Sarah Morris loves her Catholic faith.
She attends Mass at St. Thomas the Apostle in Phoenix and enjoys worship and the fellowship of the faithful. But she needed a spiritual connection to others like her: a vehicle that would bring the companionship of Christian women, particularly other Catholics.
“I think [as a culture] we’re disconnected [and] the Internet is ‘no bueno,’” she said, sitting at a table with several other women last Saturday at St. Helen Parish in Glendale, Ariz.
“It’s really fulfilling … to meet other women who are like-minded and alike spiritually,” she continued.
Morris was at St. Helen for the 10th anniversary Magnificat Meal, the signature event of the Magnificat Ministry’s Phoenix chapter.
Founded in 1981 by a group of Catholic women in the Archdiocese of New Orleans who saw the need for a faith-sharing experience in a relaxed social setting, Magnificat Ministry now has more than 80 active chapters throughout the U.S. and the Virgin Islands, and a dozen international chapters.
Morris has attended the meals for several years after receiving an online invitation. It was an instant blessing.
“It’s the fellowship. I love the music. You get to know new women from [different] parishes, make acquaintances and maybe some friendships,” Morris said.
Eventually, she became part of the chapter’s service team.
“That built the relationships,” she explained. “… by serving and praying together. It brings you closer to the Lord when you realize there are other people like you.”
Morris was in her “faith and fellowship” element at the event, greeting visitors, joining in conversation, prayer, singing, laughing and growing in her Catholic walk.
Over 175 men and women attended.
Along with lunch, conversation and worship, they were blessed with a special presentation from Bishop John Dolan.
The chapter, named “Mary: Cause of Our Joy”, held its first meal on Sept.19, 2015, also at St. Helen. Over the years, it has hosted meals at 14 different parishes.
“I join you on this gracious day, to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Magnificat chapter of the Diocese of Phoenix, where it first started,” said Fr. Mark Nyeko, A.J., St. Helen’s parochial vicar. Fr. Nyeko was standing in for pastor Fr. John Ssegawa, A.J., the chapter’s spiritual adviser, who was out of town.
“This association was able to bring women of different parishes together to share meals, their faith and the Gospel news,” Fr. Nyeko said. “We thank God, who has made this possible. And we thank all of you, the women, who have committed yourselves to this movement to share your life, living for Jesus and following the model of the Blessed Virgin Mary.”
Magnificat Ministry’s purpose is “to help Catholic women open more and more to the Holy Spirit through a deeper commitment of their lives to Jesus as Lord and to impart the Holy Spirit to one another by their love, service and sharing the good news of salvation.”
The Phoenix chapter began inviting men several years ago.
A private association of the Christian faithful, Magnificat chapters operate under the authority of the local ordinary — the bishop or archbishop. (Canon 305.2, 1983 Code of Catholic Canon Law)
The ministry is named for Mary’s prayer of praise while visiting her cousin, Elizabeth, recorded in St. Luke’s Gospel.
After learning from the angel Gabriel that God had chosen her to give birth to the Messiah, Mary went to her cousin with the joyful news. Elizabeth, pregnant herself with John the Baptist, greeted Mary, with the words, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the child you will bear!” (Lk 1:42)
To which Mary responded, “My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my savior,” the Magnificat prayer’s opening verse.
Centuries later, ever-developing technology has connected people electronically. But that historic journey, bringing together two women of deep faith and obedience to God is an example that both fosters friendship and spiritual growth, a personal exchange for which there is no substitute, said Magnificat leaders and participants.
“Mary traveled two and a half days,” said chapter coordinator Maureen Kight. “People come here [to these meals] with burdens. But for these two and a half hours, they visit with others, listen to music, enjoy food and are inspired by the speaker.”
Bishop Dolan did not disappoint.
Using a notebook-size portrait of the early Italian Renaissance artist, Bl. Fra Angelico, the bishop discussed Fra Angelico’s use of linear perspective to tell an entire story in a single frame. He encouraged the gathering to similarly open their entire lives to God.
“[After the Annunciation] Mary opened herself to the Lord in a way she hadn’t before,” he explained. “That’s, in essence, what I’m hoping you will achieve over course of this day, and if you should participate in Magnificat, that you would [do so] with that sense of perspective, where you are able to magnify the Lord in your life as you live.”
Kight endorsed that call.
“Mary always points us to her Son. Let this be a day we open our hearts and enjoy the gift of being sons and daughters of the Father,” she encouraged the group.
Or, as chapter founder Laurie Walsh, a St. Helen parishioner, put it, “We proclaim the greatness of the Lord, and we exalt in God, our savior.”
Walsh recounted how she had sought God’s guidance in her life in late 2009, after a large brain tumor prompted her to retire from her job. Following its successful removal, she asked Him to open to her His vision for the next chapter of her life.
“I had to figure [He] saved my life for some reason,” she said. “I knew God wanted to use [me and my husband] in something.”
Her prayers were answered in early 2010 during a charismatic Catholic conference, when someone dropped a Magnificat Ministry flier in her lap.
The following five years were spent meeting requirements to set up the chapter in Phoenix and receiving God’s confirmation — from getting St. Helen pastor, Fr. Ssegawa, to be the chapter’s spiritual adviser, to obtaining a free supply of tablecloths for each meal from a Valley linen company.
“Mary cares about these things,” Walsh said, smiling broadly. “Where she is, joy is.”
The “Mary: Cause of Our Joy” chapter hosts four meals a year at different parishes. The next event will be in mid-December at St. Elizabeth Seton parish in Sun City, Ariz.
St. Frances Xavier parishioner Goldie Byerly hopes to be there.
Sitting at one of the tables following the bishop’s address, Byerly reflected on her outreach to Hispanics as a mental health minister and the challenge of following God without healthy human fellowship.
The gathering impressed her. She’s going to invite others.
“In the Hispanic community, you don’t always know what’s [available]. [But] if you don’t attempt, you don’t know what’s going on. [Here], you pray together. You feel like you’re not walking alone.”
