This month we want to start our preparation for the General Assembly to be held next October.

WUCWO women are eager to move towards Dakar to celebrate our General Assembly together. “WUCWO women: carriers of ‘living water’”.

Water always accompanies the miracles made by Jesus at the presence of Mary, his mother. Mary, who accompanies every path starting from the one to Elizabeth and ending in Jerusalem to follow Jesus, is our best example as carrier of living water.

Dear friends,

serene and fruitful 2018!

This year will see WUCWO women committed in the preparation of our General Assembly to be held in Dakar next October.

During this month we prepare to celebrate the incarnation of our Lord Jesus. As St Paul says in his beautiful hymn Jesus “being in the form of God, did not count equality with God something to be grasped. But he emptied himself, taking the form of a slave, becoming as human beings are and being in every way like a human being” (Ph 2, 6-7).

This month starts with the celebration of the All Saints’ Day. It is our feast, for we are called to sanctify. Lumen Gentium, the 2nd Vatican Council Dogmatic Constitution, dedicates its 5th chapter to the explanation of the universal vocation to sanctity in the Church.

This month is dedicated in a special way to the Mission of the Church. “The pilgrim Church is missionary by her very nature, since it is from the mission of the Son and the mission of the Holy Spirit that she draws her origin, in accordance with the decree of God the Father.” (Ad Gentes 2)

Pope Francis, during his general audiences on Wednesdays, is carrying on his catechesis about HOPE. As WUCWO women we are all committed to sow hope, especially in the family, among youth and suffering people, with a specific attention to women.

On July 29th it was the 4th anniversary of the kidnapping of  a missionary Father Fausto Dall’Oglio,  in Syria. He is a Jesuit who, in the 1980s,  re-established in Syria the Catholic-Syriac Monastic community of Mar Musa (Monastery of Saint Moses Abyssinia), the heir to a cenobitic and hermitic tradition dating back to the 6th century. The monastery, located in the desert north of Damascus, also welcomes members of Orthodox religion. Father Fausto Dall'Oglio is strongly engaged in interreligious dialogue with the Islamic world.  He decided to be committed to such an effort convinced that the only way towards peace is dialogue and mutual respect.  

In this month, we celebrate the feast of St Mary Magdalene, “Apostola Apostolorum”, Apostle of the Apostles. She was a disciple of Jesus, following Him till His crucifixion, and the first witness of His resurrection. She brought the good news of His resurrection to the apostles. This is the reason given by the Congregation for the Divine Cult of the Holy See when last year her feast was established. This decision was also made to foster the attention and reflection about the role of women in the mission of the Church.

This month we worship the Heart of Jesus in a special way. We want to put under His Sacred heart also our commitment: “A Minute for Peace”. All over the world we need peace. Every day we receive news about terrorist attacks; some become viral, while some others are less known, because they happen in countries which are not under the spotlights.

This month dedicated to the Holy Virgin sees also the celebration of WUCWO day on 13th, the day of the apparition of Our Lady in Fatima. And this year is the centenary of the Apparition. This is a further encouragement to carry on our WUCWO commitment at all levels; we need to be responsible to work for the promotion of women and each of us is to be involved in such task.

This month we will celebrate the highest moment, the peak of our faith, the passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, our Saviour. Thinking about Jesus, offering Himself for our salvation, we cannot ignore God’s mercifulness. And this is so much present in the liturgy we celebrate.