Roman Catholic Womenpriests : "Third Local Woman to be Ordained a Roman Catholic Womanpriest" news story in St. Louis Riverfront Times

"Third Local Woman to be Ordained a Roman Catholic Womanpriest" news story in St. Louis Riverfront Times
Kristen Hinman

"Marybeth McBryan, a former member of the St. Louis Public Schools Board of Education and current deacon at Therese of Divine Peace, will be ordained as a Roman Catholic Womanpriest this Sunday."

http://blogs.riverfronttimes.com/dailyrft/2009/10/third_local_woman_to_be_ordained_roman_catholic_womanpriest.php

Roman Catholic Womenpriests : "Can we talk about Religion, Please?" by Randy Cohen, New York Times

http://ethicist.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/27/can-we-talk-about-religion-please/

Can We Talk About Religion, Please?
By Randy Cohen

"Last week the Vatican invited Anglicans who are, as The New York Times put it, “uncomfortable with female priests and openly gay bishops” to reunite with the Roman Catholic Church. If a secular institution, Wal-Mart or Microsoft, for example, made a similar offer — Tired of leadership positions being open to women and gay employees? Join us! — it would be slammed for appealing to bigotry. Some criticism was directed at the church, but it was faint. Are we right to speak softly when discussing a subject as sensitive as religion?"
Randy Cohen hits the nail on the head with this excellent article in the NY Times. Finally, someone is challenging the mainstream media's, timid response to Vatican sexism and homophobia." Right on! Would the media coddle a church that promotes racism? I doubt it.
The Vatican's outrageous, sexist, homophobic position is a scandal. But the good news is that there are women priests in the Roman Catholic Church, and we are working on the margins where we think Christ would feel right at home. Our message is inclusive and welcoming to all. Why not cover our stories?!
Does the media believe that women's equality is a human right? Does religion play a role in promoting justice and equality for all God's people? If not, why not?
Tell the whole story. There is good news. Millions of believers affirm this good news! The progressive, reformist, renewal agenda is not fading away, no matter what the Vatican does, not by a longshot!
Bridget Mary Meehan
sofiabmm@aol.com

Roman Catholic Womenpriests Ordain Morag Liebert- first woman in U.K./Scotland --Clips of Historic Ordination

From left to right: Rev. Frances Forshaw, Morag Liebert, Rev. Louise McClemments and Bridget Mary Meehan at ordination that took place in Augustine United Church in Edinburgh, Scotland on Oct. 24, 2009

Brief Clips of Historic Moments in Ordination of Morag Liebert:

Katherine Salmon, from Sheffield, England, presented Morag for ordination/Examination of Candidate
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KwGTfIBOoH4
Presentation of Candidate for Priesthood
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF86RPEv6uc
Veni Sancte Spiritus:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DiBR5zlP4WY
Presentation of Candidate:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KF86RPEv6uc
Litany of Saints
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wSsL74n7rmw
Laying on of Hands

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtG9VRPIH5M
Vesting of Morag
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vd3MPLtrhC4
Presentation of Chalice and Patent
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZKNAVuBCSE
Eucharistic Prayer Clip
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=34gfBxDLlcg
Eucharistic Prayer/Consecration
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvSZgeu4-A4
For more information about this new movement to renew the Roman Catholic Church,
visit www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org

Roman Catholic Womenpriests : First Roman Catholic Woman Ordained in U.K- by Roman Catholic Womenpriests Movement- Historic and Ecumenical

Rev. Louise Mc Clements(in black robes on) an ordained minister from the local area gave testimony to readiness of Morag Liebert for ordination.
Frances Forshaw, an Episcopalian priest in the Scottish Episcopal Church, (on left) Morag Liebert, the first woman to be ordained in UK/Scotland is in the center.
Bridget Mary Meehan is standing next to Rev. Louise.)


On my recent visit to Edinburgh to ordain Morag Liebert, (the first woman in Scotland, indeed in the UK to be ordained by the Roman Catholic Womenpriests Movement) I met Roman Catholics and Anglicans who expressed grave concern about Pope Benedict's decision to welcome Anglican Traditionalists into the Roman Catholic Church.

This historic ordination of Morag Liebert as a Roman Catholic Womenpriest was a great witness to the ecumenical solidarity of women across the denominational lines and a prophetic testimony to the Gospel call for justice and equality that we share as people of faith.
Instead of rejecting women priests and women bishops, the Roman Catholic Church should be ending its patriarchal practice of discrimination against women. Jesus treated women and men as equals, so should all the Christian churches, including the Roman Catholic Church. The Roman Catholic Womenpriests Movement welcomes all God's people equally to ministerial leadership. So should the Pope.
www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org

Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Morag Liebert Ordained a Priest on Oct. 24th, 2009 in Scotland

Newly ordained priest Morag Liebert on left, Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan on right


Rev. Frances Forshaw, Morag Liebert, Bridget Mary Meehan, Rev. Louise McClements
(left to right)




Morag Liebert and Bridget Mary Meehan after ordination ceremony. Morag's chasuble has images of St. Catherine on the front and St. Margaret, Queen of Scotland on the back.

