Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community Liturgy, Homily, Photos, Movies: Goodbye to Pastor Phil Garrison and Wife, Patricia, and Interment of Ashes of our Beloved MMOJ Leader, Carol Ann Breyer

Roman Catholic Women Priests: Kathryn Shea, ARCWP, Sally Brochu, ARCWP and Pastor Phil Garrison, St. Andrew UCC co-preside at liturgy

Pastor Phil Garrison and Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP

On August 1st, 2015, Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community celebrated liturgy with Pastor Phil Garrison and his wife Patricia. Women Priests: Kathryn Shea, ARCWP and Sally Brochu, ARCWP co-presided.

Kathryn Shea, ARCWP, Sally Brochu, ARCWP, Phil Garrison, Pastor St. Andrew UCC

We gave thanks for Pastor Phil Garrison, who welcomed us to St. Andrew UCC in 2009 and offered us a sacred space that we now call our spiritual home in Sarasota among God's faithful people where love in action is a daily experience of living Gospel inclusion, hospitality and justice. Pastor Phil and Patricia are leaving St. Andrew UCC for a new assignment in Michigan. 

Sally Brochu leads MMOJ Community blessing of Pastor Phil and Patricia

We are deeply grateful for their spiritual leadership and pastoral support of our Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community. At. St. Andrew UCC, we have been given wings to fly and flourish! Deep appreciation to Pastor Phil and St. Andrew UCC for their witness to Gospel equality! 

MMOJ Community prays Eucharistic Prayer around Banquet Table where all are always welcome

Today, we also gathered to inter the ashes of our dear Sister, Carol Ann Breyer, who died in September 2014 in St. Andrew Memorial Garden. St. Andrew UCC Leadership Council  have recently approved the burial of ashes of our community members in this sacred and blessed garden. Carol Ann is the first member of our community to be buried here.
 Pastor Phil co-presided with Lee Breyer, Carol Ann's beloved husband at our prayerful tribute and goodbye to our beloved Sister, Carol Ann. The community shared their fond memories and expressed deep appreciation for her passionate witness to justice and equality in our church and world.

Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, www.arcwp.org, www.marymotherofjesus.org
See homily starter by Kathryn Shea, ARCWP priest and co-presider below

Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time – August 1, 2015

Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community

Shared Homily - Kathryn Shea, ARCWP

While reflecting on today’s Readings, several themes or thoughts came to me.  The first, being the importance of bread.  The word “bread” is mentioned 360 times in the Bible; 280 in the Old Testament and 80 in the New Testament.  In the Old Testament, as we see in our reading from Exodus today, the people were worried about not having enough food to eat and worried Moses led them to starve in the wilderness.  So God made bread rain down upon them so they could be fed.  In our Gospel Reading, the people followed Jesus wondering when he arrived in Capernaum.  Jesus responds to them (and he’s sort of a feisty Jesus here), confronting them, challenging them, saying, they really weren’t there looking for signs that Jesus was the Messiah, but wondering when they were going to get their next meal.  He tells them they should not be working for “perishable food,” that food will not last long.  They should be looking for life-giving food that lasts for all eternity.  This is the food he can give them as the Chosen One sent by Abba God. In John 4, Verse 31, the disciples are urging Jesus to eat, but Jesus told them, “I have food to eat that you know nothing about.”  We say in The Prayer of Jesus, “Give us this day our daily bread.”  Are we praying for physical bread, spiritual bread, or both?  So “bread” has both a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning in the Bible. 

So the second sort of message here is that we need not be focused of the material things of this Earth, they are all temporary and we cannot take them with us.  In the second Reading we are told “we must stop living in the kind of life the world lives.”  “You must put aside your old self, which is being corrupted by the following illusory desires.”   Just look at the world around us.  We are being consumed by materialism and for many they can never have a big enough house, a new enough car, enough money in the back.  Or as we watched in horror and disgust this week, we need one more animal trophy head to mount on our wall, the head of a magnificent and majestic lion; a creature of God.  All of this materialism, while millions go hungry. 

