Pope Francis Statement on Women Priests, Not Infallible, by Rita Lucey ARCWP, Orlando Sentniel , Nov. 8, 2016

A great deal was said in the opinions put forth on the issue of ordaining women as priests in the Roman Catholic tradition.  There seems to be the mistaken notion that this is a doctrine of the church especially when the words 'never' and forever' are used.  Actually this is simply an approach, a practice or discipline stating that only men can be ordained!.  In the Jewish culture of Jesus time  this would have been anathema! Crucifixion would have happened much earlier had this man Jesus suggested such an abomination

We are now 2000 years later.  Our understanding, even based on Paul's epistle "there is neither male nor female -----we are all equal....... except in the eyes of a patriarchal hierarchy who incidentally are here because we "unworthy" women birthed them!

Pope Francis did not use the 'chair of Peter" known as 'ex cathedra' to make this pronouncement.  Therefore it is not infallible and can be changed if not by him then by the next generation of cardinals in a council in union with the Pope where the

teaching authority of the church exists.

Rev. Rita Lucey,MA

Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests

Rita Lucey ARCWP and Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP in Orlando, Florida at Rita's Ordination, www.arcwp.org

"Jesus Came to Change Mind of Humanity About God" , Richard Rohr, Eager to Love

“For the sake of simplicity and brevity here, let me say that the common Christian reading of the Bible is that Jesus “died for our sins”— either to pay a debt to the devil (common in the first millennium) or to pay a debt to God the Father (proposed by Anselm of Canterbury [1033– 1109] and has often been called “the most unfortunately successful piece of theology ever written”). Scotus agreed with neither of these readings. He was not guided by the Temple language of debt, atonement, blood sacrifice, or necessary satisfaction, but by the cosmic hymns of Colossians and Ephesians. If Scotus’s understanding of the “how” and meaning of redemption (his “atonement theory”) had been taught, we would have had a much more positive understanding of Jesus, and even more of God the Father. Christian people have paid a huge price for what theologians after Anselm called “substitutionary atonement theory”: the idea that, before God could love his creation, God needed and demanded Jesus to be a blood sacrifice to atone for a sin-drenched humanity. Please think about the impossible, shackled, and even petty God that such a theory implies and presents.  Christ is not the first idea in the mind of God, as Scotus taught, but a mere problem solver after the sad fact of our radical unworthiness….

We have had enough trouble helping people to love, trust, and like God to begin with, without creating even further obstacles. Except for striking fear in the hearts of those we sought to convert, substitutionary atonement theories did not help our evangelization of the world. It made Christianity seem mercantile and mythological to many sincere people. The Eternal God was presented as driving a very hard bargain, as though he were just like many people we don’t like. As if God could need payment, and even a very violent transaction, to be able to love and forgive his own children— a message that those with an angry, distant, absent, or abusive father were already far too programmed to believe….

Scotus, however, insisted on the absolute and perfect freedom of God to love and forgive as God chooses, which is the core meaning of grace. Such a God could not be bound by some supposedly offended justice. For Scotus, the incarnation of God and the redemption of the world could not be a mere reaction to human sinfulness, but in fact the exact, free, and proactive work of God from the very beginning. We were “chosen in Christ before the world was made,” as Paul says in Ephesians (1: 4). Sin or problems could not be the motive for divine incarnation, but only perfect love! The Christ Mystery was the very blueprint of reality from the very start (John 1: 1)….

It is no wonder that Christianity did not produce more mystics and saints over the centuries. Unconsciously, and often consciously, many people did not trust or even like this Father God, much less want to be in union with him. He had to be paid in blood to love us and to care for his own creation, which seems rather petty and punitive, and we ended up with both an incoherent message and universe. Paul told us that “love takes no offense” (1 Corinthians 13: 5), but apparently God was the big exception to this rule. Jesus tells us to love unconditionally, but God apparently does not. This just will not work for the soul or mature spirituality. Basically when you lose the understanding of God’s perfect and absolute freedom and eagerness to love, which Scotus insisted on, humanity is relegated to the world of counting! Everything has to be measured, accounted for, doled out, earned, and paid back. That is the effect on the psyche of any notion of heroic sacrifice or necessary atonement. 9 It is also why Jesus said Temple religion had to go, including all of its attempts at the “buying and selling” of divine favor (John 2: 13– 22). In that scenario, God has to be placated and defused; and reparation has to be paid to a moody, angry, and very distant deity. This is no longer the message Jesus came to bring.