On Oct.24th, 2009, Morag Liebert was ordained a Roman Catholic Womanpriest in a historic ceremony in the city of Edinburgh. Morag was ordained by Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan/ United States.
The ordination is part of the Roman Catholic Womenpriests movement. This movement is building a renewed model of priesthood for a renewed Church to achieve full equality of women and men.
Morag Liebert has a M.A. in biblical studies and moral philosophy, a post graduate
degree in education and a B.D. with honors in Divinity.
She has been a member of Catholic Women's Ordination for fifteen years and currently leads its Edinburgh group. Morag has worked as a volunteer for the past eight years with an organization which helps abused women. For three years she organized the Lent study groups for Newington Churches Together, an ecumenical asssociation of churches in South Edinburgh.
Rev. Frances Forshaw, an Episcopalian priest in the Scottish Episcopal Church, who is part of the clergy team at St. Ninian's Cathedral in Perth, and Rev. Louise Mc Clements,an ordained minister from the local area participated in the ordination ceremony.
Jennifer Stark from York, England was the minister of music. Katherine Salmon, from Sheffield, England, presented Morag for ordination.
Joanna Hanley, from Edinburgh, was the official photographer.
For more information about liturgies, contact Morag Liebert moragl@connectfree.co.uk
Also see:
www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org
More photos and movies to come!

Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Pope Benedict Embraces Anglican Traditionalists, Impact on women priests and women bishops

Ordination of RCWP women bishops in California (historical note: A male Roman Catholic bishop with apostolic succession/in full communion with the pope, ordained Bishops Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger and Patricia Fresen, who in turn ordained our women bishops in Europe and the U.S., making our ordinations valid, but in violation of an unjust canon law that discriminates against women.)

VATICAN CITY — "In an extraordinary bid to lure traditionalist Anglicans en masse, the Vatican on Tuesday announced that it would make it easier for Anglicans who are uncomfortable with their church’s acceptance of women priests and openly gay bishops to join the Roman Catholic Church."
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/21/world/europe/21pope.html?hp

My Comment:
This latest decision by the Vatican appears to set up more "personal ordinariates" in communion with the Roman Catholic Church similar to the Byzantine Rite which retains their own Eastern liturgy, prayers, and practices such as a married priesthood etc.

One positive outcome: This Vatican action sets a precedent that one day can be used for the acceptance of Roman Catholic Womenpriests. (my guess: twenty years or less, see yesterday's post for a creative hopeful view of this total transformation which of course will adopt our RCWP inclusive liturgies!)

Right now, there is no doubt about the hostile attitude of the Vatican toward women priests and openly gay bishops. I don't understand this negative attitude toward gays when so many Roman Catholic priests and bishops are gay. Read Monsignor Cozzens' book, http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_ss_0_13?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=sacred+silence&sprefix=Sacred+silenc

This Vatican outreach to married Anglican priests will certainly expand the married Catholic priesthood, but what about our married Roman Catholic priests? After all, Peter was married. Why does the Vatican insist on this mandatory discipline? Jesus didn't require celibacy of his male or female disciples. There are over 25,000 married Catholic priests in the U.S. alone. This is an injustice to them. Unless, the pope is going to dispense with this rule, and this is his prelude.

Other major questions: what impact will the Vatican's embrace of Anglican Tradtionalists have on relations between the two churches and how will it affect the Anglican-Roman Dialogue? Will it be a major setback or for the Anglicans a solution to a vexing series of problems?

George Pitcher stated in his article in the Telegraph, can this be seen as a positive step: "Pope Benedict has thrown them a timely lifeline. He has also thrown one to Dr Rowan Williams, Archbishop of Canterbury. The issue of women bishops, approved by the Church of England’s Synod, was running into the sand, with a controversial proposal this month to impose a two-tier structure, with male bishops still having oversight in dioceses over those Anglicans who couldn’t accept women’s episcopacy. Women priests quite rightly resisted the suggestion that they would be second-class bishops."
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/georgepitcher/100014200/pope-throws-a-lifeline-to-the-church-of-england-for-women-bishops/

Indeed, as my 85 year old Irish father, Jack, concluded after watching a news story tonight on the Pope's welcoming of Anglican Traditionalists into the Roman Catholic Church:"This is really blatant discrimination against women priests." Yes, Dad, among other things...!

Perhaps, many more open-minded, progressive Roman Catholics will decide that they want womenpriests now. One in ten Catholcs in the U.S. is a former Catholic. There are many faith communities without priests in the U.S,and this topic is definitely on the table! I am convinced that there are many women called to serve God and their communities as priests. Roman Catholic Womenpriests are ready to serve wherever there is a need. The world is our parish and our numbers are growing.

