Peace, unity, and love

Women’s event at St. Mary Church in Athens showcases CCW growth in the Chattanooga Deanery

 By Emily Booker

The Knoxville Diocesan Council of Catholic Women (KDCCW) held its spring event for women of the diocese, “Peace, Unity, and Love,” on April 18 at St. Mary Church in Athens, co-hosted by the Chattanooga and Smoky Mountain deaneries.

The event drew more than 240 women from all corners of the diocese for a day of praying, learning, music, and fellowship.

The day began with the annual Mass of Remembrance, honoring the women of the diocese who died in the past year.

Monsignor Al Humbrecht, pastor of Holy Spirit Parish in Soddy-Daisy, celebrated the Mass, with Father Christopher Manning, pastor of St. Mary, and Father Dan Whitman, chaplain for the KDCCW, concelebrating.

In his homily, Monsignor Humbrecht noted how the early Church still serves as a model for the Church today.

“During the Easter season, as we read through so much of the Acts of the Apostles, the experiences of the early Christian community, it’s so much modeled for us still today. Remember this past Sunday, we had one of those idealized summaries of life in the early Church, that they devoted themselves to prayer, to the teaching of the Apostles, to the common life, holding things in common and going up for the hours of prayer.”

But the early Church also experienced tensions and had to find resolutions to rising problems, he noted.

“The Hellenists, the Greeks, are complaining that their widows are not being given the same attention as the Hebrew widows,” he said. “So, the Twelve, rather than saying ‘Here’s the rule, here’s what we’re going to do,’ called the assembly together. Listened to the people and called the assembly together and said, ‘We’ve got an issue … so we need a solution. So, we’re going to ask you, the community, the people of God, to help fix it.’”

The Church selected seven men as the first deacons, dedicated to addressing the issues in their community.

“I think it’s so much where we are moving in the direction in the Church today, of listening to the people of God and then finding a direction,” Monsignor Humbrecht said. He encouraged the attendees to be active and be deliberate in listening to where God wants them to be.

“What a joy it is for me to be able to say thank you for the work that you have done in your parishes, in your deaneries, and in the diocese,” Monsignor Humbrecht told the women.

The Golden Rose

Following Mass was the Golden Rose presentation. The Golden Rose is a program that recognizes young women between the ages of 14 and 21 who exemplify the CCW mission through spirituality, leadership, and acts of service. Each deanery selects a winner, and from those four young women, the KDCCW choose a winner, who then goes on to compete for the National Council of Catholic Women Golden Rose.

“Reading the profiles of our Golden Rose candidates, it is so evident that the Diocese of Knoxville is blessed with so many faith-filled and service-oriented young ladies,” Karen Meiring, KDCCW president, said. “Many prayers have been offered for guidance as winners have been selected.”

This year’s deanery winners were: Chattanooga Deanery—Brenda Solorzano of St. Thérèse of Lisieux Parish in Cleveland; Cumberland Mountain Deanery—Isabella Zolnierczuk of St. Mary Parish in Oak Ridge; Five Rivers Deanery—Marisol May of St. Mary Parish in Johnson City; and Smoky Mountain Deanery—Karen Amayo Castro of Our Lady of Fatima Parish in Alcoa.

Miss Castro was named the 2026 KDCCW Golden Rose.

“Thank you so much to the Knoxville Diocesan Council of Catholic Women,” Miss Castro said. “This means a lot, and I hope to be some sort of inspiration for the younger generation. I’m really grateful to be here, and this is just another reason to keep going.”

Spirituality and song

As the participants moved into the parish life center, they were greeted by booth exhibits showcasing ministries, information, and resources. Real-time Spanish translation was made available, making the event accessible to a wider range of participants.

The first speaker was Lisa Tuggle, the co-founder and executive director of the Pauline Community of St. Joseph, which works to bring the Word to the world through the spiritual works of mercy. As a Pauline Missionary for Marriage and the Family, Ms. Tuggle teaches, trains, and leads evangelization and catechetical activities.

In her keynote talk, Ms. Tuggle spoke on the gospel of love. She presented on the components of peace, unity, and love and “a spirituality of personal integrity,” which involves the heart, mind, and will.

“Where there is peace, there is love. Where there is unity, there is love. And where there is love, there is God,” she said.

“Faith is the functional component of peace. Peace requires confidence. Confidence means ‘to go with faith.’ So, the journey to unity in love begins with personal peace founded upon faith. You cannot have peace or confidence in others if you do not have peace within yourself.”

Ms. Tuggle discussed causes of conflict, both globally and in personal relationships, as well as overcoming fear and mistrust.

“Listening and seeking to understand one another and believing in the good in one another brings out the best in everyone involved. This process breaks open the gates of rejoicing. We feel connected again.”

Ms. Tuggle presented hope as the functional component of unity.