And the third theme is a lack of Faith and a belief in the Chosen One.  There was a lack of Faith by the people of Israel that God would provide food for their physical survival.  In the Gospel Reading, the people lacked faith.  They asked for a sign so they could believe in Him.  They asked what they must do to perform the works of God.  The answer is pretty simple: “to believe in the One whom God has sent.”  They again ask for more bread, and Jesus again says “I Am the Bread of life”, spiritual survival. 

So in this crazy world we live in, how do we stay “spiritually full?”  How often do we turn to Jesus only when we need something?  And how often do we come to Jesus just to be in relationship with him so that our soul can be fed?   What keeps us anchored in knowing that the overwhelming love of Jesus rises like the bread and bakes within us so that we may never be hungry or thirsty?  

And finally, our dear Seth could not be here with us today, and we all know he is the perpetual co-presider.  And you all know if he was here, he would be taking the microphone about now.  I read him the Readings and my homily starter and asked him what he thought and if there was anything he wanted to add.  Of course he did.  His words:  “What the HECK?  Why do people have a hard time believing and KNOWING Jesus?  I don’t get it.  It’s so easy!”  AMEN!

Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community

Eighteenth Sunday of Ordinary Time – August 1, 2015

Co-Presiders: Kathryn Shea, ARCWP, Sally Brochu, ARCWP & Pastor Phil Garrison

Music Minister:  Mindy Lou Simmons

Our theme today is – “No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, No one who believes in me will ever be thirsty. “

GATHERING SONG AND GREETING: “All Are Welcome” #414, verses 1,2,3,5

Presider:  In the name of God, our Creator, of Christ, our liberator, and of the Holy Spirit, our Sanctifier. 

ALL:  Amen.

Presider:  My sisters and brothers, God is with you!  ALL:  And also with you.

PENITENTIAL RITE

Presider:  Creator God to whom all hearts are open, no desires unknown, and from whom no secrets can be hidden, cleanse our hearts by the inspiration of Holy Wisdom. 

ALL:  We take your Word into our minds and hearts. Open them to new understanding.

Presider:  We ask for the grace to continually acknowledge our need to grow in goodness and caring for ourselves, for others and for our earth. 

 ALL:  We accept your love and understanding of the frailty of our human nature.  

Presider:  And we join with you, Jesus the Christ, believing the strength and insight of the Holy Spirit will lead us to deeper dedication to justice, equality and peace in our world.   ALL:  Amen.

 (All raise hands extended in prayer)

Presider: God, the Father and Mother of Mercy,

ALL:  through his living, dying and rising, Jesus has revealed that nothing can separate us from the infinite love of God, May God give us pardon and peace, and may we forgive each other our failures to care for one another and our earth in the name of God our Creator, and of Jesus, our brother, and of the Holy Spirit, our wisdom. Amen.

Presider:  Glory to God in the highest,

ALL:  and peace to God’s people on earth.  God, our Creator, Liberator and Sanctifier, we worship you, we give you thanks, we praise you for your glory.  Jesus, Child of God, Healer God, Teacher God, you free us to live in your love.  You make us strong; you show us your mercy and love.  You are one with the Creator, you hear our prayer.  You are the Holy One.  You are united with us.  You are our faithful friend.  We are one with you, Jesus the Christ, with the Holy Spirit.  We are created in God’s image giving Glory to God our Creator.  Amen.

LITURGY OF THE WORD

First Reading   Exodus 16:2-4, 12-15      

Responsorial Psalm  78 (Sung) .

Second Reading    Ephesians 4:17, 20-24  

Gospel Acclamation:  ALLELUIA!  (sung)

Gospel Reading:  A reading from the Gospel according to John 6:24-35

SHARED HOMILY

Profession of Faith:

 ALL:  I believe in God, the creator of heaven and earth.  I believe in Jesus Christ, child of God, born of Mary, human like us.  I believe Jesus came to teach us God’s love, to heal our minds, our bodies, our spirit, to bring hope and a new vision, to show us how to live in the fullness of grace.  I believe that Jesus threatened the establishment.  Jesus called for God’s people to focus on the kin-dom within.  I believe because of the message that Jesus proclaimed, Jesus was condemned to die.  Jesus was put to death through crucifixion, buried in a borrowed tomb.  I believe that the women, faithful to Jesus, went to the tomb to anoint his body.  I believe that the body of Jesus was gone, and Jesus overcame death through the resurrection.  I believe in the Holy Spirit, eternally living in our hearts, present in our world, in our universe.  I believe the holy Catholic Church is the people of God gathered in worship and song.  I believe that all God’s children will one day be with God experiencing life everlasting.  Amen.

