Saturday, December 30, 2017

NCR Podcast: A Catholic take on the #MeToo Movement

podcast.

Friday, December 29, 2017

"Seeing is believing: Why Catholics need women deacons" by Nicole Sotelo, National Catholic Reporter

(left to right) Erin Hanna from WOC, Donna Rougeux ARCWP, Ree Hudson RCWP, Roy Bourgeois MM, Janice Sevre Duszynska ARCWP
outside the Vatican advocating for the full equality of women in all ministries in the Roman Catholic Church

As a child, I had a fairly good idea of what God looked like. When I prayed, I imagined God in the form of Msgr. McMahon, the pastor of my parish. Certainly the way people treated him seemed like he must be a step away from divinity. As a result, I conjured an image for God as an older male, balding, wearing a white alb, and maybe even speaking an Irish brogue.

It is my hope that as we see more women leaders in our church, we women will also believe more deeply in ourselves.

I knew God wasn't Msgr. McMahon, but being surrounded by male-only church officials and male-only pronouns for the divine, the image of a masculine God was cemented for the first 20 years of my life. It took many more years to pry that male-only template out of my heart. But it still slips back from time to time.

When it does, the template carries overlays of male superiority that affect how I see the world, how I work, how I love and interact with others. Even deeper, it affects how I feel about myself. When young Catholic women see only men in the highest levels of leadership, the impact is wounding and lasting. The image casts its own harmful shadow on the male psyche, too.

That is one of the reasons why the Vatican commission on women deacons, whose results I hope will be released in the new year, is so important for our church. We have the opportunity to offer our faith's daughters the chance to see themselves as sacred equals, not only in the church, but also within themselves.

Study after study reveals that images of women's leadership that we see — or don't see — affect the way we view ourselves. A 2012 study in the Group Processes & Intergroup Relations Journal found that women who are exposed to images of women leaders report "less negative self-perceptions and greater leadership aspirations" than those exposed to images of women in non-leadership roles.

Another study by MIT researchers in 2012 revealed that seeing women serve as leaders in local politics led to increased educational aspirations, not only on the part of young women, but in their parents, too. Whereas in villages that had never seen local women leaders, parents were 45 percent less likely to say that they wanted their daughters to finish school or study beyond secondary school.

Additionally, a 2015 KPMG study discovered that among women surveyed, 84 percent "reported that having positive leadership role models helped them feel confident about what they could accomplish in life."

While modern Catholicism celebrates women as lectors and youth leaders, pastoral associates or diocesan administrators, women's broader leadership in liturgy and decision-making roles remains absent. While we may not have many role models of women's high-level leadership to lift up, we can certainly look to our past to see women who led, starting with the only deacon named in Christian scriptures: a woman, Phoebe (Romans 16:1).

Throughout the centuries, we have historical evidence of Catholic women serving in multiple roles, including as deacons, priests, and bishops. With regards to women deacons, this year marks the 1,000 anniversary of a letter from Pope Benedict VIII to the bishop of Porto, Portugal, in 1017. The pope wrote, "In the same way, we concede and confirm to you and to your successors in perpetuity every Episcopal ordination, not only of presbyters but also of deacons or deaconesses."

To be sure, even if Catholic women are re-welcomed with men to be deacons next year, significant concerns remain. Women who feel called to be deacons may step forward, but what about women who feel called to other ministries that are still restricted to male-only policies? What about the culture of clericalism that pervades the current roles? Only a transformation of leadership and how we understand ministry will truly save us over time.

That being said, I do believe that women deacons will be a step forward on the long arc of justice. For example, I can't imagine the Vatican would even be discussing women deacons if the church had not first experienced women as lay ecclesial ministers.

The church's saying, lex orandi, lex credendi, refers to the fact that what we pray is what we believe. The similar phrase, "seeing is believing," also holds true. What we see often becomes, consciously or unconsciously, what we believe.

It is my hope that as we see more women leaders in our church, we women will also believe more deeply in ourselves. And church officials who may initially think that the sky is falling, will come to see that it is simply heaven, the kin-dom of God, drawing nearer.

Note: After almost 10 years, this is my last column for the Young Voices series. I want to ensure space for more voices and I am grateful to National Catholic Reporter for providing a space for young adult Catholics to be seen and heard among Catholic news. Seeing is, indeed, believing.