“Unity is not only the absence of conflict but, more specifically, our interior personal unity, which is our capacity for community, for communion with others in personal relationships. Hope is the power of unity. So, when we unite with others, this unity can accomplish what we cannot achieve on our own, and that gives us hope,” she said.

“We need each other. Unity is the capstone of human experience and leads to the possibility of relating in love.”

She then presented the seven interior dispositions that instruct one’s ability to unite with others, breaking down particular ways people are often hampered from forging mature, positive relationships.

“We’re going to put this in the context of the biblical account of Joshua preparing to enter the Promised Land of the Israelites,” she said. “Here’s Joshua on the plains of Moab. He wants to enter the land and live in peace and prosperity with his people. He wants to be a good leader, as some of you may also want to be. And he has been invested with the authority to do so. … And yet Joshua has a big problem. There are giants in the land. … Joshua and the Israelites had to destroy these giants.”

That which keeps us from peace and unity are like giants that must be battled, she explained.

“You and I face giants to enter into the promised land of peace, unity, and love. We have some giants to destroy, problems we women face in leadership and in life, and more specifically, in receiving and maintaining personal peace, without which we cannot afford holy, loving friendships or unite successfully with others in service of our living God.”

Finally, Ms. Tuggle discussed sharing as the functional component of love.

“God is love,” she said, quoting the Gospel of John. “And whoever abides in love abides in God and love in Him.

“So, this is good news in so many ways, especially for those in Jesus’ day who heard this the first time, because this was a world of full of hearts groping for a way to reach some semblance of holiness. So, holiness is a deep longing in the core of every human being. We crave holiness, which is wholeness, the experience of personal integrity in loving and being loved.”

She reminded the women that love is a two-way street.

“Love is personal. Love is relational. That is why God is a Trinity. Love is a dialogue between persons.”

Ms. Tuggle said that the gospel of love is modeled for us in Christ, who came down from heaven, empowered us with grace, and conquered death.

“Each love moment is a temple where our holiness, which is nothing more than His in us, shines like a light, inviting all those lost at sea in darkness, chaos, and certain death to find the safe shores of life in the light of love. This is our call.”

After lunch, Danielle Rose performed for the women. Ms. Rose is a musical missionary from Birmingham, Ala., who shares her testimony through song.

Ms. Rose performed several of her own songs, playing piano and guitar. She taught the audience a few songs, too, encouraging them to sing along. Her young daughter, Genevieve, sat on the stage nearby and shared gifts, such as rosaries and prayer cards, with women in the audience.

Ms. Rose shared about her time volunteering with the Missionaries of Charity in Delhi, India, and her formation with the Disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, a Franciscan religious community. Ultimately, she was called to the vocation of marriage and serves through her music ministry.

As she began playing, she said, “This is a song, an invitation, for each of us. And I pray that we all have the courage today to go out into the deep and to walk out on the water to slay those giants with His grace, those giants Lisa was explaining and teaching about today.

“We’re going to give our hearts to the sound, and He can come and meet us in the storms of our hearts.”

In between songs, she shared some of her testimony and led prayers for healing and help.

Her emotional, relatable songs stirred the audience, who sang and clapped along. It was a prayerful, rousing ending to the event.

Building and serving

The service project for the day was The Holy Family Expansion Project for the Handmaids of the Precious Blood, the cloistered religious community in New Market. The project seeks to build a larger chapel for eucharistic adoration, an infirmary for aging Sisters, and new housing for the growing community dedicated to praying for priests. The women at the KDCCW event raised $2,500 toward this project.

The event also highlighted how much the KDCCW is growing in the Chattanooga Deanery. Just a few years ago, the deanery CCW was struggling with engagement. Thanks to a few determined women, the Chattanooga Deanery CCW has been rebuilt, and parishes in the deanery are growing their CCWs. Being able to host such a large event and have such active participation demonstrated how far the deanery had come.

Brenda Ratcliff, who along with Sue Granger chaired the event commission, was excited by the turnout and the amazing work of the St. Mary Parish hosts. She marveled at how far the parish CCW had come in just a few years.

“Three years ago, St. Mary’s was trying to get their women’s group together, and I came up here as the president of the St. Thérèse CCW and shared with them everything we do at St. Thérèse. And they were just on fire. Their women caught fire, and they started building their CCW. So, when this opportunity came up for them to host this here, they were so excited about it.

“And here it is. It’s come to fruition, and there’s a great turnout. It’s great. Everything turned out just wonderfully.”

She thanked the St. Mary Parish CCW and Knights of Columbus who volunteered and made the event flow so smoothly and successfully.

“This is kind of like their debut,” Ms. Ratcliff said. “We are very excited that we are on fire here in the deanery.”

To learn more about the Knoxville Diocesan Council of Catholic Women, visit kdccw.org.