Living Gospel Inclusivity and Empowerment Now- https://bridgetmarys.blogspot.com/2025/10/rev-dr-bridget-mary-meehan-arcwp-chat.html
Thursday, January 1, 2026
Wednesday, December 31, 2025
January 1- New Year - Time for Conversation with Pops Leo and Roman Catholic Women Priests-While The Vatican Hesitates Women Priests Ordain
I admire and deeply respect Pope Leo.
I hope this New Year will be a new beginning- a time for Synodal dialogue to become a reality- a conversation with Pope Leo -about the call and ministry of real - flesh and blood Roman Catholic Women Priests who are creating a more welcoming, inclusive church of the people around the world. Why? Because we love Jesus, the sacraments, and all who are excluded and who seek a spiritual home where they are treated as baptized equals.
In our recent media release, the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests (ARCWP) strongly rejects the Vatican's recent reaffirmation that women cannot be ordained, calling it a patriarchal distortion of the Gospel that ignores Jesus's commissioning of women like Mary Magdalene as apostles. Sadly their main argument is pure misogyny. A woman does not have the right male body part for the role!
ARCWP argues that denying women sacramental authority contradicts scripture, history (noting women's ordination for the first millennium), and the Spirit's call, with women in their movement already serving as priests and deacons in inclusive communities. The Vatican's stance is stifling the Church's mission, hindering equality, and failing to recognize the divine call in women, calling instead for a return to baptismal equality where all are welcome in ministry.
Scriptural Inaccuracy: The Vatican's claim that Jesus didn't choose women for priestly roles is false, given Mary Magdalene's role as the first preacher of the Resurrection, according to the Gospels.
Historical Precedent: For the first 1,000 years, women served as deacons with Holy Orders, a practice the modern Church unjustly ended. In addition, there is evidence of women serving in priestly ministry in the early centuries of the Church's history.
Archaeology and inscriptions (2nd-6th centuries CE), strongly suggests women served as priests (presbyterae) and bishops (episcopae) in early Christianity with depictions in art showing women at altars and epitaphs naming female clergy in places like Italy, North Africa, and Asia Minor, though definitions of ordination and clerical roles differed from modern views. See calendars with depictions by Dorothy Irvin and The Hidden History of Women's Ordination by Gary Macy.
Denial of the Divine: By excluding women, the Church denies God's image in women and diminishes itself, not just women.
Gospel vs. Patriarchy: The Vatican's decision reshapes the Gospel to fit a patriarchal structure, rather than embracing the truth of Jesus's inclusive vision.
Prophetic Obedience: ARCWP sees its ordinations as prophetic obedience, moving beyond talk to action by creating inclusive communities where women deacons and priests serve.
Call for Equality: They advocate for a model of Church rooted in baptismal equality, where all ministries, including ordination, are open to called and prepared individuals, serving God's people.
What the Vatican Commission Said (Context):
A Vatican commission voted against ordaining women deacons but noted the discussion isn't settled, according to reports from December 2025.
The commission cited the "masculinity of Christ" as integral to sacramental identity, a point ARCWP finds theologically unsound and an insult.
Pope Leo is expected to consider the commission's findings, which came after years of study and consultation, including input from women's groups.
ARCWP/RCWP have requested a meeting with Pope Leo to share our vocations to serve the people of God in inclusive communities and ministries. But so far, we have not received a response. I pray daily that Pope Leo will open the door to conversation with us.
“He noted that the president of the commission, Cardinal Petrocchi, had observed that this is a question to be decided on a doctrinal level and therefore the ordination of women as deacons remains open to further theological and pastoral study.
“The question of the women’s diaconate specifically now returns to Pope Leo for further discernment, with the most recent magisterial teaching on it being paragraph 60 of the final synod document: ‘The question of women’s access to diaconal ministry remains open. This discernment needs to continue.’” https://bridgetmarys.blogspot.com/2025/12/vatican-says-no-women-priests-say-go.html?m=1
Tuesday, December 30, 2025
A Prayer for Inner Healing by Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP
When I experience painful relationships
where there are no words left to say
and nothing more to do,
I place each person tenderly in God's care
as in a wide and waiting sea of love.
Each morning, I begin again—
blessing everyone involved,
including myself.
I pray silently for healing
beyond what I can understand or control.
In the stillness of my heart,
I imagine the Holy Spirit
breathing peace into wounded hearts.
