this year. Number of priests for confession was also very good. Great to see so many young moms acknowledged! Would be great to see a teen/young adult track for younger participants.

 

The fellowship was awesome. All the wonderful women I met were so amazing.

 

The community of women, Rita’s talks, the groups of vendors. The first talk by Rachel was difficult to follow.

 

Excellent speakers and content. The special touches and the Social.

 

I liked both speakers, but I particularly enjoyed the instructional aspect of Rita’s talks. Actually learning about theology and what I thought I understood was so invigorating! I have passed on the info to so many people I know and many of them didn’t realize that

they didn’t understand how grace worked! So I loved that!

 

Getting to spend time with my friends that also attended.

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We are hoping to have talks to these events uploaded in a podcast format that will be available. Once we have them available, we will do a mailout to our mailing list with a link.​