Catholics Should Use Inclusive Language Now/Not "Make Do with Faulty Translation" of Roman Missal

http://ncronline.org/news/faith-parish/making-do-faulty-translation
"Yet this Sunday, Nov. 27, the first Sunday in Advent, when we are gathered around the eucharistic table -- what should be the greatest sign of our unity -- many of us will feel depressed. We will feel like losers when we hear not the words that Jesus’ blood “will be shed for you and for all” but that Jesus’ blood “will be shed for you and for many...No words of any language can ever fully express this mystery. That is some consolation. Until we have better words, we can make do with this faulty translation."
Bridget Mary's Reflection:
What a cop out! Why should Catholics settle for the crumbs from the Eucharistic Table which this new Roman Missal represents. Why be depressed? Take action. Use inclusive language now. Gather in small faith groups and celebrate liturgy with inclusive language. Withhold money from the local parish until they get it! Educate yourself, invite Benedictine priest Anthony Ruff, a leading U.S. professor of Liturgy, who refused to promote the New Roman Missal to address your parish community. (Visit Call to Action website) Read Fr. Ruff's letter. http://www.americamagazine.org/content/article.cfm?article_id=12688
As Catherine of Siena once said, "cry out as if you had a million voices, it is silence that kills the soul." Instead of a defeatist attitude, the leading Catholic newspaper, the National Catholic Reporter should report on some positive resources including the following alternatives for inclusive worship now:
1.The Priests for Equality Inclusive Lectionary, they also have an Inclusive Bible.
Miriam Teresa Winter has written three books that feature feminist interpretation of women's stories in Scripture
2. Sheila Dierks and I have edited two books of Inclusive Eucharistic Prayers that feature prayers from the Ecumenical Catholic Community and Women Priests.
 3. The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests offer 11 inclusive liturgies appropriate for different seasons and occasions.
Inclusive Worship Aids
A CD providing worship aids written by Bridget Mary Meehan, Judy Lee and Dorothy Shugrue. It is a resource created by priests in the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, containing a variety of Eucharistic liturgies.
It is our hope that this resource will be a blessing for all inclusive communities who worship in spirit and truth. The prayers and rituals can easily be adapted to the specific needs of any group.
Here is a list of included liturgies: ~ Liturgy for Advent/Christmas ~ Liturgy for Lent ~ Liturgy for Water, Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Third Sunday of Lent, Easter Season, Baptismal Celebration Liturgy, Earth or Renewal Themes ~ Liturgy for Fire, Easter Season, Pentecost, Earth Day, Social Justice ~ Liturgy for Ordinary Time ~ Liturgy to Celebrate Creation, New Life, Creativity, New Beginnings, Spring or Summer ~ Liturgy for Marian Feast ~ Liturgy to Celebrate Justice, Partnership and Equality for Women in Church and Society ~ Liturgy of Good News to the Poor, For Anytime ~ Liturgy for All Saints’ and/or All Souls’ Day, Funerals/ Memorials.Worship Aids are provided on a CD in Word Doc and PDF formats.
If you are able, a suggested donation of $25.00 will defray our cost and help to support the growth of ARCWP and our ministry. Please click the DONATION button above. If you prefer, you may write a check to: ARCWP, 18520 Eastshore Drive, Ft. Myers, Florida 33967
http://www.associationofromancatholicwomenpriests.org/

Listen to the "Ballad of Roy Bourgeois", Interview with Steve Jacobs on Social Justice Witness

http://thefightback.org/2011/11/soa-watch-the-ballad-of-roy-bourgeois/
"Oppression needs complicity of silence to go on,” activist and singer/songwriter Steve Jacobs sang for TheFightBack outside the U.S. Army base at Fort Benning, Georgia, home of the School of the Americas (SOA). Renamed the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation (WHINSEC) in 2000, over the years SOA has trained tens of thousands of Latin American soldiers, many of whom have gone on to commit human rights abuses."

