The Bark heard around the World, a Baby’s Cry and the Gift of Womanhood

A lighthearted moment at the GIVEN Institute Forum opened the door to a deeper reflection on womanhood, spiritual motherhood, and the kind of leadership that begins by first receiving God’s love.

Her bark was louder than I expected.

It was also one of the least expected sounds I thought I’d hear at the GIVEN Institute Forum.

It came from the stage.

And it was directed at me.

Apparently, my “stealthy” approach toward the foot of the stage caught her eye. Lucy, the gentle canine companion of Jackie Mulligan, responded in proper dogspeak with a hearty bark.

Jackie paused her presentation long enough to reassure her.

“Lucy, Jeff’s my friend,” she said.

The room erupted in laughter.

Lucy reconsidered, wagged her tail, and licked my hand.

Of all the stories one might expect to encounter at a Catholic women’s leadership forum, this would probably rank near the bottom of the list. But if nothing else, it was a reminder that the faith life is full of surprises, and never dull.

Yet in contrast to Lucy’s bark and the laughter that followed, another sound seemed to tell a deeper story of the Forum: the cries of infants, carried by mothers who had come to take part in the gathering.

They weren’t loud enough to interrupt the proceedings, but they were clear enough to be noticed. And once noticed, hard to forget.

As a man covering a Catholic women’s leadership conference, I knew I was standing at a slight angle to the event. I was there to photograph, listen, observe, and tell the story, but I wasn’t experiencing the Forum in the same way as the women gathered there. But that distance became a kind of gift allowing me to notice more closely the things that were happening in the room. The infants as they rested in their mothers' loving embrace, the gaze of those who followed along intently with the speakers, and the tears of those with their hearts outstretched to Christ in prayer.

So many of the talks kept returning to the same place: before mission, identity; before leadership, love; before giving, receiving. That word receiving seemed to echo throughout the Forum. It is, after all, embedded in the very name of the gathering…GIVEN.

The name is more than a title. It points to a way of seeing the Christian life. A gift is not seized or manufactured. It’s received. And once received, it can be offered.

Again and again, women were invited to recognize their lives as gifts already entrusted to them. Their womanhood, their talents, their vocations, and even the wounds Christ longs to heal. The invitation was not to become someone else, but to receive who God had created them to be.

In a culture that encourages people to constantly reinvent themselves, GIVEN proposed something far more radical: receive your life from God, and then make of it a gift.

Mary stood at the heart of that vision.

Her leadership began not with ambition but with her yes to God. She received Christ before carrying Him into the world. It’s a model of leadership that often goes unnoticed because it reveals itself through humility, trust, perseverance, and love.

Perhaps that’s why the babies in the room felt so profound. Their cries weren’t interruptions; they were reminders that leadership is ultimately about persons.

It’s about love made visible.

The many women religious present revealed another expression of that same truth. Motherhood is not only biological. There’s a profound spiritual motherhood, the work of nurturing souls through prayer, sacrifice, encouragement, and faithful presence.

The Forum wasn’t presenting a baptized version of worldly ambition. It offered another path: a woman leads by first receiving the love of Christ, allowing that love to transform her, and then giving it away in service to others.

Seen this way, the Forum’s vision of leadership wasn’t a departure from womanhood, but a deeper entry into it.

As a man, that was humbling to witness. It made me wonder how often I’ve misunderstood strength because I was looking for force, or leadership because I was looking for command, or motherhood because I reduced it to only one expression rather than seeing it as a profound spiritual reality woven through the lives of women in countless ways.

Even Lucy, in her own doglike way, seemed to belong to that lesson. She hadn’t arrived as part of a carefully designed apostolic strategy. She was an unexpected gift. And like many unexpected gifts, she revealed something that couldn’t have been planned: presence, play, unconditional love.

At a women’s leadership forum, that might sound like a charming aside.

It was more than that.

Those aren’t distractions from mission. They may be among the things that make mission human.