GENERAL INTERCESSIONS

Presider:  We are people of faith.  We believe in the power of prayer.  We believe that we send blessings to those who are struggling and who need to experience hope; to those who are grieving and need to be comforted in their loss, to those who are facing medical challenges that they be granted hope and healing. We bring the needs of people throughout our world to our gracious God.

After each intercession, the response is:  Loving God, hear our prayer.

For what else shall we pray?

Presider: Healing God, you faithfully listen to our prayers. Strengthen us as we strive to respond to the needs of your people. We make this prayer in the name of Jesus, the Christ, Amen.

Offertory Procession: “One Bread, One Body” #348

PREPARATION OF THE GIFTS – (Please join us around the altar)

Presider:  Blessed are you, gracious God of all creation, through your goodness we have this bread to offer, which earth has given and human hands have made.  It will become for us the bread of life. 

ALL:  Blessed be God forever. 

Presider: Blessed are you, gracious God of all creation, through your goodness we have this wine to offer, fruit of the vine and work of human hands.  It will become our spiritual drink.  ALL:  Blessed be God forever. 

Presider:  Pray my friends that as we celebrate this breaking of bread and blessing of wine we accept more fully the mission as People of God by actively living our response to God’s call. 

ALL:  May our gracious God accept these gifts for the praise and glory of God’s name, for our good, and for the good of all the People of God. 

Presider:  God is always with you.  ALL:  And also with you. 

Presider:  Together, we lift up our hearts.  ALL:  To God and one another we lift them. 

Presider:  Together, we give thanks to our gracious God.  ALL:  Indeed it is right to constantly give thanks and praise. 

EUCHARISTIC PRAYER

Voice 1:  Gracious God, source and sustenance of life, redeeming presence to the pain and brokenness of our world, Holy Spirit who enlivens all that exists, we beseech your healing power upon us and all for whom we pray today.  We join together with our community, with all creation everywhere, with all those who have gone before us and live in the eternal now as we sing:

ALL:  We are holy, holy, holy X3, we are whole.

           You are holy, holy, holy X3, you are whole.

            I am holy, holy, holy X3, I am whole.

            We are holy, holy, holy X3, we are whole.  

                                                      By Karen Drucker

Voice 2:  We ask you to enliven anew in our hearts the empowering grace of your abundant Spirit, who infuses us these gifts of bread and wine with the transforming energy of life, to nourish and sustain us in all times and especially in times of need.

  

(Please all extend hands as we recite the consecration together.)

ALL:  Before he was given up to death, a death he freely accepted, Jesus took bread and gave you thanks.  He broke the bread and gave it to his disciples and said:  take this, all of you, and eat it; this is my body which will be given up for you. 

ALL:  When supper was ended, Jesus took the cup.  Again he gave You thanks and praise, gave the cup to his disciples, and said, take this all of you, and drink it; this is the cup of my blood, the blood of the new and everlasting covenant.  It will be shed for you and for all.  Do this in memory of me.

Presider:  Let us proclaim the mystery of faith:

ALL:  Christ has died, Christ is risen, Christ will come again.

Voice 3:  (Please place your hand on the shoulder of the person to your right)

As we gather around this Eucharistic table, we recall God’s blessing and love from ages past, and we celebrate anew the gift we share among us at this Eucharistic feast. May the Spirit of life and wholeness, who transforms the gifts we present, transform us too, that we may be refreshed in our inner being and be empowered to bring mercy, love and healing to those whose lives we touch.