Support Women Priests this Christmas- Put Books Written by Women Priests and About Women Priests on Christmas List

The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, Inc. is a 501(C)(3) tax-exempt charitable organization. Donations are tax-deductable to the extent permitted by law. If you would like to support our ministry, please press the Donate button on our website. http://www.associationofromancatholicwomenpriests.org/
 If you prefer, you may write a check to: ARCWP, 18520 East Shore Drive, Ft. Myers, Florida 33967
We thank you for your support and pray God's blessings return to you ten-fold.

Books written by Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests:

Come By Here by Dr. Judy Lee, inspiring book about Pastor Judy's ministry to the homeless in the Ft. Myers, Florida area. The good news is that people are moving from homelessness and poverty to shelter and resources. Find out why? Hint: Communities of Faith are helping. So can you. (available online retailers including amazon
http://www.amazon.com/Come-Here-Judith-B-Lee/dp/1451274866/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1291426558&sr=1-1-fkmr0

The Life of the Spirit in the Convergent Points of Dreams, Spirituality and Psychology by Dr. Eleonora V. Marinaro whose work in psychology and in spirituality shows her how both subjects interface in the human psyche. Each discipline provides a method and a path for healing, wholeness and transformation. Her working model and theories are based on her own dream experiences and those of her private clients and dream groups. Her research reveals that dreams can describe and contribute to understanding the growth and healing process. Influenced by her study of Carl Jung, Dr. Marinaro says: “For Jung, it was not about religion, but about a personal spirituality and relationship with God. Jung saw dreams as the vehicle for spiritual experience and transformation.” Much like Dr. Marinaro herself does. Published by Outskirts Press. Purchase on Amazon.com or Barnes&Noble.com.
 http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=The+Life+of+the+Spirit+by+Dr.+Eleonora+Marinaro

Living Gospel Equality Now: Loving in the Heart of God- A Roman Catholic Woman Priest Story by Dr. Bridget Mary Meehan, a woman priest's story, spirituality, and journey to partnership in a Christ-centered, Spirit- empowered community of equals. Roman Catholic Women Priests are rocking the Catholic Church to its foundations as they share women's experiences and claim women's spiritual power as spiritual equals. For some, like the Catholic hierarchy, women priests are a revolution. For millions of people, the time has come for a holy shakeup that will bring new life, creativity and justice to the church and beyond. Available at http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=Living+Gospel+Equality+Now
http://www.virtualbookworm.com/bookstore/product/woman_priest.html
 
Book About Women's Ordination written by Dr. Ida Raming/Germany
A History of Women's Ordination
For decades, Professor Ida Raming has been one of the leaders in the forefront of the argument in favor of the ordination of women. First published by Scarecrow Press in 1976, Dr. Raming has recently republished her classic German study accompanied by an invaluable updated international bibliography as well as three recent articles that provide scholarly responses to the Vatican's position. This second edition provides an English translation of the new updated German edition. Also provided is an English translation of all the canonical sources quoted by Raming and a chronological bibliography on women's ordination from 1973 to the present.
http://www.amazon.com/History-Women-Ordination-Vol-Priestly/dp/0810848503/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1322249453&sr=8-1

Book - Early History of Women Priests Movement:
Women Find A Way: The Movement and Stories of Roman Catholic Womenpriests edited by
Elsie McGrath, Bridget Mary Meehan, and Ida Raming
Meet Roman Catholic Womenpriests who are shaping a more inclusive, Christ-centered, Spirit-empowered Church of equals in the twenty-first century. All are welcome at the sacred Eucharistic table. Meet women bishops ordained in full apostolic succession who continue to carry on the work of ordaining others in the Roman Catholic Church. Meet women who are serving the People of God in many ways including house churches and parish communities, hospital and hospice chaplaincy, anointing of the sick and elderly, and ministering with the homeless. Roman Catholic Womenpriests are leading the Catholic Church into a new age in which the identity of priest reflects the experiences of women.
 http://www.amazon.com/Women-Find-Way-Movement-Womenpriests/dp/1602642230/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322249883&sr=1-4

New Books with Chapters on Women Priests:

Changing Church, Stories of liberating Ministers by Jann Aldredge-Clanton
Through the fascinating stories of pioneering ministers, this book reveals a unique picture of progressive changes occurring in the Christian tradition. Meeting challenges and overcoming obstacles, these twelve diverse ministers are changing the church as they take prophetic stands on gender, race, interfaith cooperation, ecology, sexual orientation, economic opportunity, and other social justice issues. Believing in the power of sacred symbolism to shape social reality and to provide a foundation for justice and freedom for all people, these ministers lead worship with inclusive language and imagery for humanity and divinity. They include multicultural female and male images of the Divine.  Meeting challenges and overcoming obstacles, these twelve diverse ministers are changing the church as they take prophetic stands on gender, race, interfaith cooperation, ecology, sexual orientation, economic opportunity and social justice isues.
https://wipfandstock.com/store/Changing_Church_Stories_of_Liberating_Ministers;
http://www.amazon.com/Changing-Church-Stories-Liberating-Ministers/dp/1610974514/ref=sr_1_1_title_2_pap?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1322615974&sr=1-1Called -Women Hear the Voice of the Divine by Gretchen Kloten Minney
(WNN) U.S.: “Abundant evidence exists that many women were ordained and served as deacons and priests in the early church,” says practicing Roman Catholic Gretchen Kloten Minney, who is also a humanitarian and North American author of the new book, “Called – Women Hear the Voice of the Divine.”As the revolutions of the Arab Spring change the political landscape of the Middle East, another important transformative revolution is building inside one of our major world religions.What’s at stake? Modern day Roman Catholicism and its identity in priesthood.


http://www.amazon.com/Called-Women-Divine-Gretchen-Kloten-Minney/dp/1450721265






http://womennewsnetwork.net/2011/11/24/book-women-priests-rights-religion/

Mosaic of Holy Mother Mary, as Archbishop in Basilica Usana in Ravenna, Italy

An iconic mosaic of 'Holy Mother' Mary at the 6th century Archiepiscopal Chapel, Ravenna, Italy, shows Mary wearing dark vestments with a white pallium with the Christian symbol of crosses. Historical reference to the pallium links it to a portion of dress reserved only for Archbishops. Image: Christa Belting-Ihm, Carl Winter, Heidelberg 1976

Thanksgiving Day Blessings from Bridget Mary Meehan

View SOA Watch Vigil of Photos including Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests Standing in Solidarity with Thousands for Justice to Close School of Americas/Ft. Benning,GA.

https://picasaweb.google.com/106597675897561083714/SOAWatch2011#

Letter in Response to Rev. Michael Taylor on Altar Girls in Arlington Diocese/ Marianne Smyth

Recently the Metro section of the Wash. Post carried a long article about a woman's grief when her pastor announced there would not be any altar girls. Those who were already altar servers could remain but would wear a white vestment while boys would wear black. After all, these altar boys might want to grow up and be priests!!!

This is the letter I mailed to the pastor.
Rev Michael Taylor, Corpus Christi C Church
Corpus Christi, Body of Christ for men only. Your arrogant and hypocritical decision re: altar girls has caused the church to suffer and Jesus to weep.
I could type all day and probably all night about the totally inclusive Jesus, but neither you nor your superiors would pay any heed. Nor is there a way to convince you and others that these power based decisions that are done in the name of Jesus are really done for selfish control. You perceive that you represent Christ on earth when, in fact, you merely represent the Pharisees and Saduducees of Jesus' time. Same arrogance, same fear of losing power...same unwillingness to love as God loves. same exclusivity, same, same, same.
Jesus isn't finished talking, isn't finished teaching, but those who claim to "understand", those who claim to represent him on earth, stopped listening.
Am sure that at heart you are a good and caring priest. Am also relatively sure you did not consider the decision as hurtful or harmful, but as something within your right to do.
As Jesus weeps and wonders if we have ever learned anything from him, would you please just open your heart and listen?
Do not want, need or require any reply. Was moved to write this and all I'm asking for is for you to truly be God's priest and listen.
In Gospel Love,
Marianne Smyth

