Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community 33rd Sunday in Extraordinary Time November 12, 2016 Presiders: Sally Brochu, ARCWP, Janet Blakeley, ARCWP, Music Ministers: Mindy Lou Simmons & Russ Banner

Sally Brochu ARCWP and Janet Blakeley ARCWP Co-Preside at Liturgy

Theme: In darkest times, look for the light!
WELCOME:

Presider:  We, the Inclusive Catholic Community of Mary Mother of Jesus, welcome you to today’s liturgy.  Our liturgical style is highly inclusive and our language of prayer uses both the male and female metaphors for God. You are invited to participate in the ordinary of the liturgy, and in the Eucharistic Prayer and Consecration. We are happy you are here with us today. All are welcome to share in our simple Eucharistic meal around this friendship table. We use non-alcoholic wine so all may receive if you wish. You may drink from the cup or dip the bread in the cup. If you are visiting us for the first time, there will be an opportunity to introduce yourself near the end of the liturgy. So welcome everyone.
Opening Song: #604 “Christ Be Our Light” verses 1,2,5
Let us begin in the name of our God: a God of Love, Wisdom, and Light.
PENITENTIAL RITE (All raise hands extended in prayer)

ALL: God, the Father and Mother of Mercy, through his living, dying and rising, Jesus has revealed that nothing can separate us from your infinite love. May You give us pardon and peace, and may we forgive each other our failures to care for one another and our earth. We make this prayer in the name of God our Creator, and of Jesus, our brother, and of the Holy Spirit, our wisdom. Amen.
OPENING PRAYER
Presider: O God, your love is truth, yet we so often fear you. You regard us with mercy, yet we see you as Judge. Open our eyes to your goodness and let us realize the full life to which we are called. We ask this through the intercession of Mary, mother of Jesus, who knew and proclaimed your goodness to all generations. Amen.
ALL: Glory: sung – “Glory to God, glory, O praise and alleluia, Glory to God, glory, O praise the name of our God”
LITURGY OF THE WORD

First Reading: #225 “Laudato Si” Encyclical Letter – Pope Francis

Responsorial Psalm 98 – #801 “All the ends of the earth have seen the power of God” x2

Second Reading: #231 “Laudato Si” Encyclical Letter – Pope Francis

Gospel Acclamation – Alleluia (sung)

Gospel: Luke 21: 5-19

Homily Starter / Shared HomilyYear C – 33rd Sunday of 

Extraordinary Time – HOMILY – Sally Brochu ARCWP

The Liturgical Year C will soon be coming to an end. 
Soon our attention turns to the 
Incarnation of Jesus 
who is the center of our belief and the light that is so desperately 
needed in our world. 
First, let’s look at today’s Gospel. It speaks of the end of times: 
with descriptions of 
the destruction of the temple; of the suffering of the disciples 
as they look forward t
o the Second Coming of Christ. 
We have to realize that Luke wrote this Gospel 
about 50 or more years after Jesus died and after all these things 
ad actually happened. 
Many people have a hard time reading these passages 
because they are frightening, yet even in this Gospel reading, 
it ends with hope with these words 
“By patient endurance you will save your lives”. 
In spite of any adversity, we need to continue to live 
fully and with purpose, 
We have to continue to believe, to love and live out our 
values each day into the future.
Richard Rohr made an eye-opening statement that 
“the Second Coming of Christ is us”. 
We are the ones who bring Christ to life again. 
That in itself is an amazing message. 
Do we believe this? Can we believe this? 
The two readings today taken from Laudato Si were chosen 
to flesh out the call that we each have to be that 
light of Christ in the world.
It would be remiss for me to not mention the elephant in the room – 
the election! 
Each of you voted according to your conscience and 
that is good and to be respected. 
The results were very difficult for many, however, 
for many reasons. 
Many of you worked on campaigns and even ran for office. 
Yet this is a democracy 
and it doesn’t always turn out as we hoped. 
It is also very difficult when your “team” 
loses. 
However, in the writings of Pope Francis, and for that 
matter the Gospel, 
let’s not lose heart as we go forward. 
With this new awareness of our call to love, and that
 includes social love, we can be agents of change for 
the common good. 
One thing I learned a long time ago was that the 
opposite of love is not hatred, 
it’s indifference. It is too easy to just stand by and 
let someone else do it. 
Pope Francis said it so well in the first reading – 
“Love, overflowing with small gestures of mutual care, 
is also civic and political 
and it makes itself felt in every action that seeks to 
build a better world”. 
We can do this. As he so fittingly added 
“God is calling us to intervene with others 
in these social dynamics, we should realize that this too 
is part of our spirituality, 
which is an exercise of charity and, as such, matures 
and sanctifies us. 
Let’s move forward with greater conviction to live our truth, 
to live as Jesus 
lived and to put in action what Richard Rohr reminds us – 
‘the Second Coming of Christ is us” .
Q’s In these times of uncertainty and chaos, 
what do you draw from as you
 look to the future? And how will you be that ‘light of Christ”
 to others?

