‘To look evil in the eye … and choose to love’
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Ann Burns is the founder of The Feminine Project, an organization dedicated to the joy of womanhood.
Annual women’s conference equips attendees to lead through love
Cicero mom, Lisa Sokolowski, and daughter Maria Sokolowski had just finished listening to the second of four speakers at the 14th Annual Syracuse Catholic Women’s Conference. Sponsored by the diocesan Women’s Commission, the event was held Oct. 26 at The OnCenter.
“I wrote down this quote because I knew I was gonna forget it,” said Maria, 21, referring to a message that The Feminine Project founder and guest speaker Ann Burns had said in her talk that there’s so much beauty to be found in limitations. “I thought that was beautiful. It’s a good reminder that we’re just human and we’re not God.”
A rainbow appeared in the sky the morning of the Conference, landing over The OnCenter. Submitted by Jill Smith.
During her talk, Burns focused on the challenges and misconceptions that young girls and women face in today’s society, the most blatant being the boundless expectations to achieve and succeed at all. “There are no limitations … and somehow we’re supposed to feel really empowered, but as a result, I think we have a lot of women who believe they have so much to prove. … We have cultivated very insecure and broken women because they believe that, fundamentally, there’s something wrong with their design.
“We need to go back to the beginning and challenge our secular script,” she continued. “Our limits are what make us human. God is God, I am not. I’m a finite creature. Our limitations provide us with the necessary parameters to flourish.”
A parishioner of Sacred Heart Church, Maria’s mom, Lisa, remarked on the Conference in general, having attended all but two over the years. “It’s just so beautiful, the music, the words the [speakers] say. These two beautiful ladies …” she said of Burns and fellow speaker Sister Deirdre Byrne, POSC, “they say things that I can’t get out of my mouth, but I feel them and hear them and think them.”
Sr. Byrne is a retired US Army Colonel, surgeon, general medical physician and superior of the Little Workers of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary in Washington, DC. Sprinkling in humor while sharing personal stories, Sister emphasized the importance of redemptive suffering, the significance of being in the state of grace and the impact of the Eucharist.
Fr. Daniel Reehil, a former Wall Street banker and now a renowned exorcist for the Diocese of Nashville, and Fr. Donald Haggerty, an author and former worldwide spiritual director who serves at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in NYC, took the stage in the afternoon to engage with the hundreds of women (645, to be exact) who came out for a day of renewal, hope and fellowship.
Conference chairperson Dawn Dimock explained this year’s theme; Ite, Missa Est (Latin for You Are Sent), was inspired by Bishop Douglas J. Lucia’s desire to bring forth the power that resulted from this summer’s Eucharistic Revival. “There’s just so many things that women can do better than anybody else … to heal our aching, troubled world,” she said. “Just our femininity, our ability to love.”
She referenced a point that stood out from Burns’ talk: “We have the capacity to look evil in the eye and stay steadfast and choose to love anyway. And our world needs that.”
Women’s Commission co-chairperson Jill Smith described the event as an expression of our faith. “It’s such a way to witness to God that we all are here to please Him,” she said.
And if you looked to the sky the morning of the Conference, one might say that God was indeed pleased with the faithful gathering. Several ladies photographed and told Smith about the blessing bestowed on them when they witnessed a rainbow breaking through the dark clouds, landing right over the convention center.
“Amazing,” Smith told the Sun. “All glory to God!”