"Erasure of Vatican II Extends to New Missal—affecting 400 Million!" by Bill Slavick/ Compare New Roman Missal Advent Opening Prayer with Advent/Christmas Opening Prayer in Inclusive Worship Aids from ARCWP

william.slavick@maine.edu
Article by William H. Slavick

A retired English professor, Bill Slavick studied liturgy under scholars who contributed to the Second Vatican Council liturgical constitution and at St. Bernard Abbey. He recently attended a seminar with Anthony Rupp, OSB, on the Missal translations.
The three foremost developments in the Roman Catholic Church since the Second Vatican Council committed it to engage the modern world are the largest exodus in 2000 years for lack of such engagement, the sex abuse scandal’s betrayal of children, and the relentless Vatican campaign to erase the Council. By 1997 this infidelity to Vatican II had led dozens of European theologians to judge the Vatican in schism in its rejection of collegiality: the Holy Spirit speaks to only one person.
Emblematic of this rejection of the highest Church authority was the Congregation of Divine Worship’s presumption to delay approval of the English-speaking Bishops’ Conferences’ (ICEL’s) excellent new Missal translation, l5 years in the making (available at misguidedmissal.com), to replace the hurried 1973 post-Council translations, and then, in 2001, to reject it. These translations had been approved in 1998 by all eleven English-speaking conferences, exercising authority the Council granted solely to the bishops’ conferences, by a 99.9 per cent Council vote. The CDW’s role was to check adherence to procedures.
The Council’ liturgical constitution calls for translations of “noble simplicity . . . short, clear [sentences] . . .within the people’s powers of comprehension,” that lead to “full conscious, and active participation in the liturgical celebrations” by “all the faithful.” The norms had emerged from over 50 years of liturgical scholarship.
The CDW’s Liturgiam Authenticam dumped Council norms and abandoned the universal use of dynamic equivalence in quality translation. For English prayers it required literal word for word translations from the New Latin Vulgate, even to grammar, syntax, punctuation, and capitalization, and through sacred vocabulary to evoke transcendence and mystery. One moment’s Latin vernacular translation, falsely claimed to have been endorsed by the Council of Trent (which occurred before it), with its now archaic sexist language, should now be the sole basis for 21st century translations in all languages!
The CDW then claimed right of approval of an all-new team of translators to work in secrecy and called an end to decades of ecumenical collaboration to produce common texts. Notre Dame theologian-historian-chant scholar Peter Jeffery calls LA “the most ignorant statement on liturgy ever issued by a modern Vatican congregation.”
The norms promised failure. Secrecy limited consultation; the substitute team lacked expertise. The result is a big step backward. The texts occasioned 10,000 proposed amendments and a new Vatican review group, Vox Clara, continued to make numerous changes even after bishops’ conferences, if reluctantly and under pressure, had given approval. Glaring errors remain—sentence fragments, redundancies, a cue treated as a prayer. The first Eucharistic prayer ends with “we offer you firstly” without a “secondly.” Profusis,, meaning “overflowing,” is translated as “overcome,” beclouding a joyous scene.
Style failures abound. One Eucharistic prayer sentence has 82 words. One Easter Vigil prayer cannot be readily understood. “When supper was ended, he took the cup” becomes “”He took the precious chalice in his holy and venerable hands,” three needless adjectives too many. Is anything gained by saying “incarnate of the Virgin Mary” and “begotten, not made, consubstantial with the Father” that warrants sacrifice of clarity and availaility to all? Bishop Donald Trautmann, a former U.S. ICEL chair, views “consubstantial,” “chalice,” “born ineffably of the inviolate Virgin,” etc., as reducing understanding rather than bringing Catholics closer to God. Apparently, no one remembered that these texts are to be heard, not read.