STATEMENT OF FAITH

Presider: Let us now proclaim our statement of faith:

All: We believe in God, the Creator – the source of everything that exists in the universe. We believe that God’s divinity infuses all life, in all forms, everywhere with holiness. We believe in Jesus, the Christ, through whom we have become a new people, called beyond the consequences of our brokenness. We believe in the Holy Spirit, the Breath of Life in the cosmos and the One who keeps the Christ vision present to everyone, searching for meaning and wholeness. We believe that you energize those people whose spirits may grow weary in the process. We say: Amen to courage, to hope, to the spirit of truth. We say amen to the partnership and equality of all persons, genders, and colors. We believe in justice and peace for everyone, everywhere, with no exceptions. In all of this, O God, we surely believe.
PRAYERS OF THE COMMUNITY

Presider:  Aware of God’s unconditional love for us, we, as people of faith, lift up our needs to our gracious God.

Presider:  Healing God, we ask you to strengthen us in our concerns for one another, here and throughout the world. We ask you to bless our efforts for peace, justice and equality so that, with our sisters and brothers, we may promote cultures of peace and nonviolence in our world.  As we always do, we make these prayers to you, O God our Creator, to Jesus the Christ, and to the Holy Spirit our Wisdom. Amen.
Offertory Song: #492 “Those Who See Light” all verses

Presider: Blessed are you, God of Creation, through your goodness we have this bread to offer…this grain of the earth that human hands have prepared for our use.  It will become for us the bread of life.

All: Blessed be God forever.

Presider: Blessed are you, God of Creation, through your goodness we have this wine to offer…this fruit of the vine that human hands have prepared for our use.  It will become for us our spiritual drink.

All: Blessed be God forever.
Presider (the invitation is to all):  Jesus, who has often sat at our tables, now invites all of us to join him at his.  Everyone is welcome to share in this meal. Please join us around our family table.
Presider:  Let us give thanks to the Creator of all that exists.

All: With hearts full of love, we give God thanks and praise.

Presider:  Let us acknowledge the presence of the Holy Spirit among us gathered at the family table.

All: We will develop our respect and reverence for you, for one another, and for all creation.

Presider:  Let us lift up our hearts.

All: We lift them up to the One who lives in us –  and loves others through us.

Presider: Christ dwells in each one of us.

All: Namaste!

EUCHARISTIC PRAYER: – (Michael Morwood)
Preface:
Voice: Wise and faithful God, you have birthed us in goodness,
gifted us with life and cherished us in love.
In the heart of our being, your Spirit dwells;
a Spirit of courage and vision, a Spirit of wisdom and truth.

Voice: In the power of that same Spirit, we lift our hearts in prayer,
invoking anew the gift of wisdom and enlightenment,
that we may continue to praise and thank you, in union with
all who sing this hymn of praise:
ALL: “We are Holy, Holy, Holy” (You, I, We) (Karen Drucker)

Voice: Sending among us Jesus, our brother, you birth afresh
in our world the power of Sophia-Wisdom, and in the
gift of the Spirit, your creative goodness blooms anew,
amid the variety and wonder of life.

