His Grace Archbishop Charles Chaput, OFM, of Philadelphia, reflected on women’s value as God’s daughters, found on the website of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, and entitled ‘Daughters of the King’. The 2018 Catholic Women’s Conference “Daughters of the King” takes place on Saturday, October 27, 2018, 9am-4pm at the National Shrine of Our Lady of Czestochowa in Doylestown, PA. The conference is expected to sellout in mid-September.
AS reported by Zenit, His Grace Archbishop Chaput reflected that “We live in a world obsessed with identity. Everywhere we turn, someone is talking about “self-expression,” “self-identifying,” or “finding yourself.” And rightfully so, because the answer to the question “who am I?” is one of the biggest questions that we as human beings have to grapple with. It has profound implications for what we do with our lives, why we should be treated with dignity, why and how we will be in relationship, and ultimately, why we should be loved.” Further, the Archbishop added, “On this point, the Church and the world agree. The question of identity is central to the human experience. The problem is that in our modern world we tend to build our identity on unreliable foundations. Often, we tend to identify ourselves not by who we are, but instead by what we do (e.g. “I am a teacher”), or what we desire (e.g. “I am gay”), or the group we belong to (e.g. “I am a Republican”). However, these ways of identifying ourselves never fully satisfy because they’re based on things that are ultimately passing. Jobs can be lost, desires ebb and flow, and groups fall apart. When we rest our identity on things that don’t last, we risk the despair and confusion that result when they inevitably pass away. We must, then, find our identity in a deeper place.”
His Excellency Archbishop Chaput concluded his message by inviting and encouraging women of the Archdiocese to come to the women’s conference this year to encounter and claim their identity as a daughter of the King.
