Encountering Who You Are As Woman
Our Kean University Campus Ministry had the remarkable opportunity to participate again in this year’s Women’s Identity Retreat Weekend, coming together with women from across the Archdiocese of Newark to encounter the questions: What are we created for? Who are we as women? We are still feeling the Lord’s graces long after the retreat has been done!
The Identity Retreat was initially started a few years ago at Seton Hall university, stemming from the need for women in college to learn more about their identity as a woman of God. Years later, it is an intercollegiate retreat where colleges from across northern New Jersey can come together to encounter their femininity and the unique calls that we have as women in the world.
The retreat was held right before Holy Week, March 22 to 23, 2024 at the Liebenzell Retreat Center in Long Valley, New Jersey. Nestled into a beautiful, serene area of the state, our students from Kean were able to take a break from the hustle and bustle of life here in Union County. Many schools were represented at the retreat; Seton Hall University, Felician University, Montclair State University, Kean University and Ramapo College of New Jersey. It was a blessing for all of these students to meet and spend time with fellow Catholic women from all over. Coming from a small ministry here at Kean, it was wonderful for our students to get the chance to grow in fellowship with a larger young adult Catholic community.
Loved For Who We Are
The Women’s Identity Retreat had a goal for attendees to encounter the depths of their feminine identity. Who are we as women, and what does that mean for us yesterday, today, and tomorrow? How can women be leaders in the Church? How are we called to love? This experience provided attendees with a chance to take a closer look into their femininity.
The first discussion for the women’s weekend was by our speaker Stephanie Sonnick, who currently serves on the Pastoral staff at Our Lady of Sorrows in South Orange. Stephanie opened up Friday night’s portion of the retreat addressing Genesis and the "post-original woundedness" of the modern feminine experience, connecting that broadly with our experience of womanhood today. Referencing the Gospels, Old Testament, and Alice von Hildebrand, Stephanie also reminded listeners that their feminine gifts are meant to be “honored and lived out, not suppressed, in pursuit of what God is calling you to be.” Following Stephanie’s talk, students gathered for small group discussion, and an evening of Adoration, prayer, and reflection.
After morning prayer and a filling breakfast, day two of the retreat started with a talk from Philline Luz, missionary with Corazón Puro and from Casa Guadalupe in the Diocese of Paterson. She gave a beautiful talk on women’s search for love in various places. Philline tied her discussion together with the story of the woman at the well, and it had a powerful and clear impact on the students by the time the discussion wrapped up.
After time for Mass, spiritual direction, Confessions, and other activities that women had the chance to sign up for and fill their time with, our final speaker of the retreat took the floor to deliver a moving testimony and call to action for the women in the room, on leadership in the Church. Becca Conte, Theology teacher in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, spoke on how she learned much of what she knows as a mother, and woman who enacts change in her diocese, to the wonderful religious women in her life. Becca gave this talk while simultaneously caring for and holding her newborn - a real example of feminine strength and genius!
Healing Spiritually, Mentally, and Physically
This remarkable retreat allowed for all attendees to have the chance to be present with Jesus, in fellow ship with one another, and to learn more about what it means to be a Catholic woman. It was an incredible sight to see these college students come together, supporting each other, praying with each other, and worshiping the Lord for a weekend. One of our attendees from Felician remarked following the Identity experience for the first time, “what a change in my perspective... Spiritually, mentally, physically. I would never ever think I would be the one telling my friends.... God is good.”
Speaker and leader Stephanie Sonnick’s reflection mirrors what all the campus ministry professionals on the retreat team felt after this weekend, seeing all of the women from various colleges coming together: “Participating in this retreat was such an absolute joy. It has been alive for three years - which is a great testimony to the necessity of spaces where women can receive clarity and healing on their identity and their vocation to womanhood in life. Too often in the Church, we are afraid to open up questions of female sexuality, sexual sin, and the role of feminine gifts in the Church. It is exceedingly important for the formation of the heart and mind that young people are exposed to these topics in the family that is the Church.”
According to Kean students who attended the women’s retreat, the Identity retreat weekend provided much “peace” and a break “from reality,” which in the middle of a hectic spring semester on campus, seemed to be much needed. At the peak of the Lenten season for the Church as we approached Palm Sunday and Holy Week, when we are reminded of Christ’s sacrifice for us, it is important to know why we are considered worthy in His eyes, even when we are unsure of ourselves and who we are called to be.
The Identity Retreat weekend was an incredible time for Campus Ministries to come together to guide our students to encounter who they are as women of the Lord. Kean Campus Ministry looks forward to continuing collaboration with nearby Campus Ministries in the Archdiocese of Newark in the future!