First Invocation:
Voice: That same Spirit we invoke upon the gifts of this
Eucharistic table, bread of the grain & wine of the grape,
that they may become the body and blood of Jesus –
to nurture afresh in us the discerning gifts of
wisdom, light and truth.

Invoking the memory of tradition:

Voice: Gathering the disciples around the table of shared wisdom,
Jesus took bread; blessed you God of all good gifts,
broke the bread and along with the cup
handed to those seeking nourishment,
with these words: Take this all of you, eat and drink:
This is my body which will be given up for you.

Voice: After the meal, Jesus took another cup,
poured out in a spirit of solidarity and empowerment.
Jesus gave thanks and shared the cup with his friends,
saying: Take this all of you and drink from it;
this is the cup of my life-blood,
the life of the new and everlasting covenant.
In prophetic solidarity, it is poured out for you and for all.
Sustain one another in the power of sacred memory.

Eucharistic Acclamation:
ALL: In faith and hope we are sustained,
In grace and dignity reclaimed,
In praise, we thank our God.

Second Invocation:
Voice: In the power of this Eucharistic meal, bless us afresh
with the gift of the Spirit, that our hearts may be open
and receptive as you invite us into the fullness of life.

Voice: And may we ever be aware and alert to the new things the
Spirit makes possible, as our world unfolds amid pain and beauty,
into the fullness of life to which all are called,
participating in the wise and wonderful work of co-creation.

Doxology:
ALL: In the wisdom of our Triune God, Creator, Liberator, and Holy Spirit,
we are blessed with the gifts of this Eucharistic table, and with all
the good things bestowed upon our world, now and forever.
Amen: (sung) #936 “Amen, Amen, A—men”
ALL: (sung) Our Father and Mother…………
Sign of Peace

Presider : As we prepare to bring our gifts in the celebration of this Eucharist, let us strive to be faithful to the peace of God that surpasses all understanding.  And where we struggle, may we be transformed by God’s unconditional love.  Divine healer of all, we pray.

All: Amen.
Presider: As we do so well, let us share a sign of peace with one another as an expression of our recognizing the Christ that lives within each of us.  Namaste and peace.
Intrumental:
LITANY FOR THE BREAKING OF BREAD

Presider: Let us join then with the disciples of all ages, as we pray together:
ALL: Loving God, You call us to live the Gospel of peace and justice. We will live justly.

Loving God, You call us to be Your presence in the world. We will love tenderly.

Loving God, You call us to speak truth to power. We will walk with integrity in your presence.
SHARING OF THE MEAL:

Presider: This is Jesus, who called women and men to be partners and equals, and who liberates, heals and transforms us and our world. All are invited to partake of this sacred banquet of love.
Presider: Jesus, you invite us to receive you and become you for others. We are the Body of Christ. May the Source of Life whose power now at work in us can do immeasurably more than we can ask or imagine, be given glory through all generations. Amen
Distribution of Bread and Wine: You are the Body of Christ. You are the Blood of Christ.
Communion Song: Instrumental and moment of silence
After Communion Song: #331 “Taste and See” verses 1,3
Prayers of Gratitude, Introductions, Announcements
Final Blessing (all extend hands)

Presider: As we go forth from this sacred space, let us purposefully look with new eyes and hearts, always with the purpose of enhancing life, as we recognize the Christ within all whom we meet.

All: Amen
Closing Song: # 385 “Take Christ to the World” (Sing twice)

"Catholic Woman Priest Revives Spirit" Mary Sue Barnett ARCWP by Nicholas Moore, Nov. 11, 2016

http://tabs-view.com/2016/11/11/catholic-woman-priest-revives-spirit/

Mary Sue Barnett ARCWP presides at liturgy with Christ Sophia Community in Louisville, KY

A Centuries Old Wound Begins to Heal

Sociologist Sam Richards said sociology is “the study of the way in which human beings are shaped by things that they don’t see.” This is the reality of living and even affects our spirituality. This is notably disconcerting because we imagine spirituality to be something especially personal. If you’re a Christian woman — especially a Catholic woman — and you advocate for either, there is something you don’t see affecting your personal spiritual space, and manipulating the way you see it and feel it without your even realizing it. It’s the systemic misogyny in Roman Catholicism.