Voice 4:  Remember gracious God, your Church throughout the world; make us open to receive all believers.  We join with all God’s people, with our community, with Bridget Mary our Bishop, and with Francis our Pope.

Voice 5: So grant, that in union with all peoples, living and dead, we may strive to create a world where suffering and pain are diminished, where justice and peace are restored, and where all people can live in health and wholeness, united in acclaiming the God of Life, whose abundance is offered to each and to all, ‘til the Kin-dom arrives in the fullness of time.  

ALL:  Through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, all glory and honor is Yours, gracious God, forever and ever.     Amen (sung). 

THE PRAYER OF JESUS

Presider:  Let us join hands and raise our voices as we say the Prayer Jesus taught us:

ALL:  (Spoken)  Our Father and Mother…….

Presider:  Deliver us, God, from every evil and grant us peace in our day.  In your mercy keep us holy in your sight and protect us from all anxiety and fear.  We watch and wait; we search and find all the signs that You are continually with us.

ALL:    Amen.

THE SIGN OF PEACE

Presider:  Jesus, You said to your disciples, “My peace I leave you.  My peace I give you.”  Look on the faith of all and grant us the peace and unity of your kin-dom where you live forever and ever.  ALL:  Amen.  

 Presider:   May the peace of our gracious God be always with you.  ALL: And also with you.   Let us offer each other a sign of peace as Mindy plays: “Peace Is Flowing like a River”

LITANY FOR THE BREAKING OF BREAD

Presider: Loving God,

ALL:  You call us to live the Gospel of peace and justice. We will live justly.

Presider: Loving God,

ALL:  You call us to be your presence in the world. We will love tenderly.

Presider:  Loving God,

ALL:  You call us to speak truth to power. We will walk with integrity in your presence.

Presiders:  This is Jesus, who liberates, heals and transforms our world.  All are invited to partake of this sacred banquet of love.   ALL:  We are the Body of Christ. 

Communion: Instrumental

Communion Song: “Bread Blessed and Broken” #329, verses 1&3

PRAYER AFTER COMMUNION

Presider:  May wonder and thanksgiving fill us, may compassion fully fill our beings, that you may heal the numbness that continues because of our society’s  injustices. May you know that you are loved and may we continue to be the face of God to each other. Amen. 

Prayers of Gratitude/Thanksgiving?

Announcements?

CONCLUDING RITE

Presider:  May God be with you.  ALL:  And also with you. 

Presider:  Let us call upon our gracious God as we share blessings with each other.  We bless one another and pledge to live the Gospel of Christ.  ALL:  Amen.

BLESSING

(Everyone please extend your hands in mutual blessing.)

ALL:  May our gracious God, bless us all gathered here, in the name of God our Creator, in the name of Jesus our Liberator, in the name of the Holy Spirit, our Sanctifier as we care and minister to one another in love, for we are the face of God to the world.  Amen.

DISMISSAL

Presider:  Go in the peace of Christ.  Let our service continue!  ALL:  Thanks be to God. 

CONCLUDING HYMN: “Go Make a Difference”  # 504 verses 1,2,3

Catholic Nun Explains Pro-Life In A Way That Will Stun Many

In one simple quote, Sister Joan Chittister, O.S.B. sums up the hypocrisy in the 'pro-life' movement:

"I do not believe that just because you're opposed to abortion, that that makes you pro-life. In fact, I think in many cases, your morality is deeply lacking if all you want is a child born but not a child fed, not a child educated, not a child housed. And why would I think that you don't? Because you don't want any tax money to go there. That's not pro-life. That's pro-birth. We need a much broader conversation on what the morality of pro-life is."

.