"The connections between and among women are the most feared, the most problematic, and the most potentially transforming force on the planet.."Adrienne Rich.

Our challenge as women priests and bishops is to continue to follow Jesus' example of Gospel equality, form Christ-centered inclusive communities where all are welcome, and none are turned away from the Sacred Banquet. The story of the Samaritan woman demonstrates that everyone is invited to drink the living water and belong to the community of faith. There are no outsiders. All that is required is that we worship in spirit and truth. It is mind-blowing that Jesus revealed his identity as Messiah and who God is to an outsider, a foreigner, and a woman living with a man who is not her husband. In this encounter Jesus goes beyond the religious taboos of his time. He breaks the rules. In spite of all the negatives of her situation, Jesus chose the Samaritan woman to evangelize her town. This story challenges church leaders to break the bondage of patriarchy and sexism, and to follow Jesus' example by ordaining women as leaders in an inclusive church.

Justice is an issue for all- including women in all religious traditions. May Roman Catholic and Anglican womenpriests and bishops support one another as we make justice a reality for women in the church. I look forward to the ordination of Anglican women bishops. We are companions on a journey breaking our churches' glass ceilings!

Perhaps, we should be grateful to Pope Benedict, for heaping more coals on the fire for justice and equality for women in the church. Indeed, the full equality of women in all areas of life, including religion, is the call of God in our time!
Bridget Mary Meehan, rcwp
sofiabmm@aol.com
703-505-0004
www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org

Catholic News Story:
http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0904673.htm

BBC Report
Groups of Anglicans will be able to join the Roman Catholic Church but maintain a distinct religious identity under changes announced by the Pope.

"The measure, known as an Apostolic Constitution, was shown to leaders of the Church of England just two weeks ago.Under its terms announced by the Vatican, groupings of Anglicans would be able to join "personal ordinariates".

This would allow them to enter full communion with the Catholic church, but also preserve elements of the Anglican traditions including the possible use of Anglican prayer books."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/8316120.stm

Roman Catholic Womenpriests : The Vatican will accept Womenpriests like it has Archbishop Lefebvre's followers

It has taken the Vatican approximately 20 years to reverse itself on the Society of Pius X. In 2009, the Vatican has reversed itself. Under Pope Benedict XV1, the followers of Archbishop Lefebvre are being warmly welcomed by the Vatican, and their traditionalist agenda is being promoted. (return to the old Latin Mass with priest facing altar, not the people.

"The following day, July 1, 1988, Cardinal Gantin issued a formal decree of excommunication announcing that Lefebvre, Castro Mayer, and the four new bishops had performed a schismatic act and excommunicated themselves in accordance with the provisions of the Code of Canon Law. The following day, July 2, 1988, Pope John Paul II issued an apostolic letter Motu Proprio "Ecclesia Dei" in which he solemnly confirmed both the excommunications and the existence of the schism.

The pattern/strategy of the Vatican was: ignore, condemn, excommunicate, dialogue, "un-excommunicate!", promote agenda of group, incorporate changes into life of universal church!

I believe the hierarchy will follow a similar pattern with Roman Catholic Womenpriests.

In twenty years, or less, imagine the scene in St. Peter's when Roman Catholic Womenpriests are welcomed by the Vatican to celebrate an inclusive liturgy at an international gathering of God's people who have been living the vision of a renewed priestly ministry in a community of equals for years. Perhaps, it will occur as part of Vatican 111 which will be called by the grassroots church!

After lifting our excommunications, and engaging in "dialogue" with Roman Catholic Womenpriests, the Vatican will promote our vision of an egalitarian church as rooted in Jesus' example, and the twelve hundred year church tradition of women in ordained ministry. They will explain the positive contributions that women priests are bringing to a global church. Of course, the institutional leadership, which will not be by this time dominated by clerics, will have come full circle, and equal partnership, justice for all will be its top agenda! The new Roman Missal will adapt our liturgies and new eucharistic prayers for official worship and many will rejoice that finally the liturgy utilizes inclusive language including feminine images of divinity!

What else do you think will happen? How will the church grow?

Bridget Mary Meehan, rcwp

Roman Catholic Womenpriests : "Indian Theologian Calls for New Women Religious Paradigm" National Catholic Reporter Article

Indian theologian calls for new women religious paradigm

http://ncronline.org/news/women-religious/indian-theologian-calls-new-women-religious-paradigm

"She based her egalitarian call on the gospel story of Jesus’ encounter with the Canaanite woman, a piece of scripture that has served at the anchoring text for a nine-day meeting at a conference center 30 miles outside of Bangkok.