Deacon Betty Smith ARCWP worships with Christ Sophia Community, Louisville, KY

Luckily, Mary Sue Barnett — a Roman Catholic Woman Priest here in Louisville, Kentucky, presiding over Christ Sophia Inclusive Catholic Community — is changing that.

Two policies explicitly forbids women to serve as priest in the Catholic Church because they are women. They are Canon Law 1024 and the Inter Insigniores Declaration of 1976 (both instituted by men, coincidentally). Supporting these policies negatively affects all men and women because it perpetuates the form of authoritative violent masculinity that plagues all people today; many women don’t like it and many men don’t want to personify it.

“That patriarchy harms everybody, and it can harm everybody deeply,” explains Mary Sue, “because a lot of times it’s not an image or expression of healthy maleness, as we know from a lot of the sex abuse by Catholic clergy.”

Not the Zealot You Think

Mary Sue is not a zealot. She has a wonderful history with the Catholic Church. She taught in Catholic schools, and is a product of Catholic education. She received a degree in religious studies from Spalding University. She credits her advocacy for women’s human and spiritual rights as coming from this education.

“My own consciousness began to be sharply awakened in my studies. I became acquainted with some very strong feminist scholars in the Catholic tradition. Being mentored by them meant being mentored by the interrelatedness of all those issues. I can’t separate them out; they’re all tied together.” Barnett also served as the Director of Campus Ministries at St. Catherine College.

Barnett is additionally the founder of the Louisville Coalition for the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW). Her path to this role began in 2013. While serving as Catholic Ministries Director at St. Catherine College, she took a group of students to the United Nations to explore what it was to be a commission on the status of women. She came back inspired and committed to doing two things: 1) seek ordination as a Woman Priest 2) Do something about CEDAW locally.

She followed through with each of these goals, growing advocacy and membership in both the Louisville Coalition for CEDAW and her own congregation and the mission of Women Priests.

Mary Sue is joined by approximately 100 other Women Priests internationally, all members of the Roman Catholic Women Priests movement. They and the bishops who ordain them have been (and are continually) excommunicated by the institutional Roman Catholic Church. However, Roman Catholic Women Priests assert their ordinations are valid due to apostolic succession. In short, because the (male) bishops who ordained the first seven women priests were in good standing with the church, all women priests ordained thereafter (many by subsequent Women Priests) are, as well. On a related note, the Archbishop of Louisville also decreed any Catholic folks who attend Woman Priests’ services will be excommunicated, too.

But Truly – Why Do This?

So why do Roman Catholic Women Priests associate with the institutional Catholic Church at all? Why do they not start a new Church?

“I think it’s because it’s hard to feel like you’re all that separate because of the deep ties with family and friends, and also because of the rich heritage we do claim that is healthy,” says Mary Sue Barnett. “There is a very strong sense of obligation to do the renewal work. I personally care for girls and women that are within the church whose consciousness is not raised, who continue to suffer abuses in the church, or continue to suffer different sorts of violence against them because they’re female and they’re in a church that is silent about that. That is a very big part of my own commitment, and its part of the Women Priest movement.”

This is the crux of why Barnett answered her call to be a woman priest: her humanity. She is not an angry separatist who is selfishly out for vengeance against an institution. Barnett seeks to heal and uplift the spirits and souls of women (and men), and to help them feel that they are worthy, regardless of gender, of the inspiration of their God. She feels that policies like Inter Insigniores are false consciousness, a way of thinking that prevents a person from perceiving their true nature. She feels this false consciousness wounds the spirit.

“There is absolutely no truth in that,” she says of Inter Insigniores. “That comes out of a male-dominated, misogynistic consciousness that causes woundedness that many girls and women, and men, are not aware of. I think you can walk around and be wounded by that and not be aware of it.”

A Catholic Perspective

I would like to close this story on a personal note I want to share with you, our readers. I was profoundly personally affected in covering this story, and here’s why. I grew up Catholic, in a Catholic family. I went to Catholic schools, was an altar boy, a Eucharistic minister, a music minister, and even led retreats. I left the church in 2004 when a priest gave a speech during mass about how you couldn’t be “half-Catholic”, following some ideas but not others. Well, as a gay man, I was not fully welcomed in the church, so I left. Ethically, I could not support an institution who didn’t support my worth as a human (and others in my community) because of the gender of someone I ask on a date.

