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Meet the Team: Isabelle Liberatore

Posted on Monday, August 09, 2021 by Kate Mathis

It's time to meet the team that makes Women of Grace the impactful apostolate that it is!
Today we're featuring Isabelle Liberatore, who is the Director of Development for Women of Grace. We hope you enjoy learning more about Isabelle from her answers to the questions below. Stay tuned for regular "Meet the Team" features!
 

1 How long have you been on the Women of Grace team and how did you begin?

Isabelle Liberatore is the Director of Development at Women of Grace. She left her career in Information Technology Consulting to enter the non-profit sector, joining the Living His Life Abundantly / Women of Grace team for the first time in 1998, and returning in 2010. She has worn a number of hats including grant-writing, marketing, management, social media, and now fundraising and development. She loves meeting donors and sacred sisters around the world and has been enriched by the many friendships she has made through her work in our mission to "transform the world one woman at a time."

Isabelle lives with her husband James in Tampa, Florida. They are both cancer survivors and they continually give glory to God for His healing grace. She is also a budding oil painter and enjoys creating works inspired by nature, the saints, and the beauty of the Catholic faith. If you'd like to learn more about her journey, check out this video.

 

2 What do you love best about Women of Grace's apostolate?

"I love working for Jesus and His kingdom, meeting sacred sisters and donors in person at our events, and transforming the world for Christ with our amazing team of staff members, regional coordinators, donors, and facilitators. Johnnette has been my spiritual mother throughout my reversion back to the faith and I've been blessed to know and work with her all these years."

3 What is your favorite devotion?

"I love the Holy Rosary and am grateful that we added our outreach of praying the weekly Women of Grace Rosary Crusade with prayer warriors from around the world. Our Lady said that the Rosary could stop wars from happening and I believe her!"

4 Who is your favorite saint?

"I have been a devotee of St. Thérèse of Lisieux. I can relate to her being a spoiled child in her early years and desiring to become a great saint, despite her seeming 'littleness.'"

5 If you could have lunch with Jesus today, what would you want to talk about?

"A few things I would like to discuss with Jesus are:

a. Why does discernment have to be so hard. Not everyone has access to a spiritual director.

b. How can we better embrace the crosses that are entrusted to us, overcome the fear of suffering, and be more surrendered to accept them in union with His redemptive plan?

c. What was it like to be reunited with God the Father and St. Joseph in heaven when He ascended?"

© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace®

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Virtues vs Vices

Posted on Wednesday, August 04, 2021 by Isabelle Liberatore

“The way to destroy bad habits is by watchfulness and by doing often those things that are opposites to one’s besetting sins.” -St. John Vianney
How do we grow in virtue?

St. John Vianney, whose feast we celebrate today, offers us the sage advice of "doing often those things that are opposites to one's besetting sins."

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Meet the Team: Susan W. Jacobsen

Posted on Monday, August 02, 2021 by Kate Mathis

It's time to meet the team that makes Women of Grace the impactful apostolate that it is!
Today we're featuring Susan W. Jacobsen, who is a Regional Coordinator from New Jersey. She is also part of the team that developed the Young Women of Grace program, developed the 32 Mornings of Grace programs with Martha Nicolli, and is part of the team that trained facilitators for the adult and teen studies.
We hope you enjoy learning more about Susan from her answers to the questions below. Stay tuned for regular "Meet the Team" features!
 

1 How long have you been on the Women of Grace team and how did you begin? "Since 2010. I began by attending a one-day program given by Johnnette at a church in Vineland, New Jersey with my friend Nancy Elhajj."

2 What do you love best about Women of Grace's apostolate? "What I love best is stated in the vision statement -'encourage and affirm women in their dignity as daughters of God and in their gift of authentic femininity.'  The sacred sisterhood that develops is particularly precious. I am so grateful to be part of a program that helps women grow closer to Jesus through the foundational study and other Women of Grace opportunities.  I have grown so much on this faith journey over these 11 years and with God's grace have been able to overcome the difficulties that life presents."