Said Chennattu: “Matthew portrays the woman as an active dialogue partner who dares to confront Jesus, the newly found Jewish prophet, with counter theological arguments.”

Roman Catholic Womenpriests : Download movies about womenpriests from this popular site

From left to right Priests: Judy Lee, Gloria Carpeneto, Bishop Dana Reynolds, Priest Gabriella Velardi Ward, Bishop Ida Raming in Boston at historic first ordinations of Roman Catholic Womenpriests in Boston

Google Video Alert for: roman catholic womenpriests movies
Ordained In Boston
Roman Catholic Womenpriests Ordained In Boston Upload, share, download and embed your videos. Watch premium and official videos free online ...
vidoemo.com
http://www.vidoemo.com/yvideo.php?i=aUs0Z29zcWuRpdFBQZ1k&roman-catholic-womenpriests-ordained-in-boston=

Roman Catholic Womenpriests : ITeam Report: The Underground Priesthood ABC Chicago.com- Alta Jacko's Ordination as a Roman Catholic Womanpriest

The women's names are from left to right
front row: Juanita Cordero, Joan Houk and Alta Jacko
middle row: Marybeth McBryan, Elsie McGrath, Mary Ellen Robertson and Mary Styne
back row: Clara Thompson Powell, Barbara Zeman, Janine Denomme and Ree Hudson

I-Team Report: The Underground Priesthood
ABC7Chicago.com - Chicago,IL,USA
... A Chicago woman is the latest to be ordained as a Roman Catholic priest. ... Jacko becomes one of about 60 women priests around the world and the second ...
http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/iteam&id=7065464

Roman Catholic Womenpriests : "Enough is Enough"

Enough is enough. Really.
by Janice Kennedy
Ottawa Citizen - Ottawa,Ontario,Canada


http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Enough+enough+Really/2091333/story.html

"The Catholic church was not founded on an exclusionary mission of denying women and married people the opportunity to serve as priests. It only began this desiccating process after some early churchmen, presumably wrestling demons of their own, decided somehow that God must have erred in creating human sexuality. In the fourth century, the church gradually began marginalizing women and turning up its nose at married men on the altar."

Roman Catholic Womenpriests : "Bishop Thomas Gumbleton: Prophet for Peace, Justice and Equality in the Roman Catholic Church"

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton: A Prophet for Peace, Justice and Equality in the Roman Catholic Church

by Bridget Mary Meehan, RCWP

Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, is a courageous prophet in the Roman Catholic Church who has preached the Gospel of justice and peace for decades. He deserves the Nobel Peace Prize for his courageous efforts on behalf of world peace and human rights.
In recent homilies published in the National Catholic Reporter, Bishop Gumbleton wrote on women's ordination as an issue that should be on the table for discussion. This drew the ire of Marquette Bishop Sample who refused to allow Bishop Gumbleton to speak in his diocese. (See article below)
Let us express our support for prophetic leaders like Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, women religious in the U.S. who are under investigation by the Vatican (again, one of the major top reasons is women's ordination), Fr. Roy Bourgeois, a Maryknoll priest who is addressing women's ordination as a justice issue and Roman Catholic Womenpriests, who are serving God's people in grassroots communities now. Roman Catholic Womenpriests are presiding at Eucharist, celebrating the sacraments, ministering to those in hospitals, nursing homes and prisons and the homeless. We are faithful Catholics, following the example of Jesus who called women and men to be disciples and reclaiming our twelve hundred year tradition of women in ordained ministry.

So what should be our response to this latest effort of the hierarchy to oppress Catholics who are working for the full equality of women in our church as a justice issue.

Here are a few ideas: break the silence, speak out, write letters to editors in local/national papers and blogs, and withhold donations, give money to those in need including religious orders in the United States who are being investigated by the Vatican. Contact the Leadership of Women Religious for ways you can help. Join with peace and justice groups who are working for women's rights in the church and world.
Let us join these contemporary prophets and countless other Catholics in the spirit of Jesus who challenged the religious leaders of his time. Jesus did not treat women as second class citizens, neither should the church. Justice is an issue for all, including Roman Catholic women, who are called to ordination. The full equality of women in the Catholic Church is the call of God in our time. We owe members of the hierarchy, like Bishop Thomas Gumbleton, a debt of profound gratitude for his witness to justice and equality in our church and our world.


For more information about Roman Catholic Womenpriests, visit www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org
email: Bridget Mary Meehan at sofiabmm@aol.com

http://www.miningjournal.net/page/content.detail/id/534429.html?nav=5006

Roman Catholic Womenpriests : "The Question Never Asked of a Nun"

The Question Never Asked of a Nun

The Question never asked of a Nun

while

Feeding a Homeless Person,

Caring for a Rape Victim,

Visiting a Prisoner,

Nursing a Sick Person,

Teaching a Child,

Consoling a Griever,

Keeping a Parish Alive,

Counseling One Confused,

Driving an Elderly to Shopping,

Clothing a Destitute,

Attending a Special Needs Person,

Helping Heal a Busted Relationship,

Comforting One Dying, and

Being Christ to All,

is

Are you approved by the Vatican?