That being said, I was awestruck by Mary Sue, her words, her mission, and the people who attended her services. The institutional Catholic church can be mind-numbing in its rules. It is absolutely sexist, and its sex abuse scandals internationally – and their systemic cover-up – appall me. However, Mary Sue opened my heart and mind to a new way of being connected with a higher power. She spoke of God in a new way, that was beautiful, mysterious, egalitarian and empowering. Her liturgies were inviting and personal. Actual dialogues occurred between her and attendees instead of impersonal proclamations from a pulpit. Her advocacy for women through her spiritual purpose felt right in my bones. It seemed to begin to balance out the devaluing and disenfranchisement the Catholic church had shown women over centuries. I also spoke with women who attended Mary Sue’s services who had such a light in their eyes when they spoke of their enjoyment of being part of this movement and its services. I could see in their eyes and hear in their voice that they felt valued, personally and spiritually – finally. It was incredibly powerful, and gave me the ethical avenue to peek back into the realm of religious philosophy I had left 12 years ago.

"First Woman Bishop in Wales Endured Sexism on her Way to the Top" By Clare Williams in Local People

Nov.9, 2016

Canon Joanna Penberthy

Congratulations Bishop Joanna on another crack in stained glass ceiling! Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP. www.arcwp.org

http://www.brecon-radnor.co.uk/article.cfm?id=103766&headline=First%20woman%20bishop%20in%20Wales%20endured%20sexism%20on%20her%20way%20to%20the%20top&sectionIs=news&searchyear=2016

"Canon Joanna is no stranger to challenging the boundaries of the church and is one of the pioneering campaigners for women’s ordination back in the 1980s and 90s. She is no stranger to trailblazing either and was among the first group of women priests to be ordained in Wales. Now she is the first woman in Wales to be elevated to episcopate.

The Archbishop of Wales Barry Morgan announced at the west door of St Davids Cathedral last Wednesday that Cannon Joanna had secured the necessary two-thirds majority vote from members of the Electoral College which met behind locked doors at the cathedral for a day and a half.

"It’s something I’ve grown used to," she said, as she spent her first day back in the diocese fielding questions from the media.

"Conflict of itself is not something to be avoided; what should be avoided is animosity. The open and honest expression of differing views is absolutely fine."

"Being someone who was at the beginning of women’s ministry in the Church in Wales, when there was a certain amount of animosity, it gives me a certain amount of staying power and determination to persevere through difficult circumstances and the possibility of finding joy, excitement and nourishment in unexpected places, and making alliances."

Her new role is the next step in the journey that began forty years ago during a chance visit to Winchester Cathedral, on the way back to Wales from a family holiday at the age of sixteen.

"I found myself in what I later discovered was the Epiphany Chapel," she recalls.

"I can’t remember what happened but I came out with a sure sense that God was calling me to ministry. I had no real idea what that involved, whether it was possible or whether there were women doing it.

"I remember the stunned feeling I had knowing I had been called to this strange and new thing. When you’re 16 you just naively go for it. [I had] a powerful sense that this was what I was called to do, not to achieve something but simply to bear witness to the fact that God had called this young woman."

It hasn’t been an easy journey for Canon Joanna as her ordination training has to be done in England as at that time, women were barred from undertaking it in Wales.

It was this early era of sexism in the church that Canon Joanna has to thank for meeting her husband.

She said: "I wasn’t allowed to go to the Church in Wales theological college because I was told there weren’t any ladies’ loos. so I had to go to an English one.

"I said jokingly that i was going to bring back an English ordinant, but that’s what actually happened."

Canon Joanna continued on to answer her call to the church, which always came with a Welsh accent.

"Many of the first tranche of women ordained in England were people I had trained with, said Canon Joanna, "so it was very hard that the vote had gone against it in Wales. But it never occurred to me I should nip over the border because I felt very strongly that my calling was to bear witness to women’s vocation in Wales, in the Church in Wales."