Ideology deep-sixed this fine 1997 Collect for the 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time: “Almighty and eternal God, Whose bounty is greater than we deserve or desire. Pour out upon us your abundant mercy; Forgive the things that weigh upon our consciences. And enrich us with blessings for which our prayers dare not hope.” All new ECEL prayers were discarded.
Why a wooden loyalty to a single undistinguished Latin translation at the price of clarity and intelligibility? Liturgists see traditionalist resistance to clear, simple prose in liturgy; hostility to inclusive language, and an imperious rejection of Council collegiality. Forget prayability and those for whom English is a second language, accented speakers, and children.
Bishop Arfthur Serratelli, current US Bishops’ CDW chair, identifies dissatisfaction with these translations as rising from contemporary individualism which rejects institutional authority in favor of freedom--do-it -yourself liturgical originality, creativity. and diversity. But innovative excesses and efforts to curb them have not been associated with the 1997 translations nor these. Complaints have focused on the illicit imposition of translations at odds with spoken English prayer.
Writing in the July 15 Commonweal, Rita Ferrone sees the thrust of the CDW and Liturgiam Authenticam as the basis for disapproval. Vatican II reforms “that invited aggiornamento and engagement with the world” are sacrificed for a “liturgy reimagined as an event taking place in some sacral space outside of our world, rather than the beating heart of a world made new.” The shadows of John Paul II, who extended the old Latin rite over near-unanimous episcopal objection, and Prof Joseph Ratzinger, who faulted lack of doctrinal precision in the first vernacular translations, figure in answering why.
When Anthony Rupp, a conservative Benedictine liturgy scholar realized that an unsatisfactory translation was being imposed in violation of the English-speaking bishops’ authority and tempered his promotion, he was dismissed. He now observes that when he thinks of that process and “then of Our Lord’s teachings on service and love and unity. . .I weep.”
The Irish Association of Catholic Priests reject the translation as “archaic, elitist, and obscure, and not in keeping with the natural rhythm, cadence, and syntax of the English language,” a style so convoluted “that it will be difficult to read the prayers in public.” LA actually declares linguistic norms detrimental to the Church’s mission!
Others fault abandonment of the first principle of effective translation into English, to use Anglo-Saxon rather than Latinate words whenever possible and the straitjacket of literal translation in obscuring meaning . The most criticized literal Vatican translation, “Christ died for many,” illustrates; the Latin “the many” is a nuanced way to say “all”!
Prof. Jeffery faults the apparently unqualified translators as “not familiar with the treatment of Greek and Semitic words in the Latin scriptures and liturgies,” “unacquainted with the history of the Credo and the Kyrie,” “use Aquinas as a source of proof texts without regard for what he was actually saying,” “do not understand the relationship between the New Vulgate and the traditional Vulgate,” “seem unaware of the other Latin Bible texts used in the Roman tradition,” and “show no sign of ever having read any patristic exegesis” etc. “The tradition is bursting with vitality,” he observes, “LA is rigid with prohibitions.” “Why would anyone choose the thorns over the roses?” he asks. _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