__,_._,___

ARCWP Tribute to RCWP Ordination on St. Lawrence Seaway on July 25, 2005 - Slide Show

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjVy41v6KPc

"Will Pope Francis stand strong on ordaining women? ", Op. Ed in Lexington Herald Leader by Donna Rougeux, ARCWP

"As the United States prepares for the first visit from Pope Francis in September, the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests is preparing to ordain three new bishops due to the growth in the movement. This peace-and-justice pope is rekindling the spiritual fire of Vatican II that has been stifled by his predecessors. There is an important question ARCWP asks him to answer when he makes his visit here: Will he put actions to his words about primacy of conscience? Pope Francis spoke about the primacy of conscience, resurfacing a Vatican II teaching that past popes have suppressed and ignored. In a Sunday Angelus address on June 30, 2013 that aired on Vatican Radio he said, "May Mary help us to become more and more ... free in our conscience, because it is in conscience that the dialogue with God is given — men and women able to hear the voice of God and follow it with decision." Pope Francis also said, "Jesus wants neither selfish Christians, who follow their egos and do not speak with God, nor weak Christians, without will, 'remote-controlled' Christians, incapable of creativity, who seek ever to connect with the will of another, and are not free. Jesus wants us to be free, and this freedom - where is it found? It is to be found in the inner dialogue with God in conscience." As ordained Roman Catholic Women Priests, we have listened to our informed consciences and have heard God calling us to be priests. On part of his tour, Pope Francis will come to Philadelphia a few days after our new bishops will be ordained there on Sept. 24. This act of ordaining women has been called by the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith "a grave offense against the faith" and has been put in the same category as pedophilia. Women who follow their consciences by answering God's call to the priesthood are also excommunicated by the church. People who attend the liturgies and/or ordinations of women priests are threatened with excommunication. When Pope Francis visits Philadelphia and sees the news of the ordinations of our new bishops will he consider lifting these excommunications? If he really means what he says about primacy of conscience it would seem like a very wise and fitting action. " Donna Rougeux of Lexington is a priest in the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests. Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2015/07/24/3958821/will-pope-francis-stand-strong.html#storylink=cpy   As the United States prepares for the first visit from Pope Francis in September, the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests is preparing to ordain three new bishops due to the growth in the movement. This peace-and-justice pope is rekindling the spiritual fire of Vatican II that has been stifled by his predecessors. There is an important question ARCWP asks him to answer when he makes his visit here: Will he put actions to his words about primacy of conscience? Pope Francis spoke about the primacy of conscience, resurfacing a Vatican II teaching that past popes have suppressed and ignored. In a Sunday Angelus address on June 30, 2013 that aired on Vatican Radio he said, "May Mary help us to become more and more ... free in our conscience, because it is in conscience that the dialogue with God is given — men and women able to hear the voice of God and follow it with decision." Pope Francis also said, "Jesus wants neither selfish Christians, who follow their egos and do not speak with God, nor weak Christians, without will, 'remote-controlled' Christians, incapable of creativity, who seek ever to connect with the will of another, and are not free. Jesus wants us to be free, and this freedom - where is it found? It is to be found in the inner dialogue with God in conscience." As ordained Roman Catholic Women Priests, we have listened to our informed consciences and have heard God calling us to be priests. On part of his tour, Pope Francis will come to Philadelphia a few days after our new bishops will be ordained there on Sept. 24. This act of ordaining women has been called by the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith "a grave offense against the faith" and has been put in the same category as pedophilia. Women who follow their consciences by answering God's call to the priesthood are also excommunicated by the church. People who attend the liturgies and/or ordinations of women priests are threatened with excommunication. When Pope Francis visits Philadelphia and sees the news of the ordinations of our new bishops will he consider lifting these excommunications? If he really means what he says about primacy of conscience it would seem like a very wise and fitting action. Donna Rougeux of Lexington is a priest in the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests. Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2015/07/24/3958821_will-pope-francis-stand-strong.html?rh=1#storylink=cpy

ARCWP Video Links to Barbara Billey's Ordination on July 25, 2015

Homily for Ordination of Barbara Billey ARCWP in Windsor, Canada on July 25, 2015

Bridget Mary Meehan: 

This is the day God has made, let us rejoice and be glad as we ordain Barbara Billey of Windsor, Ontario, Canada a priest with the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests.