Archbishop, Dr Morgan, said: "This is an historic moment for the Church in Wales as it hasn’t been possible to elect a woman bishop until now. But what is really important to stress is that Joanna wasn’t elected because she was a woman but because she was deemed to be the best person to be a bishop.

"She has considerable gifts – she is an excellent preacher and communicator, can relate to all sections of the community, is a warm, charismatic, caring priest and someone who is full of joy."

The confidential electoral college is made up of representatives of all six Welsh dioceses and the five remaining Bishops.

Bishop of Swansea and Brecon John Davies praised Canon Joanna on her appointment.

He said: "Jo is an immensely gifted theological reflector and teacher with wide experience in a variety of roles in ministry, both in England and Wales, and a highly-respected, much-loved parish priest wherever she’s been.

"She is also a gifted communicator to people of all levels and of all ages and will bring a huge amount of talent, faith and inspiration both to her diocese and the Bench of Bishops.

"I will be immensely sorry to see her leave the benefice of Glan Ithon. The people of the parish where she’s loved and respected will miss her and her husband Adrian hugely, as will the people of the West Radnor ministry area, where she is the leader designate."

Roy Palmer, emeritus churchwarden of Llandrindod, also paid tribute, and said: "Canon Joanna has been absolutely wonderful. She is lively, she listens, and she has brought a new dimension to the parish. Her sermons are stimulating and thought-provoking and she is always willing to explain her thinking behind them, which is very rewarding for me and others.

"She has been a real asset and we will miss her very much."

Canon Jo, who studied at Cambridge, was first appointed a Deaconess in 1984 in Durham, and moved to Wales the following year and held church posts in Cardiff before moving to the Dioceses of St Asaph in North Wales in 1989 and was based in St Davids from 1993 to 2010.

She was then Priest in Charge at churches in the Dioceses of Bath and Wells before taking her post in Llandrindod Wells in 2015.

Canon Joanne will be Bishop Elect until the appointment is formally confirmed by the Archbishop at a Sacred Synod service on November 30. She will then be consecrated as a bishop at Llandaff Cathedral – the seat of the current Archbishop of Wales - on January 21 and enthroned in St Davids Cathedral on February 11.

Her election follows the retirement of Wyn Evans, who served as Bishop of St Davids for eight years. St Davids diocese takes in the west Wales counties of Pembrokeshire, Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion.

Canon Joanna said: "I am immensely humbled and honoured at the trust that has been placed in me. I am very much looking forward to returning to St Davids and serving God’s people as their Bishop."

Post Election Reflection by Cynthia Bourgeault "Unified Humanity in the Fullness of Love"

https://northeastwisdom.org/2016/11/post-election-reflection/

"The vision of a single, unified humanity burns as strongly as ever as these tectonic plates of consciousness and culture grind up against each other. I sense very clearly that my own work calls me strongly to continue to work in this task of strengthening and deepening the international and interspiritual aspects of my teaching work. It was very meaningful to be in the UK on election night, to meditate with a group of nearly 300 seekers in Bristol, and to reaffirm palpably the power and presence that quietly unstoppable Christ-Omega drawing us along to that fullness of love that has been the trajectory, the sole trajectory throughout these 14 billion years. That is the corner of this vineyard in which I feel personally the most impelled to work."

Homily for Holy Spirit Catholic Community, 33rd Sunday of OT, Beverly Bingle RCWP

Wednesday afternoon one of our community members phoned me.

She was grieving about the Presidential election results.

She was mourning

because the outcome rejected

the values she holds most dear—

the moral and social teaching of Jesus

that we try to follow here.

She is afraid of what will happen to immigrants, Muslims,

Hispanics, the disabled, LGBT folks, the poor,

those 22 million who will lose their Obamacare insurance,

African Americans, our planet.

“What can we do?” she asked.

My answer was swift and to the point: “I don't know.”

So we talked a bit.

She said that the election results

make her feel compelled to speak up

where before she stayed quiet,

whenever she encounters racist or sexist remarks.

But she doesn't want to be crude or nasty.