New First Sunday of Advent Collect Roman Missal
Opening Prayer
Grant your faithful, we pray, almighty God,
the resolve to run forth to meet your Christ
with righteous deeds at his coming,
so that, gathered at his right hand,
they may be worthy to possess the heavenly kingdom.
Through the Lord Jesus Christ your Son . . .
Advent/Christmas Season Liturgy:
New Inclusive Worship Aids from Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests
OPENING PRAYER
Birther God, you became human in Jesus and showed us how to live life fully. You know what it means to laugh and cry, to walk and talk, to love and be loved. There is nothing we could experience that you do not understand. We know that your mothering presence is always with us. May we, like Mary, rejoice as we give birth to God within us, and may we give birth to God in everything we say and do. ALL: Amen.

Bridget Mary's Reflection:
If you are fed up with New Roman Missal, then try the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests' New Inclusive Worship Aids. (11 liturgies for liturgical year with inclusive language in .docx and pdf on cd, see yesterday's post for description or visit website below)
For more information, visit: 
http://www.associationofromancatholicwomenpriests.org/
Contact me at sofiabmm@aol.com

New Inclusive Eucharistic Liturgies Provide Alternative to the New Roman Missal

http://www.associationofromancatholicwomenpriests.org/
Inclusive Worship Aids
A CD providing worship aids written by Bridget Mary Meehan, Judy Lee and Dorothy Shugrue. It is a resource created by priests in the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, containing a variety of Eucharistic liturgies.
It is our hope that this resource will be a blessing for all inclusive communities who worship in spirit and truth. The prayers and rituals can easily be adapted to the specific needs of any group.
Here is a list of included liturgies: ~ Liturgy for Advent/Christmas ~ Liturgy for Lent ~ Liturgy for Water, Feast of the Baptism of the Lord, Third Sunday of Lent, Easter Season, Baptismal Celebration Liturgy, Earth or Renewal Themes ~ Liturgy for Fire, Easter Season, Pentecost, Earth Day, Social Justice ~ Liturgy for Ordinary Time ~ Liturgy to Celebrate Creation, New Life, Creativity, New Beginnings, Spring or Summer ~ Liturgy for Marian Feast ~ Liturgy to Celebrate Justice, Partnership and Equality for Women in Church and Society ~ Liturgy of Good News to the Poor, For Anytime ~ Liturgy for All Saints’ and/or All Souls’ Day, Funerals/ Memorials.
Worship Aids are provided on a CD in Word Doc and PDF formats.
If you are able, a suggested donation of $25.00 will defray our cost and help to support the growth of ARCWP and our ministry.
Please click the DONATION button above. If you prefer, you may write a check to: ARCWP, 18520 Eastshore Drive, Ft. Myers, Florida 33967

"Spinning the New Roman Missal" by Bryan Cones/US Catholic/Try Inclusive Eucharistic Liturgies Available from Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests

By Bryan Cones From the US CatholIc/www.USCatholic.org "And with your spirit" is finally upon us: Next Sunday, the First Sunday of Advent, 40 years of renewed Sunday Masses in the vernacular go out the door for something described ,,, “a part of a larger pattern of top-down impositions by a central authority that does not consider itself accountable to the larger church” (Benedictine Anthony Ruff of St. John’s Abbey in Collegeville).
. ..."The history of this translation is marred by well-documented interventions from Rome, the creation of a special body (Vox Clara) to circumvent the explicit will of the Second Vatican Council on liturgical translations, and, finally, secretive revisions to the final text that were never sent to the English-speaking bishops conferences for approval. There is no dispute that thousands of changes were added in the final moments by a single American priest in a Roman office—who introduced errors to the final text. This story is well-documented, with the best journalistic work done by the U.K. Tablet."
Bridget Mary's Reflection:
The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests has a new resource for inclusive Catholic communities available now in docx and pdf on a CD. http://www.associationofromancatholicwomenpriests.org/

How Do You Welcome Strangers? Homily by Janice Sevre-Duszynska on NCR Online

How do you welcome strangers?

Janice Sevre-Duszynska and Fr. Jerry Zawada at SOA Vigil liturgy

"Disgraced ex-Boston Archbishop Leaves Rome Job" /Associated Press

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/E/EU_VATICAN_CARDINAL_LAW?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2011-11-21-08-39-51
By NICOLE WINFIELD
VATICAN CITY (AP) -- "Cardinal Bernard Law, who resigned in disgrace as Boston's archbishop in 2002 after the priest sex abuse scandal exploded in the United States, has retired from his subsequent job as head of a major Roman basilica.The Vatican said Monday that Pope Benedict XVI had accepted the 80-year-old Law's resignation as archpriest of St. Mary Major basilica and had named Spanish Monsignor Santos Abril y Castello to replace him.Law's 2004 appointment as the archpriest of one of Rome's most important basilicas had been harshly criticized by victims of priestly sex abuse, who charged that bishops who covered up for pedophile priests should be punished, not rewarded..."

Enjoy this Funny Video with Sister Geritola of Rock of Ages Convent/Your Nun on the Run

http://youtu.be/34Ub6WT-eWs
Enjoy this wonderful nun with a message/ordain women!
Share it with everyone you know!
Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP
http://www.associationofromancatholicwomenpriests.org/