Women’s Organization 

Distributes $73,000 in First Year

The Diocese of Baton Rouge’s Women’s Giving Circle culminated its inaugural year May 5 with a Mass and gift presentation luncheon during which $73,000 was distributed among six non-profit organizations.

The Women’s Giving Circle seeks to promote philanthropy that glorifies God, empowers women and compels action. The organization’s goal is to minister to the needs within the Diocese of Baton Rouge and their patron saint, St. Katharine Drexel.

The group meets three times a year and through a voting process selects which non-profits they would like to award their pooled membership dues. The selected recipients are presented with the donations at a final meeting and luncheon.

The final 2022 gathering started with a Mass at Cypress Springs Mercedarian Prayer Center in Baton Rouge.

In his homily, celebrant Father Jamin David, vicar general of the Diocese of Baton Rouge, talked about the importance of remembering the truth of who we are as Catholics and appreciating the sacramental life of the church.

Father David, also the pastor of St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland Church in Albany, noted the St. Margaret second graders recently received their first Communion.

“They were rambunctious, they were very spirited, they really wanted to receive their first Communion,” said Father David. 

As he ministered to and watched the children, Father David wondered, “Do we feel the same way sometimes over the sacraments or have we lost that?”

When “things start happening” and Catholics may take for granted receiving the Eucharist just like another routine, according to Father David. He said that leads to receiving the Eucharist as if it were “stale.”

And that leads to looking for something more luminous, more exciting.

But referring to the Gospel reading of that day from St. John, Father David noted how Jesus chooses the seemingly mundane things, bread and wine, to point to eternal truths. Within the passage Jesus states, “I am the living bread that came down from heaven; whoever eats this bread will live forever; and the bread that I will give is my flesh for the life of the world.” 

Father David noted that Catholics have to routinely participate in the sacraments so that “we can allow transformation and after some conversion in ways we don’t expect” and Christ can take the ordinary and change it into the extraordinary.

After the closing hymn, “I Am the Bread of Life,” the women reconvened at nearby White Oak Estate and Gardens for an awards luncheon.

Bonnie Mart, co-founder of the Women’s Giving Circle, said she  “couldn’t have expected or wanted anything better” for the developing organization.  

“Our hope and our prayer is the Women’s Giving Circle is here to stay. We want it to stay for years to come,” said a beaming Mart. “We blew it out of the water with 140 members this year.”  

She continued, “That’s $73,000 (raised) to help meet the needs of the body of Christ in our community. God made this happen but you were his hands and his feet. Thank you for answering the call to serve through generosity.”

She encouraged the women to invite others to become members, sponsor other women and to serve on committees for the organization.

This year’s recipients of the donations are Missionaries of Charity, Grandparents Raising Grandchildren, Braveheart Children in Need, Sanctuary for Life, Families First Housing and Bishop Ott Sweet Dreams Shelter. 

To learn more about the Women’s Giving Circle and to become a member, visit diobr.org/womens-giving-circle.