This wrongheaded worldview has tragically influenced much of our entire spirituality for the last millennium, and is still implied in most of the Catholic Eucharistic prayers. It gave lay Catholics and most clergy an impossible and utterly false notion of grace, mercy, love, and forgiveness— which are, in fact, at the heart of our message. The best short summary I can give of how Scotus tried to change the equation is this: Jesus did not come to change the mind of God about humanity (it did not need changing)! Jesus came to change the mind of humanity about God. Christ was Plan A for Scotus, the hologram of the whole, the Alpha— and therefore also the Omega— Point of cosmic history.”

Richard Rohr on Atonement

Rohr, Richard (2014-07-27). Eager to Love: The Alternative Way of Francis of Assisi (pp. 183-187). Franciscan Media. Kindle Edition.

Etty Hillesum: A Life Transformed in a World of Hatred and Fear, A Spirituality for All Ages

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ad7MjP7grCo&feature=youtu.be
Etty Hillesum was a 27 year old Jewish student living under occupation in 1940s Amsterdam. 
Throughout that time she wrote a diary of her daily life recounting her spiritual transformation. 
Patrick Woodhouse explores her life and writing including what her profound reflections on the nature of evil can teach us today. Patrick is a writer and Anglican priest who was formerly a Canon of Wells Cathedral.

"It's Not a Complement", (Pope Francis' Comment on Women's Ordination) Natalia Imperatori-Lee, America

It's Not a Complement America Magazine When asked about women's ordination, the pope recalled St. John Paul II's assertion that women could never be considered for the priesthood as a ...

..."Two things to note of theological import here. First, Jesus’ mother is not the only woman in the New Testament. Mary Magdalene, Martha and Mary, and others were also in Jesus’ circle of disciples, listening to him and, in Martha’s case, ministering to him. Mary Magdalene was the first witness to the resurrection in the Gospels. The women in the early church cannot all be subsumed into the Virgin Mary; the church should say their names and know their stories, because even these early narratives reveal that not all women express femininity in the same way (see Martha and Mary for a shining example of this fact).

Second, casting the church in a feminine role and assigning obedience (as in Mary’s fiat) and receptivity to only the feminine aspect of the church, as opposed to the Petrine and clerical aspect, means that the role of the laity is obedience and receptivity. Does this fit with the ecclesiology of the Second Vatican Council, which says in “Lumen Gentium” that the whole people of God are called to minister in the church? If leadership is only Petrine, and Petrine only means clergy, then some men in the church image the masculine aspect of the church while other men (in the laity) image the feminine. But the reverse is impossible: Women, because they cannot be ordained, can only ever image the feminine. This rules out women’s leadership in a church that celebrates Teresa of Avila, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and Catherine of Siena as models of faith.

Pope Francis may or may not have ruled out the possibility of seeing women priests in the Catholic Church on the plane from Sweden this week. But in reaffirming the Marian and Petrine construct of the church, he (intentionally or not) sent a message about the people of God that truncates our imaginations and limits our possibilities for full human flourishing. And that’s a bigger issue than who stands at the foot of the altar."

Natalia Imperatori-Lee is associate professor of religious studies at Manhattan College, New York.

Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research :"no valid arguments against women priests, and many truly Catholic arguments in favour!"

"Pope Francis again rules out  women ever serving as priests in the Roman Catholic church. . While flying home to Rome on Tuesday 1st November, Francis affirmed the Catholic church's refusal to ordain women. He noted the matter was clearly decided under Pope John Paul II, who categorically rejected the idea of women priests in 1994. Vatican says this teaching is an infallible part of Catholic tradition.  Is this true? Can this ban on women priests be considered infallible as taught by the ordinary magisterium? This claim was put forward in the Responsum ad dubium of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith dated October 28, 1995 and published November 18, 1995, which followed the publication of the Apostolic Letter Ordinatio Sacerdotalis (OS) by Pope John Paul II in 1994. There are only 3 ways a doctrine can be infallibly taught in the Church: by a solemn ex cathedra teaching act of the pope’s infallible extraordinary magisterium, as defined at Vatican I and further explained at Vatican II; by a solemn dogmatic definition by a valid ecumenical council; and by a teaching of the ‘ordinary and universal magisterium’ (see Vatican II, Dogmatic Constitution on the Church, Lumen gentium, section 25, for an explanation of all three ‘modes’ of infallibility). To see the full article on whether this teaching can be claimed to be infallible see this article by Peter Burns SJ http://www.womenpriests.org/teaching/burns.asp and also our page of FAQ on infallibility http://www.womenpriests.org/teaching/faq_teac.asp The church has always responded to criticism of the ban on women by pointing out that Jesus only chose men as his apostles. But consider this : “All who are baptised in Christ, have put on Christ.There is no longer any discrimination between Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female.” Galatians 3,28  Thus every baptised woman shares fully in Christ’s priesthood, kingship and prophetic mission. Baptism implies a fundamental openness to all the sacraments, including the ministerial priesthood. Conclusion: there are no valid arguments against women priests, and many truly Catholic arguments in favour!