She wants to be loving about it.

Maybe something like a support group, she said.

A place to figure out how to respond

kindly and effectively

to inappropriate remarks and hurtful ideas.

A way to work through this period of mourning.

A means of figuring out ways

to put Catholic Social Teaching into practice

in spite of the election results.

__________________________________________

We had such great hopes!

Too many of those hopes were dashed in Tuesday's voting.

So today we seek comfort and renewed hope

from the ancient scriptures.

We find Malachi's prophecy

that the arrogant and the evildoers

will be left without root or branch,

while the people who worship the most high God

will see justice rise like the sun.

We find Paul's encouragement to the Thessalonians

to practice self-discipline

and imitate the best in their actions.

And we find Luke having Jesus describe for his disciples

a litany of terrible events that will come

and assuring them

that not a hair on their heads will be harmed.

Their patient endurance will save them.

__________________________________________

Because scriptures scholars say that Luke

is writing this gospel 50 or more years after Jesus died,

we know that the events have already taken place.

The disciples have already suffered the difficulties Luke describes.

Jerusalem and the temple have already been destroyed.

Luke writes this passage to show Jesus

as a “prophet mighty in word and deed”

who leads people—whose lives have lost moral direction—

back to the purpose and meaning of life.

__________________________________________

We face an unknown future in our country.

Many people are afraid.

They are wondering what will happen to our country

now that we have elected a man who said

that Mexican immigrants are rapists and criminals,

that Muslims should be banned from entering the country,

that he would lock up his opponent after he was elected,

that he would sue the women

who accused him of sexual assault.

He ridiculed people with disabilities.

He denied climate change.

He used crude language, and he lied, over and over and over.

We heard Fr. Jim Bacik describe the candidate

as engaging in “apocalyptic messianism”—

predicting a disaster if he were not elected

and claiming that he is the only one who can save us.

We heard Pope Francis say that

“A person who thinks only about building walls,

wherever they may be, and not building bridges,

is not Christian. This is not the gospel."

In her pastoral letter this week—

the entire text of it is in today's bulletin—

Bishop Joan gave us hope

by comparing this election result

to the 2005 selection of the pope.

She wrote, “When I heard the announcement

that the new pope was Joseph Ratzinger,

I was equally as distraught as I am today.

We went through some very hard times

with the new Pope Benedict XVI.

How could we have known that Benedict would retire

and we would have a pope full of compassion for the poor? How can we today

know what tomorrow is going to bring to U.S. society?”

Bishop Joan encourages us to pray.

And she urges us to double down

on our efforts for justice and peace.

__________________________________________

As followers of the Way of Jesus,

we cannot run away and hide from the challenges of the future.

We cannot cringe in expectation of doom.

We cannot resort to violence.

We are called to keep on living in joy and hope,

and we have reason to do so.

No matter what happens, God is in charge.

__________________________________________

It's fitting, as we near the end of our church year,

that we find scriptures talking about the “end times”

and looking forward to the Second Coming of Christ.

It's helpful to remember what Richard Rohr said:

“The Second Coming of Christ is us.”

We are the ones who bring Christ to life again

in this world, in this time.

We are the ones called

to live in hope,

to serve one another,

to love God and neighbor.

So, while we will mourn the loss of what might have been,

we will continue to work for the poor,

to stand in solidarity with the oppressed,

and to keep on working for justice and peace.

Amen!

-- 

Holy Spirit Catholic Community

Saturdays at 4:30 p.m./Sundays at 5:30 p.m.

at 3925 West Central Avenue

Toledo, OH 43606

(Washington Church)

www.holyspirittoledo.org

Rev. Dr. Bev Bingle, Pastor

Mailing address: 3156 Doyle Street, Toledo, OH 43608-2006

Daily Prayer For Our Country: "United for the Goodness, Justice and Peace of All People Forever"

 Healer of our every ill,

     Breathe in and among all of us who dwell in this land.

     Soothe our wounds. Calm our fears.

     Mend our divisions.

Hope of all tomorrows,

    Open our deaf ears and fill us with compassion.

    Tender our hearts.