Love, John Chuchman

(with permission)

Roman Catholic Womenpriests : "Women Fight To Be Priests in Catholic Church

Women Fight to be priests in Catholic Church
Tampa Bay Deism Examiner
by Bob Johnson

Interview with Bridget Mary Meehan

http://www.examiner.com/x-23325-Tampa-Deism-Examiner~y2009m10d9-Women-fight-to-be-priests-in-Catholic-Church

Roman Catholic Womenpriests : "Cross Examination: Why is Rome Investigating U.S. Nuns?" Commonweal

Commonweal

"Cross Examination:

Why Is Rome Investigating U.S. Nuns?"

by Sister X

http://www.commonwealmagazine.org/article.php3?id_article=2658


"I thought about cemeteries like this all over the United States, and the many thousands of nuns who faithfully served the church for a lifetime, building up its schools and hospitals. They kept their vows. They didn’t cost the church $2 billion in legal settlements. Their gravestones don’t memorialize ecclesial appointments, ministerial accomplishments, educational degrees, or elected congregational positions."

My response:
I highly recommend this article. Sister X writes a moving testimony to the faithfulness and devotion of women religious in the United States. This outstanding essay raises the question why the Vatican is not investigating the bishops who covered up the pedophile scandal that has cost the church 2 billion dollars?Why is the Vatican harassing the nuns who have given their lives to the service of the people of God? These women do not deserve the Vatican's modern -day inquisition, they deserve the support, both moral, spiritual and financial of every Catholic in our country. In my view, every Catholic should get involved because "we are the church", not just the hierarchy. It is our duty to respond to this grave injustice.

Ask yourself, what can you do to help the Sisters? Here are a few ideas.

1.Write to the Apostolic Nuncio in the United States to express outrage at this injustice. Ask for a list of the names of those who are funding this study.
2. Send letters of support and donations to the Retirement fund for Women religious in the United States.
3. Write to the LCWR. Ask how you can help religious orders in financial need.
4. Adopt a religious order in gratitude. for your education as an attempt to give back to the nuns who have given so much to our church.
5. Offer to support religious orders who decide to go non-canonical and become independent of the hierarchy. This would encourage orders who have women who are called to priesthood. Can you imagine the witness that nuns who have been doing the work of priests for decades? Your community could call them forth publically and support them as your priests!

Your ideas........

Roman Catholic Womenpriests : "What is the Vatican, exactly?" by Frances Kissling in salon.com

What is the Vatican, exactly?

The pope's UN rep swats away questions about sexual abuse -- and raises questions about the church's special status

By Frances Kissling

Oct. 7, 2009 | "There’s little doubt that the 2002 sex abuse scandal in the Catholic church brought out the worst in official and some unofficial Catholic circles. Coverups and unconvincing explanations about why pedophile priests were routinely transferred to new parishes where they could continue to abuse children were the order of the day."

http://www.salon.com/opinion/feature/2009/10/07/vatican/

Roman Catholic Womenpriests : "Dropping Down the Well"

Eileen Knoff

Dropping Down the Well
by Eileen Knoff


The Irish countryside abounds with wells—strange and mysterious spaces that entice me to bend over and explore those darker depths I normally avoid.

The symbol of the well came to me in considering the question I put forth to this group at the end of last month’s sequence: What surprises of this past year am I now harvesting in my life? The primary surprise I encountered while reflecting on my past year was the presence of a strange attractor drawing me downward and inward, as if into a well of strength and grace flowing underneath my daily current events. Despite countless ministerial and social commitments, deadlines, trips, house repairs, visits to doctors and dentists, there was yet a gentle force tugging me toward a deeper flow with its Wisdom of letting go.

The pull first presented itself in January with the death of a pastoral colleague, Kate O’Sullivan. An Episcopal chaplain, Kate was a great believer in a mysterious, graceful presence at work in all circumstances. Kate naturally carried that presence to others, especially her patients at Children’s Hospital. I experienced Kate’s belief expand and intensify just before her learning that she had developed pancreatic cancer.

The cancer claimed her life within a few months. The Episcopal cathedral in Seattle was packed for her funeral with people from all faith traditions. As I read the order of service, I discovered that both Kate and I had been born in 1955. I was struck with the awareness that this could have been me lying there. Instead, I remained here, wondering how to become the kind of presence Kate had been.

Nine months before her death, Kate had noticed my interest in Celtic spirituality and urged me to share its insights with a committee she was chairing on the environment.20While preparing my talk, I heard an interior call to allow the Earth itself to become an Anam Cara. I heeded what I heard and shared that message with the group. They responded eagerly!