In Genesis 1: 2 we encounter the Ruah, the Great Spirit, who hovers like a nurturing mother over the earth at the dawn of creation. Throughout the eons, the Spirit’s creative energy has been blazing forth in our evolving cosmos as billions of galaxies came into being!

We are in awe that there are 18 galaxies for every person, and our bodies are made of stardust. The Holy One has inspired our intimate connection with all of creation.

Let us delight that each of us is part of the dynamic cosmic dance of creation. Let us contemplate the entire community of creation, one in the Heart of Love beyond anything we can imagine or dream of!

In Jesus, we encounter the radiant face of God whose wisdom words call us to action as prophets, mystics, healers and reformers. A passion for the kin-dom of God compelled him to surrender his entire self for the evolution of God through him and through us.  Jesus’ central focus was the transformation of human consciousness, then and now.

In Christianity’s Dangerous Memory, best-selling author, priest and spiritual teacher, Diarmuid O’ Murchu believes that Jesus’ vision of Gospel empowerment was characterized by mutuality and circularity. His companionship of equals embraced the oppressed and reflected power with us in partnership rather than power over as in domination and control.

Today, women priests are lighting a fire that transcends the Roman Catholic Church’s patriarchal power system of domination over and control of women’s lives. Our international movement offers a new model of an inclusive, empowered, community of equals, rooted in Jesus’ vision of the kin-dom as a companionship of empowerment. We are on fire for gender justice and women’s equality in the Roman Catholic Church, ordaining women as priests in prophetic obedience to the Spirit. Our movement is illuminating the darkness of centuries old misogyny in which sacred power was the exclusive privilege of men. 

As co-creators with Holy Wisdom, Sophia, we connect the Feminine Divine with the all-encompassing embrace of Divine love and her creative energy that illuminates the path of justice and equality.

Now Michele Birch-Conery, one of our first priests ordained in North America will share her reflections on the evolution of our movement in relation to Luke’s Gospel. 

Michele Birch-Conery:

Thank you, Bishop Bridget Mary and all of you gathered with us to celebrate this 10^th anniversary of our North American ordination as we ordain Barbara Billey a Roman Catholic woman priest.

We are just one part of a cosmic reality, but an important one. Our wider understanding encourages the creation of new communities for interdependent living. We gather as communities to address global dilemmas such as economic inequity and violence of all kinds, including abuse of our natural resources worldwide. How do these changes in our consciousness influence a joyous day like today? How does the celebration of a Roman Catholic woman’s ordination in Windsor, Ontario fit in with the entrance of all of us into a new time in the history of the universe?

 Humans have stood at the threshold of transformations for centuries.  Pioneers have opened the doors and stepped across into the new realities that brought necessary advancements for all their people. Our ancestors risked being the first to leave a world they knew and, for their good and the good of others, they crossed a threshold and set out to build a new and usually a freer world.

Barbara Billey’s ordination represents the crossing of another threshold and that crossing continues to open a way forward from the constraints of a great big “NO” about the roles of women, in our church, and in the world. For her sake and ours, Barbara, too, has undertaken her journey to ordination and now into her priestly ministry, against expected resistances. She is well prepared to continue with us in our ARCWP international movement for women’s ordination in the Roman Catholic Church and in that action, for women in all faith traditions and beyond.

Our initiative for the ordination of women in the Roman Catholic Church has been characterized by a series of firsts and this foundational reality continues to today, the day exactly 10 years from our first North American ordinations on the St. Lawrence River. 

It was the Feast of Mary of Magdala and, in recognition of her, it was also a feast, we could say, of all those women in the early church who have disappeared from our church’s history. But, through the work of historian scholars and an archeologist like Dr. Dorothy Irvin, these women have been re-discovered and recognized to have been ordained deacons, priests and bishops, for service in their faith communities. Our women from the early church, as well as the courageous male Roman Catholic bishops from within our church who began these ordinations, were with us in spirit in that first North American ordination.

