Catholic Women’s League of Canada | BC and Yukon Council

Submitted by: Lorilee J.

Your Excellency, Madame President, Spiritual Advisors, Sisters in the League:

We, in the Kamloops Diocese recently celebrated our 60th Anniversary as a Diocesan Council. At our recent convention many accomplishments were noted, the power of prayer was recognized and the ongoing commitment of members was appreciated. I would just like to note a few of these:

We enjoyed Dr. Walley as our guest speaker who once again reiterated the challenges to educate the public of the MaterCare program and urged us, as CWL members, to raise the awareness of the dignity of women. Anna May presented the idea of “buying a dress” (a $10.00 donation and something we could relate to). This idea took off and within minutes a total of nearly $300.00 was collected for “new dresses”. Friday Mass collection and winnings of the 50/50 draw were also donated to Matercare – a total of over $2000.00 from the convention.

Our first Diocesan Catholic Women’s League Bursary was presented in the amount of $500.00. This bursary will be awarded annually to a student within the Kamloops Diocese.Our 90+ Members Binder has been displayed and appreciated at all Diocesan meetings. Parish council’s are now active in submitting information on their 90+ members. A Novena for struggling Councils was initiated to begin on the Feast of Our Lady of Good Council. We do have a phenomenal success story of a reactivated council which you can find in Anna May’s report in the convention book.

Sheila Q…. attended our Diocesan Convention and her workshop on Standing Committees was well received. She also presented a Life Membership to Marilyn V…….. – 2nd Vice Pres. of Provincial Council.To celebrate our 60th Anniversary we had a draw for a diamond. After many anxious hours of anticipation the winner of the draw was Margaret D…….. An update on Lucy S….. – a Life Member in our Diocese and whom many of you know. Lucy had a quadruple by-pass on March 9th. I spoke with her recently and she is now back to Sunday Mass, singing in the choir and going for walks. She should be back to her old self within six months. She sends regards to all and a big THANK YOU for all the prayers.

PLANS FOR KAMLOOPS DIOCESAN COUNCIL:
First and foremost we hope to promote Spiritual Growth with the emphasis on devotion to “Our Lady of Good Counsel” asking for her intercession and guidance to make us courageous and loving women of faith. We will plan a Spiritual Retreat at a central location in the diocese. Present workshops on Standing Committees and CWL information to help us learn and grow together. Tap into our Life Members experiences. I will ask each life member to do a presentation at our Diocesan meetings so we can reap the benefits of this wealth of information we have among us. As Diocesan President I will try and visit each parish council during my term and stress the importance of sharing the information in the communiques received from the next level. Regrettably, this information is not always passed on to the general membership where the information should be circulated and action taken. Also, I hope to emphasize the importance of attending conventions and encourage our general membership to make use of the best training tool we have and celebrate the League beyond the Parish Council level.

And last but not least to raise awareness of the special gifts each member has been given from God. To recognize that we are precious gifts to each other and that we must affirm, inspire, encourage and support all members to better understand our Mission as members of the Catholic Women’s League. It is very gratifying to be a part of this wonderful group of sharing and caring women who work so tirelessly for God and Canada.

Respectfully submitted,
Lorrilee J…..
Kamloops Diocesan President