Since then, I have tried to live into this relationship by letting Nature reveal to me the beauty of “God’s original gospel,” with its cycles of light and dark, life and death. The more I pay attention to the Wisdom in the Earth the more I am able to drop down into the heart of my life and the challenges within its changing seasons, its daily deaths.

Kate’s death was my first important letting go this year. It was not the last. A dear aunt died, older siblings have struggled with serious illnesses, a daughter moved away, and I have had to make difficult decisions that pleased some and displeased others. The year’s transitions have called me to grow into new stages of trust in my own experiences and generosity with the gifts I still do have to share.

I see now that the grace of Divine Life has been present within each transition and always will be. I need only to risk following the lure of Love, who urges me to bend low and scoop into empty hands the Life-Giving Water that waits patiently in the well of my own soul.

by Eileen Knoff, copyright 2009. Reprinted with permission. First printed as part of Brigid's Circle; see www.spiritualdirections.net to subscribe.

Photo of Eileen Knoff was taken by Barbie Hull, Photography (www.barbiehull.com)

Roman Catholic Womenpriests : "Port Richey woman calls herself a Catholic priest"

http://www.tampabay.com/news/religion/port-richey-woman-calls-herself-a-catholic-priest/1041146

PORT RICHEY, Florida —" The Rev. Eleonara Marinaro ministers out of duty to — and in defiance of — her church."

Article in St. Petersburg Times by Mindy Rubenstein

Roman Catholic Womenpriests : Interview with Fr. Roy Bourgeois and Sr. Louise Akers on "All Sides "on WOSO radio

The issue of women’s ordination in the Catholic priesthood, and the response of the Catholic Church to dissent, with Sisters of Charity of Cincinnati Office of Peace, Justice and Integrity of Creation Coordinator Sister Louise Akers, and School of the Americas Watch founder Father Roy Bourgeois
http://www.wosu.org/allsides/?archive=1&date=10/01/2009
Enjoy this great interview in which two prophetic leaders speak out for justice for women in the Roman Catholic Church.

Roman Catholic Womenpriests : Third St. Louis are Roman Catholic Womanpriest to be ordained

PRESS RELEASE

Third St. Louis area Roman Catholic Womanpriest

to be ordained

Release Date: October 1, 2009

Contacts:

Rev. Rose Marie Hudson, 636-208-5598

Rev. Elsie Hainz McGrath, 314-477-6089

Deacon Marybeth McBryan, 314-277-3212

Deacon Marybeth McBryan, of St. Louis, will be ordained a priest on November 1, 2009, All Saints Day. The celebration will be in her home community of Therese of Divine Peace, with Bishop Joan Clark Houk officiating.

Marybeth has been heavily involved in parish ministries in the Archdiocese of St. Louis for nearly 30 years. A mother and grandmother, she is a former teacher in both parochial and public schools, and has also served on the Board of Education of the St. Louis Public Schools. Marybeth has a Master’s in education with secondary degrees in administration and counseling, and has accrued 40+ hours in theology, liturgy and religious education. She is currently a part of the music ministry and serves as deacon at Therese of Divine Peace, and will continue on the ministerial staff there following her ordination as priest.

Roman Catholic Womenpriests continue to validly ordain women and marginalized men to the Roman Catholic priesthood in an effort to bring reform and renewal into an unjust hierarchical structure that is increasingly misogynous and misoneist. Rather than looking backward and inward, Roman Catholic Womenpriests continue to look forward and outward in the spirit of Vatican II. We are here. We are ministering. We are growing. We are not going away.

The ordination is at 5 p.m. on Sunday, November 1, 2009, with the Therese of Divine Peace Inclusive Community. The Therese community meets at First Unitarian Universalist Church of St. Louis, 5007 Waterman Blvd. The ordination will take place in the sanctuary, and a light reception will follow in the Fellowship Hall.

Therese of Divine Peace Inclusive Community celebrates together every Sunday at 5 p.m. Regular services take place in Hope Chapel, at the rear of the First Unitarian complex. Our liturgy has continued without interruption since December 1, 2007, because we strive to imitate Jesus, who always and everywhere made clear to everyone that ALL ARE WELCOME.

Further information is available at www.thereseofdivinepeace.org.

#30#

Roman Catholic Womenpriests : "Vatican Asks Catholics to Fund Inquisition-like Investigation against Women Religious"

Call To Action
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 1, 2009
Media Contact:
Jim FitzGerald,
Executive Director: 773.404.0004 x262
Nicole Sotelo,
Communications Director:
773.404.0004 x285

Vatican asks Catholics To Fund Inquisition-like Investigation against Women Religious

The Vatican has requested that U.S. Catholics contribute $1.1 million to fund an investigation of women religious in the United States. The Vatican claims this investigation is to evaluate the "quality of the life" of women religious.