Our day, on the river of our new anointing and commissioning, dawned like any other 36 Celsius degree day in Ontario, and for our American friends, almost 100 degrees Fahrenheit. Nine of us, along with many supporters – family and friends, from all over as well as a huge contingent of Canadian media – rocked the boat. Our song rang out across the waters and, as companions of empowerment in a discipleship of equals, we prayed in unison and wept together in seeing that a miracle had arrived, one we all had been waiting for, for so long, here at last.

No one present, whether in agreement or disagreement of our Sacrament, could have denied the power of the Spirit present in the illumination and fire of the occasion. We were on a cruise ship that, in the ordination rite and in our universal participation, became an ecstatic church ship, now sailing from Ganaoque, Ontario into the Thousand Islands and towards Rochester, New York. It held our Canadian- American realities for the start of our international movement in North America, a movement bound by the living waters of Sacred Presence we cannot deny. In looking back, I’m in wonder that our Detroit River is linked to the St. Lawrence and our origination by way of Lake Ontario, the Niagara River, and Lake Erie. 

Three ordinands for the priesthood were from USA and I was from Canada. Four other women from USA had come forward for ordination as deacons. Then what? This small handful of ordained women was commissioned to return to their locales, on our vast continent and just begin their witnessing and their ministry. The whole of North America was before us, a blank slate and what would we write? What would we speak? To whom would we speak? Who would come forward in support of this disobedience? In spiritual language, such disobedience is called prophetic obedience: obedience to the Spirit rather than the Law. How many times did Jesus counsel that, including in the gospel for today? What realities would we would face now?

The good news is that we are not alone when we return from our ordinations. We have our newly forming local faith communities, as you today enfold and embrace us. We receive affirmation, especially from ordained women and men from other Christian denominations and faith traditions, a number of you here today. As Barb and I interact with people throughout Windsor, those with or without religious affiliation, we often hear, “Thank you for your courage.  It’s about time this happened.” As companions walking an uncertain road made only by walking, we find the ground itself upholds us.

“I came to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!” This passage suggests a completing energy, of the Spirit, in the vitality of our calls to ministry. Well into his mission and aware of his impending death, one of the most political-religious coups of all time, Jesus speaks with urgency about divisions that are inevitable when fulfilling our calling to his way. This is one reality and consequence for initiating transformational change but there is another more subtle message when we consider Jesus’ compassionate way of being.

Within divisions, we each have a sacred calling where the Spirit dwells. Sometimes, we must become empowered to change or leave oppressive institutions or people. In other circumstances, apparent division provides creative tension that opens the door to embracing difference. In differences, our gifts can be applied to new callings that take us into greater dimensions of loving through acceptance and collective goodwill. The Global Charter For Compassion is one example of the evolutionary potential of difference within centuries old division.

In our time, the ways of non-violence are becoming clearer as we we learn and know better how to be together in justice and equality. New discoveries and technology are bringing about the marriage of science and religion, which helps expand our recognition for much needed change that serves all of humanity, especially the most marginalized. We recognize our imperiled planet and know that we must evolve out of our separateness as individuals and beyond dominating practices into the co-operation necessary for the interconnectedness of our global communities. Our survival depends on such transformations of consciousness.

And now today, in one aspect of such transformation, we are received in this little chapel, this little church ship situated alongside the Detroit River and we receive Barb, as I was received 10 years ago on the St. Lawrence.  Now she comes with her much needed gifts and her sacred calling joined with ours. Who knows where the Fire of the Spirit will yet lead her? We only know that she is ready.

Bridget Mary:

Thank you, Michele for your wisdom with us.

A new day is dawning for women who are created in God’s image as spiritual equals. We are united with all God's people as companions of empowerment – prophets, healers and mystics, in love with the Holy, and with all creation in one cosmic dance.

Jesus always gives us freedom to choose, to search our own conscience. “And why do you not judge for yourselves what is right?” he asks.  As a midwife of grace, Jesus turns us toward Holy Wisdom, Divine Mystery who dwells within our hearts for answers to the depth questions. As One Body in Christ with people of all faith traditions and with those who do not subscribe to one, we can make a difference by using our gifts to advance the evolution of God’s cosmic kin-dom. What will we choose and how will we be fire?

  

www.arcwp.org