3 What is your favorite devotion? "The Rosary and Divine Mercy chaplet."

4 Who is your favorite saint? "The Blessed Virgin and St. Joseph."

5 If you could have lunch with Jesus today, what would you want to talk about? "Conversion of hearts."

© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace®

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Are you a Martha, a Mary or a Lazarus?

Posted on Wednesday, July 28, 2021 by Isabelle Liberatore

“Now as they went on their way, he entered a village; and a woman named Martha received him into her house. And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. But Martha was distracted with much serving; and she went to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things; 42 one thing is needful.[a] Mary has chosen the good portion, which shall not be taken away from her.” - Luke 10:38-42
Are you a Martha, a Mary, or a Lazarus?

Today is the Memorial of Sts. Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. In the scripture passage above, we see that Mary “sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching.” While Martha, “was distracted with much serving.” She even complained that Mary wasn’t doing her part and the Lord, rebuked her saying that Mary had chosen the better part and He would not take it away from her.

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Let us be an oasis of grace in the desert

Posted on Tuesday, July 27, 2021 by Johnnette Benkovic Williams

May the peace and love of Our Risen Lord Jesus Christ be yours today and always!

Here we are closing in on the end of July and Fall is fast approaching! We are excited about what is on the horizon for these coming three months, and I am confident much will be attained for the glory of God with your continued partnership. In addition to a virtual online retreat we are planning for October, our first IN PERSON retreat since the Pandemic is happening in September, and I’m delighted to give you the inside scoop! This will be an event planned, sponsored, and executed by Women of Grace for YOU!

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Meet the Team: Susan Brinkmann, OCDS

Posted on Monday, July 26, 2021 by Kate Mathis

It's time to meet the team that makes Women of Grace the impactful apostolate that it is!
Today we're featuring Susan Brinkmann, OCDS, who is our Director of New Age Research. We hope you enjoy learning more about Sue from her answers to the questions below. Stay tuned for regular "Meet the Team" features!
 

1 How long have you been on the Women of Grace team and how did you begin? "I began working here on January 2, 2008. Johnnette and I knew each other when I worked as a reporter for the Catholic Standard and Times of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. I used to interview her from time to time about New Age subjects. During one interview, I asked her if she knew anyone who was looking for a Catholic writer who does not compromise the faith. She said, 'I am!' The rest is history."

2 What do you love best about Women of Grace's apostolate? "My favorite thing about the Women of Grace apostolate is how it empowers women and cuts through all the confusion of our time. Our culture has a very disingenuous approach to women. It professes to be standing up for their rights, but at the same time, it promotes practices that are very destructive of women’s self-esteem such as promiscuity, abortion, birth control. These are presented as hip and liberating, even though women’s lived experience proves that the flip side of these practices – the broken relationships, the lifelong regret, sexual abuse (#MeToo) – is closer to reality. While pretending to stand up for women, our culture is actually doing the exact opposite, which is especially true for women on the ideological right who are treated like backward bimbos whose voices are deliberately stifled and/or misrepresented. All of these conflicting messages are a source of great confusion to women, which is why Women of Grace’s message - that our dignity comes from being a daughter of God, not from what this or that political group determines- is so encouraging for women. It lifts them above the politics and reminds them of who they really are, regardless of how the world wants to define them."

3 What is your favorite devotion? "My favorite devotion(s) is Total Consecration to Jesus through Mary and also Divine Mercy"

4 Who is your favorite saint? "My favorite saint is St. Therese of Lisieux."

5 If you could have lunch with Jesus today, what would you want to talk about? "If I could have lunch with Jesus, I would talk His ear off because He’s my BFF and I’d ask Him about all the things we’re working on together – my vocation as a Carmelite and a writer, my interior life, my prayer life. Everything!"

 

© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace®

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Do you not care that we are perishing?