"Women Priests are a no-brainer, banning them is just dumb", Celia Wexler, Huffington Post

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/celia-wexler/women-priests-are-a-no-br_b_12834072.html

..."All women should be insulted by Pope Francis’s recent cavalier dismissal of the possibility of the church ever changing its 
position on women’s ordination. 
The question came up after the Pope 
celebrated the Protestant Reformation in Sweden
with the country’s Lutheran prelates, including the
 woman who is primate of the Church of Sweden.

If you’re going to make excuses for refusing to allow ordination 
of women you might want to invent something more plausible, 
with a little more intellectual heft, than the old saw 
about Christ choosing only men to be His apostles. 
It was, as Maureen Fiedler bluntly put it, and has 
always been,“a dumb argument.”

The fact that the apostles were male isn’t surprising, given the Jewish culture and the role of women in that era. As a Catholic feminist wryly asked, “All the apostles were Jews. 
Should all priests be Jews?”

A number of the apostles were married. And yet the church has 
had no problem enforcing a celibacy rule on priests.
 So the argument isn’t even consistent.

There’s also a history of women playing active leadership 
roles in the early church. But really, even if that 
were not the case, society evolves, and 
the role of women has greatly expanded 
over the centuries.  If the rest of society clung 
to the same position as the Catholic Church, 
women could never become surgeons, 
teachers, astronauts, physicians, or architects, or 
even earn the right to vote or own property.

The Pope also relies on the fact that he can’t change policy 
because Pope John Paul II closed the door on women priests.
 Funny, that didn’t prevent 
Pope John XXIII from reversing course on the 
church’s relationship with other Christian religions. 

Not so long ago, indeed, within my lifetime, the 
children of mixed marriages, generally one spouse 
Catholic and the other Protestant, were told that 
the non-Catholic parent would go to hell 
without conversion.
That message was sent to my own cousins. 
Catholics were not allowed to worship with others 
of different faiths, or 
even attend non-Catholic weddings. Vatican II 
changed all that, urging tolerance, respect, 
and collaboration among Christians of 
various denominations.

The church does change its mind, thank goodness. 
I highly recommend Fiedler’s book, Rome Has Spoken, 
documenting those changes over the centuries.
 And it certainly could change its 
position on women’s ordination.

The other, more subtle, argument one hears 
about Pope Francis’s reluctance to admit women
 to the priesthood goes something like this. 
Pope Francis is concerned 
about rampant “clericalism” in the church, 
with priests elevating 
themselves above people and its highest-ranking 
prelates prone to “spiritual Alzheimer’s” 
indifference to human suffering, joylessness, and
 hypocrisy, among other things.

So the inference is that since power corrupts, 
the Pope wants to inoculate women from corruption. 
As he said to an 
interviewerin 2013 responding to rumors 
of a laywoman being named as a cardinal,
 “Woman should be valued, not
 ‘clericalized.’” We delicate flowers of the church 
should not be exposed to the 
seamy 
underbelly of real power.

I don’t believe that any Catholic reformer believes 
that the 
ordination of women to the priesthood would radically
 change the top-down nature of the church, 
something that must change.

But what’s the best reinforcement for clericalism, 
and the concentration of power? 
Doing what Pope Francis just did, 
saying his hands are tied because of the 
decisions made by the guy who used to be in charge."