By the time Lucy made the ‘Bark heard ‘round the world’, the Forum had already offered talks, prayer, worship, formation, and conversation. But in that small comic interruption, something of the event became visible. A room full of young women laughed. A presenter paused. A dog was reassured. A stranger was welcomed. A hand was licked.

It wasn’t efficient or planned. It wasn’t on the schedule. But it was strangely fitting.

At GIVEN, the deepest lesson may be that leadership in the Church does not begin with command. It begins with receptivity. It begins with being loved. It begins with receiving the gift of one’s own life and then learning how to give that life away.

Sometimes that truth arrives in a keynote.

Sometimes it comes through the cry of an infant.

And sometimes, apparently, it comes from a furry friend that barks from the stage.

And a few more photos of the Forum…

A woman prays during Mass in the Crypt Church at the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception, where the noise of the week gave way to the quiet work of receiving.

Father Joseph Hagan, OP, delivers an impassioned homily in the Crypt Church, calling the women gathered at GIVEN to root every gift, plan and vocation in Christ.

At the consecration, Father Joseph Hagan, OP, elevates the Blessed Sacrament — the Gift at the center of every other gift the Forum asked women to receive and return.

Sister Mary Madeline Todd, OP, offers her keynote, “Realize the Gifts You’ve Been Given,” inviting participants to see their talents not as accidents, but as entrusted graces.

The room breaks open in laughter during one of many humorous moments … a reminder that formation, when it is real, leaves room for delight.

During the “One Call, Many Vocations” panel in the Pryzbyla Center Great Room, Sister Elfie Del Rosario, FMA, moderates a conversation with Christina Lamas, Melanie Owens, Liz Reckart and Lucy Tongxin Lu on the many ways a woman’s life can become a response to God.

Dr. Mary Healy gives the keynote “Receive the Gift You Are,” returning the Forum to its first and deepest movement: before a woman can give herself away, she must first know herself as beloved.

Jennifer Cole-Schaefer, executive director of GIVEN, welcomes guests to the Catholic Women Leaders Celebration, honoring the women whose lives have become a visible “yes” to the Church and the world.

Father Pierre Toussaint, CFR, celebrates Mass in the Basilica’s Lower Crypt, where the Forum’s language of mission was gathered again into the sacrifice of the altar.

A woman prays during Mass in the Lower Crypt, her hands clasped in the stillness where discernment often begins.

Mother Agnes Mary Donovan, SV, speaks with Helen Alvaré after receiving the FIAT Award…a moment of gratitude for a life spent witnessing to the dignity, vocation and spiritual motherhood of women.

The GIVEN participants gathered, a joyful sign of the many stories, hopes, and missions carried into the week, and soon to be carried home.

Participants gather in a breakout session, where the Forum’s big themes became personal: gifts named, questions shared, and missions slowly taking shape around the table…well, tables.

GIVEN participants make their way to Mass at the Crypt Church beneath the high altar, walking together toward the place where every vocation is received again from the Lord.

Father John Burns preaches at the 10 a.m. Mass in the Basilica’s Lower Crypt, offering a homily to women preparing not simply to be inspired, but to be sent.

Women pray during Mass, their faces and hands bearing the quiet seriousness of a week spent listening for God’s call.

Montse Alvarado, COO of EWTN News and recently appointed by Pope Leo XIV as Prefect of the Dicastery for Communication, gives the keynote “Respond with the Gift Only You Can Give,” urging women to bring their gifts into the Church, the public square and the places only they can reach.

“The Squad” gathers outside the Basilica — a joyful glimpse of the friendships and sisterhood formed around a shared desire to live generously. (Don’t worry, this is not the official photo.)

“The God Squad” poses on the Basilica steps, women religious from many communities witnessing together to the beauty of lives wholly given to Christ.

“The Mom Squad” stands with children in arms outside the Basilica, a tender final image of vocation made visible through life, love, sacrifice and joy.

The End. (For now :-)

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You have my heartfelt thanks for your generosity and support, and please keep me in your prayers, and know of mine for each of you. God Bless, Jeff