Livonia woman honored for spreading JPII’s message of hope

CARI ANN DELAMIELLEURE | The Michigan Catholic

LIVONIA — Moving rapidly across the globe, Endow, a Catholic study program teaching women and teenage girls the importance of their God-given dignity and role in society, has awarded Livonia’s own Michele Schmidt the Julia Greeley Award for personifying Pope John Paul II’s message to enkindle a profound faith and transform the women and girls she serves.

“I feel funny that I’m getting recognized for something that I feel is a beautiful gift to me,” Schmidt said humbly. “I hear so many women with my story of abuse in life. The beauty is being helped with healing within the Church and helping women love their faith more and within their families.”

Growing up in an Italian culture where boys were preferred, Schmidt, now 55, regularly heard her father’s disappointment in having girls as he would refer to them as “lousy.”

“It’s strange how God works,” she said. Schmidt spent most of her life angry with the culture, as well as that of the Catholic Church, in a time when women were treated as unequal to men, she said.

In 2006, Schmidt heard the Holy Spirit’s call for healing and began her vocation with Endow, which stands for Educating on the Nature and Dignity of Women, which is now facilitated across the United States and in four other countries.

Schmidt started participating with Endow at St. Michael the Archangel Parish in Livonia. At her first session, she studied Pope John Paul II’s “Letter to Women,” and the pope’s gratitude for women changed her life, allowing her to find new strengths.

“One of the biggest blessings I received is when I sold my insurance agency and my kids were out of the house, I had more time to pursue fun things like this,” she said joyfully.

Thanks to Terry Polakovic, co-founder of Endow, Schmidt praised her teachers’ impact on her.

Sharon Williams, Schmidt’s first facilitator, encouraged her to take the “Letter to Women” to her own parish, St. Aidan in Livonia. Most women don’t know about the pope’s letter, she said.

“I had a three-strike experience,” Schmidt said, explaining her two other calls from the Holy Spirit to facilitate Endow sessions.

“Endow teaches us to be better wives, mothers, sisters, friends, daughters. You learn the real truth, not the garbage you hear on the news with anti-Catholic mentality.”

With groups ranging in age from 20 to 80, Schmidt believes she learns more from the women than they do from her.

“One of my favorites was the mother-daughter group. All the moms said ‘Wow, I wish we would have had this when we were in middle school,’” she said.

While facilitating the mother-daughter session called “True Beauty Revealed,” she said, moms taught their daughters about the mistakes they made growing up and what God actually wants from the girls.

This summer, Schmidt plans to facilitate the “Girl Genius” group for pre-teens.

Recalling the “Letter to Women,” Schmidt said she enjoyed hearing Pope John Paul II thanking women for “bringing their feminine qualities to help humanize the world, and women are more peacemakers and feminine genius.”

In a time when men were often put first in the Church, Schmidt said, Pope John Paul II was of the opposite mentality. “He did a lot of things for women. His love for the Blessed Mother, his own mother and his love for all women was made evident in the ‘Letter to Women,’” Schmidt said.

Schmidt will be honored at Endow’s Gala and Benefit in Denver on April 20.

“I hope other women can experience the same beauty that I have. That’s my prayer for sure. I’m very grateful for everything,” she said. “Love yourself as you are. God loves you as you are. Be yourself, let go and trust God.”

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Cari Ann DeLamielleure is a freelance writer from Brighton.