“A woman of strength who can find?  She is far more precious than jewels. She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy. Strength and dignity are her clothing, and the teaching of kindness is on her tongue. A woman who fears the Lord is to be praised, let her works praise her in the city gates” Ode to a Woman of Strength - Proverbs 31.

The beautiful and inspiring verses from the Book of Biblical Wisdom have encouraged and challenged us as members of STSMCC’s Women’s Forum to strive to be the modern-day Proverbs 31 Women. 

The women’s forum was initially formed by a group of enthusiastic and conscientious women in August 2008 with the motto ‘Sharing the grace of Mary’ and was named by the acronym CLASS (Catholic Ladies Association for Support and Service). Our activities centre around enriching and developing one another and embracing the wider world with compassionate hearts and charitable actions. Since the establishment of the Women’s Forum (WF) by CSMEGB, CLASS has amalgamated and is led by and works with the Eparchial Women’s Forum.



Objectives

  • Support all the church activities through prayer and active participation.
  • Conduct intercessory prayers for special intentions, pray monthly chain rosary.
  • Provide psychological support where possible to those with personal problems.
  • Provide possible solutions for challenging situations with parenting, childcare, teenage dilemmas etc.
  • Socialising - general chat, meet out for coffee, walking trips, movie evenings etc.
  • Health promotion- i.e port of call based on speciality, advice based on positive/evidence based practices.
  • Stimulate dialogue, debate issues & enrich our professional & personal lives.
  • Help needy individuals or organisations through collective contributions and organising charity events.
  • Partake in the activities organised by the Eparchial Women’s Forum.
  • Create a wider friendship circle and make our bond stronger as a parish.
  • Take active roles in all spheres of parish life and support all the activities in the parish.
  • Role model for our youth groups.

Activities

In 2009, CLASS produced a Malayalam Alphabet poster with English sounds to encourage children to become bilingual and learn Malayalam language.

The Women’s Forum conducts various activities including seminars, workshops, and meetings that help the members to explore and promote wellbeing of women of the church. These gatherings also help foster companionship in the group and offer a platform where we can pray, think, plan and act together. The Days-out are fun-filled moments that many of us cherish amidst our busy schedules!

We organise several charitable events and the collective work of WF helps build homes for the needy, support for education, and medical treatments. We are also proud to be actively raising funds for the Church Project by running a ‘Snacks Corner’ every Sunday.  We meet on the 1st Sunday of every month after Holy Qurbana socially for fellowship and friendship. 

All the women of our parish are most welcome to join the meetings and be part of this wonderful and open friendship forum. Let us continue our collective efforts toward making our little worlds wider, brighter, and more beautiful, for others and ourselves.

Office bearers of STSMCC Women’s Forum 2022-2024

President: Ligi Thomas

Vice President: Shery Job 

Secretary: Beena Mejo

Joint Secretary: Johnsy Joy

Treasurer: Jinu Tony

Eparchial Rep: Beena Joji & Rosily Sebastian