Mary’s Women of Joy founder Jean Whelan (third from left) and members of Mary’s Women of Joy gathered Oct. 13 for Mass at St. Mark Church in Huntersville and a special dinner celebrating 25 years of sisterhood. (Photo provided by Mary’s Women of Joy) HUNTERSVILLE — Three decades ago, a Marian pilgrimage completely changed Jean Whelan’s life – inspiring her to open her heart to a call from God to lead other women to His truth and love.
The fruit of Whelan’s “yes” is Mary’s Women of Joy, a sisterhood and Scripture study at St. Mark Parish that over the past 25 years has touched the lives of more than 600 women – women searching for a closer relationship with God and with each other.
Mary’s Women of Joy is commemorating its 25th anniversary this month, and members are giving thanks for the fruits of their efforts and prayers: growth and support for Catholic schools, development of the parish’s Eucharistic Adoration ministry, installation of stained-glass windows at St. Mark School and Church, additional parish ministries and greater participation in parish life, and in new Mary’s Women of Joy groups being formed in the Carolinas.
HOW IT ALL BEGAN
Whelan recalls how her mission began. “In Advent in 1997, I was coming out of Mass held at Peace Auditorium at Presbyterian College, and I thought, ‘We are losing too many Catholic women to other churches because people there are speaking to their hearts. But we have Jesus in the Eucharist! He is a Person! He is with us!’”
She prayed about it, and she heard God’s voice speaking to her like never before – urging her to start a Bible study group. “It was very distinct. Everything went quiet and I said, ‘All right, Lord.’”
She invited seven women to her home to study the Sunday Mass readings, dubbing the group “Women of Joy.”
Now known as “Mary’s Women of Joy” to better reflect their love for the Blessed Virgin Mary and their desire to emulate her openness to God’s will, the group has swelled to 200 women who gather each week during the school year in the parish hall for prayer, fellowship and study.
A SISTERHOOD GROWING IN FAITH
“We are not a ministry; we are a sisterhood,” Whelan emphasizes. “Because what transpires is, women exchange their hearts and share their joys and sorrows in prayer together, studying Scripture and going on retreats. We are really learning more about our Catholic faith together.”
Diane Piraino, a member for the past 20 years, says, “In the beginning years we were all being fed spiritually with Bible studies that were really hard, so you needed to put time and effort into it. As you keep going through studies, you turn a corner where you think you have learned a lot and you see the need to serve others so they can learn, too.”
Piraino now serves as the group’s spirituality leader. She credits being encouraged at meetings to spend time in Eucharistic Adoration, attend daily Mass, pray the rosary and the Chaplet of Divine Mercy and to cultivate friendships with Mary and the saints – such as St. Faustina, the group’s patroness – to cultivate a deeper relationship with God, the Church, and her fellow sisters in Christ.
“It’s our family now,” Piraino says. “When we get together the joy just comes!”
Laura Hogan, another long-time member, notes the women receive unparalleled comfort, understanding and support from each another. “Women accept their struggles with greater peace because they have a sisterhood to support them.”
A BRIGHT FUTURE
Mandy Riley met Whelan five years ago and now helps lead a Mary’s Women of Joy group of 100 women who meet on Daniel Island, near Charleston, S.C.
“I think that the Holy Spirit is moving,” Riley says. “There are women who are pining to grow in their faith, to be connected to other women, and to be on fire for Jesus.”
Whelan is now collaborating with women to start Mary’s Women of Joy groups at Holy Family Parish in Clemmons and Immaculate Conception Parish in Wilmington.
“We also have a group of women in California who are joining the Mary’s Women of Joy Thursday evening group via Zoom to see if they want to bring it to their parish on the West Coast,” Whelan says.
PRAYERS AND HOPES FOR THE SISTERHOOD
At a 25th anniversary Mass offered Oct. 13 at St. Mark Church, Father John Putnam, pastor, prayed that “the work that has been done and continued over these past 25 years might continue to bear great fruit, not only here, but now in the other places where there has been interest in the foundation of new groups of Mary’s Women of Joy.”
Whelan hopes that, as the sisterhood grows and God calls more women to participate, that “every woman comes to know that she is a daughter, she has received salvation, and she is loved by Him.”
— SueAnn Howell
Learn more
Watch an EWTN video on Mary’s Women of Jo. Interested in starting Mary’s Women of Joy at your parish? Go to www.stmarknc.org/mwoj for more information.