Jennifer Marie Marcus was ordained a priest and Terese Rogodanzo-Kasper, a deacon today in Detroit. The ceremony took place at the Nativity Episcopal Church in Bloomfield Township, Michigan. More than 100 people filled the church to capacity. This was Michele Birch-Conery's first ordination as a newly-ordained Bishop. Her homily is below. Barbara Billey of Windsor Canada assisted Michele and Janice Sevre-Duszynska served as the MC. Photographer, Guilia Bianchi captured the event. See Giulia's work at Nausicaa Giulia Bianch, www.giuliabianchi.com
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| Terese Rigodanzo-Kasper, deacon and Michele Birch-Conery |
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| Jennifer Marie Marcus, priest and Bishop Michele Birch-Conery |
Homily by Bishop Michele Birch-Conery,
Ph.D.
We are especially graced in the
privilege given to us, today, by the Reverend Diane Morgan in offering us
sanctuary and hospitality, for our ordination, in the sacred space we engage
here at First Nativity Episcopal Church. Diane continues in a line of blessed
people who have found a place for us, while we are exiled from the sacramental
spaces of our Roman Catholic Church. Our
first ordinations, in 2002, began on a river, the beautiful blue Danube, and
thereafter, in North America, in 2005 and 2006, respectively, we ordained our
women deacons and priests first, on the St Lawrence River and, lastly, on the
Ohio River. Thereafter, we have been received most often by pastors from the
United and Episcopal Churches, although we have been received, discreetly, in
many other sacred spaces. Here, the generosity of rabbis, priests and ministers
as well as good people, found in temples, inns and church houses has served us
well.
What could be more ecumenical than the
gifts offered from good heartedness of other holy people, who respond to God’s
prophetic call when seen and heard? And so it is with you who gather with us
today. You have come to give witness to
the ordination of Tee Kasper to the diaconate and Jeni Marcus, to the
priesthood. But you are also participants in a Sacramental encounter with the
Divine and it is from that presence living in us all that the complete
anointing of these women begins. The
intensification of their spiritual journey forward, from within communities of
the priestly People of God continues today. However, today marks a turn in
their journey that will embrace the mystery of the Divine indwelling with us, well
into the future. And so we, in our international
community of Roman Catholic Priests who continue the ordination of Roman
Catholic women, thank you for gracing us
in this way.
In this Episcopal Church, we also
stand on the holy ground of the prophetic women, who forged a new path for
ordained women by responding to their call to ordination heard, from within the
Episcopal Church. On the Feast of St.
Mary Magdalene, July 29, 1974, eleven women were ordained by a
supportive Episcopalian bishop, who was unlikely to be in conflict with their
next convention, when the issues about women’s ordination would come up
again. The ordinations took place in
Philadelphia and the years leading up to it as well as the aftermath, tell a
story that quite parallels our own. We, too, have gone ahead with ordination in
prophetic obedience to the Spirit, breaking an unjust canon law. At the time of
their ceremony a moment came where it was customary to voice reason why they
should not be ordained. In answer, the ordaining bishop simply responded to
objections by stating “We are acting in obedience to God, not men. The time is
now.”
In 2014, these women celebrated the
anniversary of their 40th year. They told of slow progression in the
overall acceptance of ordained women, particularly in equity and credibility in
leadership. They recounted problems finding pastoral positions to embrace the
full scope of their talents and capabilities, above all, the spiritual gifts
they bring. From their experiences, they bring energy and wise advice for those
continuing the ongoing struggle. “We were privileged to take that step. Someone
had to do it and it was our time, “stated Carter Heyward. “We were ready in
every way, though the Church was not ready.” Her advice is to stay because of how
the church does and does not empower women to be fully who they are. At the
same time, she favors the celebrating every gain along the way.
We stand on the shoulders of such
women and one such woman from our own Danube 7, ordained in 2002, is with us
today. She is Dagmar Celeste from Ohio. Dagmar always brings with her a sense
of the deeply graced originating power of our movement when she comes to our
ordinations and other events.
And so it is into the deeply graced
reality of such women and our own women who have come before us that we gather.
We are grounded in mystical and spiritual realities of the Church
since the origins of Christianity. We are grounded in the time of the prophets
and holy women and men of the Old Testament and in the tradition of Holy Wisdom. From this holy ground, we will ordain Terese
Rigardanzo- Kasper and Jennifer Marie Marcus.