This request for funding is deeply problematic. First, many dioceses already suffer from a lack of resources causing many parishes to be closed. Catholic families are struggling to make ends meet during this economic recession. Those same families and parishes are now being asked to donate their money to investigate the very sisters who have faithfully served them for years.

"Surely, during this time of economic struggle the Vatican could use $1.1 million to help meet the needs of the most vulnerable in our society," says Jim FitzGerald, Call To Action Executive Director.

Secondly, Mother Mary Claire Millea, head of this investigation, admitted that those who have already financially contributed to this investigation do not want their names publicized. As a matter of justice, those being investigated have the right to know who is funding such an investigation and the real reasons why this inquiry is being conducted.

"We are also concerned that the Vatican and some bishops may take money that has already been donated for other causes and use it to fund this inquisition-like investigation," says FitzGerald. "The lack of transparency is very disturbing."

Call To Action is calling on its 25,000 members to contact their bishops and request that their dioceses not fund this investigation. We believe financially contributing to this unnecessary inquiry perpetuates the abuse of power that is so prevalent within the Church hierarchy.


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Call To Action (CTA) is a Catholic movement working for equality and justice in the Church and society. An independent national organization of over 25,000 people and 53 local chapters, CTA believes that the Spirit of God is at work in the whole church, not just its appointed leaders. Visit our website at www.cta-usa.org.

Roman Catholic Womenpriests : " Ignore the bells and the smells and the lovely Raphaels, the Pope's visit to Britain is nothing to celebrate"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/sep/29/the-pope-visit
"Ignore the bells and the smells and the lovely Raphaels, the Pope's visit to Britain is nothing to celebrate"
by Tanya Gold
The Guardian

"In May 2001 he wrote a confidential letter to Catholic bishops, ordering them not to notify the police – or anyone else – about the allegations, on pain of excommunication. He referred to a previous (confidential) Vatican document that ordered that investigations should be handled "in the most secretive way . . . restrained by a perpetual silence". Excommunication is a joke to me, perhaps to you, but to a Catholic it means exclusion and perhaps hellfire – for trying to protect a child. Well, God is love."

Roman Catholic Womenpriests : "Mercy Theresa Kane criticizes the Hierarchy"

http://ncronline.org/news/mercy-sister-theresa-kane-criticizes-church-hierarchy

"Mercy Theresa Kane criticizes the Hierarchy

"In the context of resistance she talked about women’s ordination in the Catholic church today." “'The Roman Catholic women priesthood is small, highly criticized, and not going away,” she went on. “No one controls our future but ourselves.'”
Sister Theresa Kane

Roman Catholic Womenpriests : Homily by Elsie McGrath RCWP/St. Therese of Divine Peace, St. Louis

Elsie McGrath (left with red stole) at ordination ceremony of Marty Meyer-Gad

9.27.09 Homily

26^th Sunday

Would you say this is kinda outta character for Jesus? Kinda crass? Kinda gross? Whatssup with this trash talk, anyway? And especially after it started off so well: Whoever is for us isn’t against us. Would that everybody would prophesy, as Moses said. Would that everybody would be Spirit-filled and drive out demons and share cool refreshing life-giving water.

But everybody isn’t, and everybody doesn’t, and there is very little heaven on earth. And so, in an about-face such as we are quite unaccustomed to, Jesus preached hellfire and brimstone in order to try to get his point across. And the denseness of his so-called apostles was the trigger for this outburst. They were trying to stop somebody who was doing some fine miracle-working because the healer wasn’t “one of them”? This on the heels, you might recall, of their argument over which of them was the “greatest.” And all this in the context of Jesus’ journey to Jerusalem … while he’s telling these clods, over and over again, what is about to happen to him. No wonder Jesus lost it!

Jesus said [quote 1]. Jesus may very well be thinking of the Samaritan woman at the well when he used that example of one giving a drink of water out of what we might call “Christian charity,” even though she did not then know Christ. The clods who were with him that day, who returned to find him engaged in peer theological discussion with this woman, saw nothing except an infraction of the law. But what was really happening? Those same clods have, of course, been touted throughout the centuries as “the” apostles – but the nameless woman really WAS one.

Jesus said [quote 2]. I thought of pedophiles hiding under the guise of holy men of God, and of their enablers, who call them “mere sinners” while women priests are called destroyers of the system. Is everyone current with this week’s news stories about the priest who had been convicted for abusing some 30 children over the years of his “ministry”? He is being released from jail less than 5 years after his incarceration. I love the juxtaposition of words for water in Jesus’ quote – from life-giving drink to death-dealing drink. Two sides of the same coin, so to speak. Like two sides of the same story, in a way. As in, the pedophile may deserve to be released from prison because what he really needs is confinement in a safe place – which won’t happen. But the enabler really needs to be in prison because he is responsible for ruining the lives of at least 30 people – which also won’t happen. Such a thin line between right and wrong, between life and death.