Praying for our National and all Elections: MMOJ Liturgy at Sun City, Fl. by Katy Zatsick ARCWP

Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community at SCC

November 3, 2016

Praying for our Country, Praying for our National and all Elections

Sr. Joan Chittister, O.S.B.: An Uncommon Search for the Common Good...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1vbY7nBM2A 

Sep 20, 2012 ... A common good is a vision, a vision of public virtue which engages the individual citizen, guides the energies of the government, shapes the …

Thomas Merton: To say that I am made in the image of God is to say that love is the reason for my existence, for God is Love. Love is my true identity. Selflessness is my true self. Love is my true character. Love is my name. If therefore, I do anything or think anything or say anything or know anything that is not purely for the loved of God, it cannot give me peace, or rest, of fulfillment, or joy. To find Love I must enter into the sanctuary where it is hidden, which is the mystery of God.

All: Let us begin in the name of our God, a God of Love for the Common Good of all peoples and universes, our God of Reconciliation, and and our God of Liberation. Amen

Convocation
Come, brothers and sisters

All: Let us seek justice.

Come, mothers and fathers:

All: Let us restore our streets.

Come, friends and foe:

All: Let us love mercy.

Come, ancestors and descendants:

All: Let us repair the breach.

Come, persons from all faiths and none:

All: Let us walk humbly with a God of many names.

ALL: Come, courage and doubt, together in power:

Let us create God’s commonwealth of love.

Opening Prayer:

All: Prince of Peace, our nation desperately needs your peace and reconciliation We are torn apart from within. We pray particularly for the Church in America, that we will so noticeably live in Christ's peace that true peace will come to all communities of our nation. Speak peace once again to your people, Loving God "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful" (Col. 3:15). (Facebook)

(Prayer for reconciliation (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, Jesus our brother, and of the Sofia Holy Spirit, our wisdom. Amen.

LITURGY OF THE WORD

Readings from the Hebrew Testament:

Genesis 1: 29-31 So it was. God looked at all of this creation, and proclaimed that this was good---very good. Thus the heavens and the earth and all their array were completed. On the 7^th day God had finished all the work of creation, and so, on the seventh day, God rested.

Leviticus 19:33-34 Do not mistreat the foreigners who reside in your land. The foreigner who lives among you must be treated like one of your own. Love them as you love yourself, for you too were a foreigner in the Land of Egypt. I am YHWH.

Deuteronomy 16:19-20 (The judges and officials you are to appoint) should judge fairly and never pervert justice or show partiality. They must never accept bribes, for a bribe blinds the eyes of the wise and endangers the cause of the righteous. Follow the path of justice and justice only, so that you might live,..”

Isaiah 2:4 God will judge between the nations and render decisions for many countries. They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks, one Nation will not raise the sword against another, and never again will they train for war.

Micah 6:8; Listen hear, (men and women) God has already made abundantly clear what “good” is, and what YHWH needs from you: simply to do justice, love kindness, and humbly walk with your God.

The word of God. All: Thanks be to God

Responsorial Response - Psalm 110 (Adaptation by Nan Merrill)

The Beloved says to all who will hear, “Come walk with Me. Let us give birth to a new Earth!”

R: Come! Feast on the Bread of Life.”

The law of Love is perfect, reviving the soul.

The testimony of Love is sure, making wise the simple;

The precepts of Love are right, rejoicing the heart;

The authority of Love is pure, enlightening the eyes;

The Spirit of Love is glorious, enduring forever;

The rites of Love are true, awakening compassion. (from Psalm 19)

R: Come! Feast on the Bread of Life.”

You, O Divine Breath, dwell within our hearts;

with unconditional Love, You assuage our fears.

You call us to holiness, to justice, and integrity,

to free those bound by oppression,

to bring light where ignorance and darkness dwell.

Come! Drink from the streams of Living Water.

Come! Feast on the Bread of Life.

R: Come! Feast on the Bread of Life.”

Gospel: Matthew 25:31-39

Jesus said, “At the appointed time the Promised One will come in glory, escorted by all the angels of heaven, and will sit upon the royal throne, with all the e nations assembled below. Then the Promised One will separate them from one another, as a shepherd divides the sheep from the goats. The sheep will be placed on the right hand, the goats on the left.