Posted on Wednesday, July 21, 2021 by Isabelle Liberatore

“On that day, as evening drew on, he said to them, 'Let us cross to the other side.' Leaving the crowd, they took him with them in the boat just as he was. And other boats were with him. A violent squall came up and waves were breaking over the boat, so that it was already filling up. Jesus was in the stern, asleep on a cushion. They woke him and said to him, 'Teacher, do you not care that we are perishing?' He woke up, rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, 'Quiet! Be still!' The wind ceased and there was great calm. Then he asked them, 'Why are you terrified? Do you not yet have faith?'" -Mark 4:35-40
Do recent events in the world or in the Church have you terrified?

We see in the above scripture passage that even the apostles, those who were closest and spent the most time with Jesus, experienced fear, doubt, and terror. When it seemed that Jesus was asleep in the boat as it was being battered by the storm, He assured them that He was with them, and instantly calmed the storm.

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Kateri Tekakwitha: Lily of the Mohawks, Daughter of God

Posted on Wednesday, July 14, 2021 by Isabelle Liberatore

“I am no longer my own. I have given myself entirely to Jesus Christ.” Saint Kateri Tekakwitha
Today is a special day here at Women of Grace. We celebrate the feast day of one of our patron saints, St. Kateri Tekakwitha, aka “Lily of the Mohawks,” who is the first Native American saint. She is the patroness of our Young Women of Grace study program.

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Do You Have a Daily Ritual?

Posted on Wednesday, July 07, 2021 by Isabelle Liberatore

“Say to the Israelites, ‘You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy." -Exodus 31:13

Do you have a daily ritual?

The Lord gives us many examples of rituals in sacred scripture: God instituted the sacrificial covenant ritual with Abram (Gen. 15:8-21); He gave us the ritual of observing the Sabbath (Ex. 8:20); He asked the people of Israel participate in the Passover each year (Ex. 12:27: 1-14); Jesus taught the apostles to pray the Our Father (Mt 6: 9-13); and He instituted the Holy Eucharist (Lk 22: 14 - 20)

We are bombarded by distractions and growing "to-do" lists. God knew that we needed routine in our lives to keep us focused on Him. Rituals help to reserve our mental and spiritual energy for what is most important.

Recently, I took a two-week vacation. My husband and I went on a road trip from Florida to New York and back again. I must admit that being on vacation, I really slacked on my daily routine and I felt a noticeable increase in frustration, agitation, impatience, and lack of peace.

Don't get me wrong, I really enjoyed my vacation but now that I'm back home, I'm working really hard to dust myself off and pick back up on my spiritual routine. Here is a list of a few things that I do my best to practice daily. The nice thing about having rituals/routines is that when you get off track, you can always return to them.

Morning routine:
  • Rise early
  • Praise and thank God upon waking up and say morning prayers: St. Michael, Guardian Angel, Renew Consecration to Jesus through Mary, Cardinal Mercier's Prayer To The Holy Spirit, and Memorare to St. Joseph
  • Praise music while getting ready
  • Coffee and prayer time with husband
  • Morning prayer
  • Daily mass (Several times per week, preferably daily)
  • When time permits, a short time of adoration after mass and prayer of the Chaplet of Divine Mercy
  • Daily Angelus at noon
  • Litany of Humility prior to beginning work
Evening/Nightly routine
  • Rosary
  • Quiet time of meditation with sacred scripture
  • Examen
  • Gratitude journal
  • Plan for tomorrow asking for God's wisdom

Do you have a set of rituals that keep you focused on the Lord? We'd love for you to share them with us in the comments.

Please join us for our Women of Grace Rosary Crusade, when we will take part in one of the most beautiful and powerful spiritual practices that our Catholic Church has given us.

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Click the image below to join and if you've already registered, you should receive a reminder link directly from Zoom. Please be sure to share the information below with your friends and family!

 

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Living His Life Abundantly International, Inc.® / Women of Grace® has provided inspiring and informational content for FREE through our blog for more than twenty years. To continue our mission, we need your help. We are seeking a one-time contribution or a monthly donation to support the continued growth and expansion of this free resource. We are abundantly grateful for your support.

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