I trust that grace is at work
even when I cannot see it,
that love continues to flow
where human efforts have ended.
I pray:
Holy Wisdom, Womb of Mercy,
Mothering God who holds all life,
heal what is broken within us,
cradle our pain with compassion,
and midwife new life where hope feels thin.
Wrap us in Your sheltering presence,
breathe wholeness into our bodies and souls,
and gently lead us—
in Your time and in Your way—
into freedom, healing, and abiding peace.
Amen.
Monday, December 29, 2025
“Fight, Flight, or Faithfulness” Matthew 2:13-15, 19-23 December 28, 2025 Rev. Annie Watson, Holy Family Catholic Church
People might be surprised that the birth of a poor, peasant boy named Jesus is such a threat to King Herod the Great. But Herod is so rattled by the future messiah’s birth that he conspires to have Jesus killed, if he can find him. His fear results in what is called the “Massacre of the Innocents.”
Herod is worried because people believed the messiah would become the king of the Jews. Herod is worried, maybe not so much for himself because he is already an older man, but for his children and grandchildren who are due to be the ones who shall inherit the reins of this kingdom.
In fact, after Herod dies a short time later, the Romans divide up the kingdom of Judea among his three sons and a daughter. At the time, they didn’t understand that the baby Jesus was never going to be a threat to take over the throne of Judea, but he does turn out to be a bigger threat to their power and influence than anyone could anticipate.
Joseph gets wind of King Herod’s intentions when the angel of the Lord appears to him in a dream, warning him to take his young family to Egypt to escape the crosshairs of Herod’s murderous plot. Like most people, Joseph must have had an initial reaction to this threat. What should he do to protect his family?
We often hear the phrase “fight or flight” as the two instinctive responses to danger. When something threatens us, we either brace ourselves to confront it or run as fast as we can away from the danger. But in Matthew chapter 2, we see something deeper—something holier—than instinct. We see faithfulness.
Joseph receives a warning in a dream: Herod is seeking to destroy the child. In that moment, Joseph doesn’t fight. He doesn’t freeze or fawn over his pursuer. He doesn’t even choose flight in the way we normally think of it. Instead, he chooses faithful obedience. He takes Mary and Jesus and flees to Egypt—not out of fear, but out of faith or trust.
Sometimes God’s direction or instructions to us looks like retreat. Sometimes the holiest thing we can do is leave, wait, hide, or step back. Not because we’re weak, but because God is working a plan larger than our immediate instincts, and the plan needs time to mature.
Later, when the danger has passed, Joseph is told again in a dream to return. And again, he faithfully obeys. His life becomes a rhythm of listening and responding—moving when God says move, staying when God says stay.
So, this story reminds us that:
• Not every battle is ours to fight. Some dangers are best avoided, not confronted.
• Not every retreat is a cowardly act. Sometimes it is how God protects us.
• Not every delay is defeat. Sometimes we need the extra time to prepare for what happens next.
The question for us in the face of danger is not “Should I fight or flee?” but rather, How can I be faithful to God’s will? Of our three choices—fight, flight, or faith—faith is always the first choice. Amen.
Kansan returns to the Catholic Church as the state's first woman priest • Kansas Reflector
 |
| Tina Thompson (left) and Bishop Paula Hoeffer RCWP |
Article written by Anna Kaminski
Thompson said she is the first Roman Catholic Woman Priest in Kansas, but she is one of hundreds of women Catholic priests around the world.
“We are still the church, but we are different in that we open the tent,” Thompson said. “We want everyone to feel like they are welcome.”
The organization’s mission focuses on ordaining mostly women who feel called to priesthood. It is often oriented toward social justice, Thompson said. The organization says its ordinations are valid because they have abided by apostolic succession, which refers to the transition of power from bishops and popes that originated with the Apostles. Each person who performs an ordination is connected to that line of authority.
A 10-member commission created by the late Pope Francis affirmed in a study made public earlier this month that women are not allowed to be ordained deacons, which are a rank below priests.
Thompson was raised Catholic. The religion was rooted in her family’s everyday. Her grandfather prayed each morning, she said. As she got older, Thompson drifted from the church. She did not condone its views, including those against divorce, women and same-sex marriage, and condemned its handling of cases of sexual abuse.
She was away from the church for roughly 20 years, but she said Catholicism was always a part of her.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)