The ruler will say to those on the right, “Come, you blessed of my Abba God! Inherit the kindom prepared for you from the creation of the world! For I was hungry and you fed me; I was thirsty and you gave me drink. I was a stranger and you welcomed me; naked and you clothed me. I was ill and you comforted me; in prison and you came to visit me.” Then these just will ask, “When did we see you hungry and feed you, or see you thirsty and give you drink:? When did we see you as a stranger and invite you in, or clothe you in your nakedness? When did we see you ill or in prison and come to visit you?” The ruler will answer them, “The truth is, every time you did this for the least of my sisters or brothers, you did it for me.” The good news of Jesus, the Cosmic Christ! ALL: Glory and praise to you, Jesus our Brother.
SHARED HOMILY

What do the readings teach us about the Common Good?

How do I understand the Common Good?

What are the greatest needs for our country at this time?

CREED:
Women: I believe in you, O Holy One, Source, Sustainer and Receiver of all; the incomprehensible mystery of love beyond imagining.

I believe that I am in you and that you are in me and that our relationship is transforming my life.

I believe that you surround me with forgiving, abounding kindness in the midst of injustice, sin, and death. 

Men: I believe in Jesus, anointed by Your Spirit, who embodies your Compassionate ways in his ministry.

I believe that Jesus came to live and help others live in abundance on this beautiful earth.

I believe that Your Spirit anoints me to share in the same ministry by living justly, loving tenderly and walking with integrity.

I believe that you summon my conscience to action on behalf of justice that will change oppressive structures. 

All: I believe that Your Spirit is at work in all of creation including our communities, state and nation.

I believe that you call me to be a co-creator with you and to join with companions on the journey as you beckon us to birth with you a new creation.  You call us to vote for the Common Good and a sustainable environment. Amen.   Adapted from “A Personal Creed” by Mary Theresa Streck, ARCWP

GENERAL INTERCESSIONS
With hearts filled with loving compassion, we lift up the needs of our community and our country at this time. 

Response: God of all compassion, love through us.
Presider: That the millions in our country that are hungry and starving, without homes, health care, education may our hearts be opened to hear their cries for help, we pray.

Presider: That all who vote will choose for the Common Good and a better USA for all and the Earth. R

Presider: That all who vote will be concerned with the sustainability of our planet and economic needs of all people. R

Presider: That those bound by hatred, hostility, and violence will be set free, we pray. R. 

Presider: That the sick may be healed, especially (mention names), we pray. R. 

Presider: For what else shall we pray?

Presider: We hold these and all our unspoken intentions in our hearts as we prepare to vote as we gather around the Banquet Table today.  As we ask for the very best outcomes for all the citizens of the USA and our planet. All: Amen

Offertory:

Co-Presider: Blessed are you, God of all creation, through your goodness we have this bread to offer which earth has given and human hands have made.  This bread is our faith community as we pray for our country and prepare to vote for the Common Good. May we individually and as a community live your vision of peace and justice for all including the earth. This will become for us the bread of life.

All:  Blessed be God forever.

Co-Presider: Blessed are you, God of all creation.  Through your goodness we have this wine to offer, fruit of the vine and work of human hands. This drink is our desire to live for the Common Good with all our brothers and sisters especially here in the USA and all your earth. This wine and juice will become our spiritual drink.

All:  Blessed be God forever.

My sisters and brothers let us pray together that our gifts may be acceptable to our Creator Spirit and Love.

All:  May God accept these gifts from our hands, for the praise and glory of God's name, for our compassion and the Common Good of all. Amen

EUCHARISTIC PRAYER:

Side 1 Side 2

In the beginning was God In the beginning, the Source of all that is

In the beginning, God yearning God, moaning

God, laboring God, giving birth

God, rejoicing God, baptizing

And God loved what She had created.

All: And God said, “It is good”

Then God knowing that all that is good

is shared Held the earth tenderly in her arms

God longed to share the good earth God yearned for relationship

And humanity was born in this

Yearning of God.