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| Jeni and Tee lie prostrate; Michele says prayer after Litany of the Saints |
Tee brings a long dedication to music
ministry. She has responded to pastoral
needs in several parishes, schools and hospitals and is completing theological
study through the People’s Catholic Seminary. I have come to know Tee as a
compassionate woman who brings a lightness of being and optimism that easily
moves into humor and joy. These are personal gifts that enhance the quality of
experiences in any community and I am grateful that she brings these to our
Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests (ARCWP) community.
Jeni, is a feminist who understands
herself as a church reformer. She is a Civil and Employee Rights’ Attorney and
a Political and Social Justice Activist.
She advocates for LGBTIQ equalities and has been a member of many change
making groups, within and outside the Church since Vatican 2. She is set to complete a Doctorate of
Ministry degree with Global Ministries University. I have come to know Jeni as an open- hearted
forthright person, who generates passion for justice amongst us when we lag a
bit, in focus and energy. Her energy and high spirits enhance our ARCWP
community, just as she energizes many other communities especially amongst
other denominations, in a true spirit of ecumenism.
I also know both Tee and Jeni in
their extraordinary giftedness and alertness for hospitality, an attitude of
heart rooted in the practical competencies that community hospitality often
requires. In this they are humble and often unrecognized servants. In these
gifts, their communities and ours are truly blessed.
In speaking for herself, Tee says:
“In being grandmother, I embrace the Feminine Divine and the mystery of this
unfolding.”
In speaking of herself, Jeni says: “
I have always believed and worked for social justice in accordance with Jesus’
gospel message of reaching out to the poor and marginalized. In ordination I am
pleased to stand as a prophetic witness for positive change, within our beloved
Church.”
Like Tee and Jeni, we in the ARCWP must
embrace the prophetic witnessing realities of our difficult calling, at this
time of change in Christianity and in our global and cosmic world communities.
We are presented with mysteries that we must live into and for which we have no
completed maps to follow. Our journey alone and together can only unfold from
one day to the next. Our strength is in
our solidarity. We know that we must support each other’s growth and, in the
less developed parts of ourselves, pastor each other as midwives of grace. We
know that we go forward as companions in empowerment and that we are
strengthened in the joys brought to us by living embedded within communities of
equality.
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| People extend hands during consecration of Eucharist |
We know that we stand for a renewed
model of ordained ministry that is non-clericalist and inclusive of all. All
are welcome the table. In liturgical practice, we encourage full participation
of the community as much as possible in decision making about liturgy and about
the development of the community. But we are still in a middle position
regarding women’s leadership, in any community, and so need to be seen and
heard at the table of worship and in the gifting of any Sacrament. We also know
that we may have to relinquish much, while remaining true servants and leaders
in where the future is to bring us.
In all of these changes, we know that
we help in bringing about change for the poor and the marginalized and in
particular for women, most immediately. Women and children represent 70% of the
world’s poor. Positive change that challenges gender oppression is essential to
redress centuries of female servitude globally.
Our brother Francis, in Rome is
justifiably a popular servant of the people. He has referred to such service as
entering the terrain of the “field hospital.”
In such a place, there is no doubt that the full range of what could be
needed for broader societal change for the better would be uncovered. Here is the place where those who have been silenced and rendered invisible have dwelt for
centuries. Here is also the place of our neighbor, down the street and those
filling our hospitals, every kind of hospital and every kind of woundedness. Here is the place where there is no shelter
or safety and where we enter the realms of cosmic suffering. Here we find pain
that cannot be easily assuaged. If we bring our priesthood and the priesthood of
the people, fully into this space, we will engage a radical calling that
embodies the gospel of Jesus, but to an extent we may never have conceived thus
far in the widened, gaping awarenesses it would bring.
Here is where grieving and healing
can abound. Here is the invitation to us and most especially to our women being
ordained today. Tee and Jeni are called to know the sorrow of the suffering
people, as well as the joy of the transformations that must come from the
spaces we inhabit, from the spaces of the field hospital and this for the sake
of the transformations of our cosmic universe begun already now.
I conclude with a short prayer from
the Talmud:
Do not be daunted by the world’s
grief
Do justly now
Walk humbly now
You are not obligated to complete the
work
Neither are you free to abandon it
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