     Inspire creative ideas to address the cries of our sisters, brothers and Earth itself.

Send forth your Spirit of Love and Unity.

Transform pointed fingers of blame into hands open in reverence to receive one another.

Fan into flame the gift of our founding.

     And let us be known again as a people

United for the goodness, justice and peace of all people forever. Amen.

Written by a Sister of Notre Dame

"Let us not lose heart. There are more seasons to come and more work to do" Galations 6:9

Hillary Clinton ended her concession speech by quoting Galatians 6:9 
"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest, if we do not give up." As she continued "Let us have faith in each other. Let us not grow weary. Let us not lose heart. There are more seasons to come and more work to do."
 Let us continue to work for justice and equality in our country and world.  Let us walk in solidarity, pray for our new president-elect and all our elected officials.
 Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP

"in this South Jersey Rite, the Priest Saying Mass is a Catholic Woman", Philly News

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/new_jersey/20161108_In_this_South_Jersey_rite__the_priest_saying_Mass_is_a_Catholic_woman.html

Eileen Di Franco  RCWP presides at Liturgy

From Rev. Patty''s Inspiration Station: Who's in Charge?

https://agatheringoffriends.wordpress.com/2016/11/09/whos-in-charge/

The Association of Catholics in Ireland Calls for Female Priests and Clerical Marriage, by Patsy McGary, Irish Times

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/social-affairs/religion-and-beliefs/catholic-laity-group-calls-for-female-priests-and-clerical-marriage-1.2859910 ACI also calls on bishops in Ireland to make their views  known to Pope Francis Tue, Nov 8, 2016, 18:41 Patsy McGarry Pope Francis in Sweden, marking the 500th anniversary of the Reformation. Photograph: EPA/Jonas Ekstroemer Share to FacebookShare to TwitterShare to Email App A group representing lay Catholics in Ireland has called for women priests in the church, and for all its priests be allowed marry. They also “insist” that the bishops make their views known to Pope Francis as “this is the only way that change will ever come to be in our Church.” Aligning themselves with calls by the Catholic Church Reform International group, the Association of Catholics in Ireland (ACI) said that “along with Pope Francis, reformers recognise that in the current teaching of the Church, the Magisterium is without authority to ordain women”. This was due to Pope John Paul’s apostolic letter of 1994, which they described as “an impediment to full removal of gender discrimination from priestly ministry”. However, they noted that “the Biblical Commission appointed in 1976, by Pope Paul VI, found nothing in the New Testament which prohibits the ordination of women”. They advocate for “evolution of the organisation and function of ministries within the Church and for access to these ministries without regard to gender”. Heartfelt desires Pope Francis was “opening up a path for the Spirit by being first and foremost a pastor, repeatedly inviting the people to speak up, to share their sense of the Spirit with their pastors, and have their bishops bring those heartfelt desires to him. “Through this process of encounter and accompaniment, dialogue and discernment, the Church will address the needs of our times and become more fully aligned with the Spirit of Christ,” they said. They felt that “Pope Francis has decided not to rock the conservative boat on the issue of women’s ordination. Yet he is taking steps covertly in that direction. These include the inclusion of women in the Maundy Thursday washing of the feet liturgy; calling for a study of women deacons; and in several ways encouraging women to take their place among the people of God and exercise their baptismal call to a common priesthood”. It was also the case that, in Sweden last week, Pope Francis “openly greeted Antje Jackelén, the female Lutheran Archbishop of Uppsala, during an ecumenical service in Lund at the occasion commemorating 500th anniversary of the Reformation. And earlier this year, Francis elevated the memorial of St Mary Magdalene to the Feast of Mary Magdalene to be at the same level with her male colleague-Apostles”. The ACI also drew attention to a new website ThePeopleSpeakOut.org. where laity can “explore the kind of Church needed for our times”. Bridget Mary's Response: I am delighted to hear that the Association of Catholics in Ireland have called for women priests and clerical marriage!  I would love to meet with this courageous group when I travel to Ireland in 2017. Special thanks to Patsy McGarry for this article. Bridget Mary Meehan, sofiabmm@aol.com, www.arcwp.org