All: We are born to share the earth

In the earth was the seed In the seed was the grain

In the grain was the harvest In the harvest was the bread

In the bread was the power

God said, “All shall eat of the earth All shall eat of the seed

All shall eat of the grain All shall eat of the harvest

All shall eat of the bread

All: All shall eat of the power

God said, “You are my people, My priests, my friends,

My lovers, My sisters,

And my brothers All of you shall eat

Of the bread and the power

Then God gathering up her courage in love said,

All: Let there be bread

And God’s people, her daughters and sons,

Knelt on the earth planted seeds

Prayed for the rain sang for the grain

Gathered the harvest cracked the wheat

Pounded the corn kneaded the dough

Kindled the fire filled the air with the smell of fresh baking

All: And there was bread

Our brother Jesus our brother Jesus

Took the bread on the night before he died

Jesus blessed the bread and broke the bread

And gave it to his friends and to us, and said

All: Take. Eat. This is my body, which will be broken for you. Whenever you eat it, remember me

After their meal Jesus took the wine

He blessed it and gave it to them, to us

And Jesus said,

All: Drink this. This is my blood, which I will shed for you. Whenever you drink it, remember me.

The priestly People of God say today All shall eat of the bread

And the power All shall have the power

And bread We say, “Let there be bread!”

And power! Let us eat the bread and the power

And all will be filled.

All: And all will share power

Now let us take hands and pray in Jesus’ words

For the sharing of the bread and power

All: Our Mother and Father, who art in heaven…

Now let us embrace and share the peace that comes from the

Sharing of power

(Sign of Peace)

By the power of God The people are blessed

By the people of God The bread is blessed

By the bread of God The power is blessed

By the power of the bread and the power of the people

And the power of God We are blessed

Sisters and brothers We are the body and blood of Christ

(Hold up the bread and cup)

All: I do believe

All: Let us say to one another: You are a priest of God.

We are the body of Christ. We are the blood of Christ

Prayers of Gratitude and Thanksgiving

CONCLUDING RITE
Presider: Our God is with you.
ALL: and also with you. 

BLESSING
(Everyone please extend your hands in mutual blessing)

ALL: In gratitude, in deep gratitude for this moment, this meal, for our community, we give ourselves to you, O God. Be with us as we go out as changed people because we have shared Your Living Bread and cannot remain the same. Ask much of us, expect much from us, enable much by us, encourage many through us. So God, may we live to your glory, both as inhabitants of earth and citizens of the Untied States of America and commonwealth of heaven. Amen.

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

An Open Letter to Pope Francis from Roy Bourgeois , A Contemporary Prophet Challenges Sexism in the Catholic Church!

Witness at  Vatican Embassy on Holy Thursday, Good Friday 2016
left to right, Roy Bourgeois, Janice Sevre Duszynska, ARCWP Jane Via RCWP

Bridget Mary's Response:
Thank you Roy for your courageous witness for justice and equality for women priests in the Roman Catholic Church! Poll after poll report that we are blessed by the support of millions of Catholics worldwide for women priests!
The wind is at our back. Even though Pope Francis is not yet ready for women priests, a growing number of Catholics are supporting our movement.
The international Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement is leading the way to a more inclusive church in a community of equals! Thanks for challenging the Vatican for its sexism and giving up your membership in Maryknoll,  your religious order. You will always be a priest and prophet in our church!
Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP, www.arcwp.org
sofiabmm@aol.com, Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests

Holy Women Htealing Wells St Winefride of Wales Video by Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP

I produced a series on Holy Women and Healing Wells in Ireland and Wale for GodTalk TV in 2000s. 
I am sharing this video on youtube.
I wrote a book on this topic: Praying with Celtic Holy Women.
(amazon), sofiabmm@aol.com, 703-505-0004
Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP

Happy Memories of Ireland , Video on Celtic Spirituality narrated by Jack Meehan

In this video which aired on GodTalk, a cable access TV program in Fairfax, Virginia from 1998-2008, Jack Meehan , my Dad, narrates. Footage features Jack on trumpet and sax and Dan Hallissey on keyboard playing Irish music. It also shows photos of my brother Sean, sister-in-law Nancy, niece and nephew, Katie and Danny and Nancys's Mom, Phyllis Hurst , Sister Regina Madonna and our relatives in Ireland.  Enjoy scenes of countryside and the lovely music. I have so many happy memories of this family adventure!
Bridget Mary Meehan, sofiabmm@aol.com, 703-505-0004 (updated)
author of Praying with Celtic Holy Women

"Forgiveness in the Service of Justice" by: Margaret A. Farley

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vte1e6SWGck

With Progressive Catholic Coalition, Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests Witness for Justice at the US/Mexico Border

Janice Sevre Duszynska ARCWP and Kay Akers ARCWP, Silvia Brandon- Perez  ARCWP not in photo

The SOA Watch Convergence at the Border—also the 27th Annual SOAW Gathering—in Nogales, AZ/Sonora October 7 to 10, was a great success in showing solidarity with those at the border and drawing attention to the militarization there that has such a devastating effect resulting from the economic and political policies being implemented at the border.  