I had strange recurring dreams last night, most of which I cannot remember, but what I woke up thinking each time was, “What did that mean? Who were those people?” And as I mulled over everything that I could recall to mind before I arose this morning, it came to me that nothing and no one was as it seemed. It was like we were “living” Halloween, disguised from the realities of who we were and what we were called to accomplish.

And then I realized that my dreams were metaphor for what really IS going on in our world. And that it has always been so.

I thought of inquisitioners hiding under the guise of seekers of the truth, who dare to question the faith and ministry of those women religious most responsible for walking with the least of these throughout their lifetimes without honor or recompense. On Friday night, Ree & I were with several such women -- Louise Lears, Jeannine Grammick and Donna Quinn among them. And I was once again struck by something that I used to consider a phenomenon – they were all very obviously glowing with love & peace & forgiveness. Such phenomena are becoming less and less rare, sisters and brothers. More and more people are owning up to their apostleship in the face of growing opposition. Like the guy in the cult movie, Network, we’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore. These valiant sisters are women who, in earlier times, would have been thrown to the lions or burned at the stake. They have been uprooted and maligned and cut off from their communities. But they remain true to who they are and to what they are to do. They are among today’s apostles.

And perhaps, when the current “visitations” have concluded, perhaps some of their communities will be joining them.

Jesus said [quote 3]. I thought of predators, pimps & pushers. And I thought of fat-cat CEOs, big-money insurance brokers, smooth-talking swindlers, armed warriors & renegades & pirates & terrorists & murderers & burglars. I thought of a whole world collapsing under the weight of greed and graft and self-centered arrogance & misplaced pride. I thought of freak floods & fires & devastating winds, and the systematic destruction of our earthly flora and fauna. And, yeah, thinking of such enemies of the earth and its peoples, I thought hell was a pretty good place for them.

But is Jesus seriously talking hellfire and brimstone for those whose hands grab for the wrong things, whose feet walk on the wrong paths, whose eyes focus on the wrong prize? The all-forgiving Jesus?

The word some like to translate as “hell” is actually Gehenna, and Gehenna was a place of hellfire and brimstone – but not in the guise that has been presented to us over the centuries. (Note that I said “was” a place.) Child sacrifice, which should have been discontinued, recall, with the lesson taught by the Abraham/Isaac story, had rather recently continued in the Hinnom Valley, very near Jerusalem. As a result, and in an effort to atone for such abominations, the people literally turned that area into a trash dump and set the place on fire to keep disease and decay at bay. The fires were stoked, and burned 24/7, and everyone in the surrounding areas knew of Gehenna. Imagine the stench, carried on the winds for miles and miles. If you’re as old as me, you might remember burning ash pits, an acrid smell that I can still remember. It brought tears to my eyes and burned my nostrils. Everyone Jesus spoke to knew of Gehenna. Absolutely, the so-called apostles knew of Gehenna. What better place to dispose of “trash” like lecherous eyes, stampeding feet or grubbing hands?

So let’s be clear on what we hear … and know … and do. Jesus’ condemnation of those who aren’t what they appear to be is NOT a forever-be-damned condemnation. It is a wake-up call. LOOK at what you are doing, what you are feeling, where you are going. LOOK at who you really are … and at who you really are called to be. Get rid of the shams and the shames and the sins that are corrupting your true identity as a child of God. Be an apostle.

Tonight our Jewish sisters and brothers begin their celebration of Yom Kippur. This is the day the people, as a community, atone for everything that fractures their oneness with God. Jews learned that divided they fall centuries ago. It was why they burned Gehenna … a whole nation in mourning, atoning for the sins of the few. This corporate responsibility for the sins of the world is what sets Jews apart from the individualism that we tend to take such false pride in, albeit our penchance for blind obedience to whatever mob mentality is set before us for mindless emulation.

But did anything else come to mind as we heard this gospel being proclaimed? Did we hear any “good” news?

Jesus said [quote 4]. Did you think about yourself … here … in communion with – her … him … them … us …? Did you think of the miracles we’ve shared together … life-giving waters of baptism … healing oils of anointing … holy vows of matrimony … bread blessed & broken & shared & eaten …? Did you think that maybe … just maybe … we are among those whom Jesus is validating …?

Would that it be so, always and in every circumstance, for each of us and all of us. Amen.

1. If anyone gives you a drink of water because you belong to Christ and bear his name, that one will be rewarded.

2. If anyone should cause one of these little ones who believe in me to stumble and sin, it would be better for that one to be thrown into the sea.

3. If your hand causes you to err, cut it off. And if your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off. And if your eye is your downfall, tear it out.

4. No one who works a miracle in my name can soon after speak bad of me.