Sophie Vodvarka of Call to Action has created videos covering highlights of the two days and : 

Part 1 - Introduction, Background (not referenced out of self-promotion) and Rally at the Eloy Detention Center

Our inside look at the SOA Watch’s first ever Convergence on the Border, October 7-10, 2016. Hundreds of activists gathered at the US/Mexico border to bring attention to the dire situation of immigration in the country, including the use of privately run detention centers (like Eloy Detention Center, shown in the film) and the inhumane treatment of migrants. This weekend was special for Call To Action as we joined Progressive Catholic Coalition once again, witnessing the re-birth of a movement which began 25 years ago by our friend Roy Bourgeois. “We don’t cross the border, the border crosses us!”

http://cta-usa.org/video-ministry/

Part 2 - Crossing the Border with Background on Why "SOAW to the Border" by Janice Sevre-Duszynka and interviews with Roy Bourgeois and Jeannette Mulherin

The second part of our inside look at the SOA Watch’s first ever Convergence on the Border, October 7-10, 2016. Hundreds of activists gathered at the US/Mexico border to bring attention to the dire situation of immigration in our country and to witness with love and solidarity.

On Saturday evening, October 8th an Interfaith Service composed by a working group that included three PCC representatives was held at the Border. Included in the service were Indigenous rites and participation of speakers from Jewish, Muslim and Christian traditions, with the PCC representing Catholic input. 

The text and list of the speakers is at http://www.soaw.org/border/2016/10/05/interfaith-service-servicio-interreligioso/

See them at

https://www.facebook.com/pg/pcc4churchjustice/photos/?tab=album&album_id=904886449557487

Pictures of the Interfaith Service planned with input by PCC-member representatives Jack Wentland, Janice Sevre-Duszynska and Silvia Brandon-Perez are at

https://www.facebook.com/pg/pcc4churchjustice/photos/?tab=album&album_id=904886449557487

The message presented by PCC as the Catholic voice is at https://www.facebook.com/pcc4churchjustice/

Thanks to our PCC Sponsoring organizations and their representatives Kay, Sophie, Janice, Silvia, Rosa (and Mary and Nick DelRio of CORPUS) for their participation in making the PCC's valuable message for justice!

Please feel free to use any of the information and links above for sharing the event with others. I hope you will share this information with members of your organization sponsoring PCC! Thanks.       ~  jack

-- 

John P. Wentland

"The role of citizens in our Democracy does not end with your vote.

America's never been about what can be done for us. It's about what

can be done by us together through the hard and frustrating, but

necessary work of self-government." Pres. Barack H. Obama - 11/6/12

"Why Has the Pope Said No to Women Priests" CNN, What's up with Commission to Study Women Deacons?

http://www.cnn.com/2016/11/02/europe/analysis-pope-female-priests/

Delia Gallagher:
"One, he subscribes to the Catholic Church's long tradition of male priesthood because Jesus chose men as his apostles and because of their theological understanding that a priest, "acts in the person of Christ," so must be male. This is what Francis was reaffirming by quoting St. John Paul II."

Bridget Mary's Response:

1.The Risen Christ chose Mary of Magdala to be the apostle to the apostles. Christianity is based on a belief in the resurrection of Christ According to all four Gospels, Mary of Magdala was the first to encounter the Risen Christ who called her to go and tell the good news -the job description of an apostle. Thus, there were more than 12 apostles. In addition, St. Paul refers to Junia, a woman, in Romans 16:7 as an outstanding apostle and mentor.

2. Galatians 3:28 reminds us that baptism makes us equal images of Christ. There is "neither male or female in Christ"

3. As members of the Body of Christ, we are called and empowered to   act in the person of Christ. 

4. To argue that a priest must be male to act in the person of Christ is sexist  and justifies discrimination against women in the church and society. It violates women's soul integrity as  images of God.

5. Pope Francis's statement puzzles me because he has commissioned a Commission to study women deacons. According to scholars there were thousands of women deacons in the early centuries of Christianity. If he opens door to women deacons, women priests are logically the next step. So my question is what's up, Pope Francis?