[Nicole Sotelo is the author of Women Healing from Abuse: Meditations for Finding Peace, published by Paulist Press, and coordinates WomenHealing.com. She is a graduate of Harvard Divinity School.]

Editor's note: We can send you an email alert every time a Young Voices column is posted to NCRonline.org. Go to this page and follow directions: Email alert sign-up.

José María Castillo: "In the codification of rights in the Church, women are not mentioned" "Violence has no other solution than to eliminate all inequality in rights"

http://www.periodistadigital.com/religion/opinion/2017/12/29/jose-maria-castillo-mujer-iglesia-religion-dios-jesus-evangelio-genero.shtml

My Response to Jose Maria Castillo: I agree with you:

"JESUS NEVER FORBADE WOMEN FROM ANY ACTIVITY IN THEIR COMMUNITY"

So, the church should open all roles to Women including priestly ministry in a community of equals! Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP, www.arcwp.org

"As long as women do not have the same economic rights as men, the same dignity for any job, the same freedom in domestic, professional, social and religious relations, there will be families in which the woman endures what is thrown at her, because she knows that, if the husband leaves her, what does he live on? How does it come out? What do you do with your children? "Gender violence" is not resolved with a telephone. Nor with away the violent two hundred meters. Violence has no other solution than to eliminate all inequality in rights, respecting differences ." Jose Maria Castillo

Pope Want Episcopal Conferences to Decide on Married Priests

https://international.la-croix.com/news/pope-wants-episcopal-conferences-to-decide-on-married-priests-says-cardinal/5001?utm_source=Newsletter&utm_medium=e-mail&utm_content=27-12-2017&utm_campaign=newsletter__crx_lci&PMID=3ca0b790de086a09c14c3001054eecb0

Cardinal Walter Kasper has told German media he believes Pope Francis favors ordaining married men of proven virtue (known by the Latin term, viri probati), but is also sure the pope wants to leave the decision up to individual bishops’ conferences.

“The (vocation) situation differs so widely in different parts of the world that a uniform worldwide solution is not possible,” the cardinal said on April 6th in a long interview with the German Church’s Internet portal katholisch.de.

The occasion was the 60th anniversary of his ordination to the priesthood.

"Living is giving" A Tribute to Judy Beaumont RCWP by Bridget Mary Meehan

Judy Beaumont RCWP on her ordination as a priest with Bridget Mary Meehan

"Death ends a life, not a relationship. As long as we can love each other, and remember the feeling of love, we had, we can die without ever really going away. ..Living is giving."
(Tuesdays with Morrie, by Mitch Albom, p. 174, 199)

Judy Beaumont, a woman priest, who lives in Ft. Myers with her devoted partner, Judy Lee is dying.

For the past month, Judy has been blessing everyone who visited her at home, in the hospital or who spoke to her on the phone.
I was deeply touched by our recent conversation.
Everyone in our Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement, her family and friends, and all the people Judy ministered to have joined in a circle of loving prayer with Judy as she begins her transition into the fullness of God's loving embrace.
I believe that the angels will come out to meet our dear sister. Her work among the poorest of the poor has been "living is giving."
Judy, you inspire us to be more and do more for the least and the last among us.
Go with God, dear sister and friend!
We will remember you with deep affection always.

Love always,

Bridget Mary

More than 200 People Attend fort Myers Woman's Ordination as Roman Catholic Priest
http://www.news-press.com/article/20120121/NEWS0110/120121014/0/NEWS0104/More-than-200-attend-Fort-Myers-woman-s-ordination-Roman-Catholic-priest?odyssey=nav%7Chead

Fort Myers woman to be ordained Catholic priest; church leaders warn of consequences to her 'immortal soul' By STEPHANIE BORDEN /Naples Daily News
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2012/jan/20/fort-myers-woman-to-be-ordained-catholic-priest/

..."But Beaumont said she rejects any excommunication."I will still consider myself a faithful Catholic," she said. "We are not leaving the church. We are creating a new model of the church."Beaumont replied to Dewane in a late-December letter."I understand that you are fulfilling your obligation as Bishop and I take your words seriously," she wrote. "However, I must reply that as I have tried throughout my life to answer the call of the Gospel to serve God's people, I must again answer this new call to sacramental ministry with the poor and otherwise marginalized people in our midst."
"Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan, who will preside over Beaumont's ordination, says she considers several letters of excommunication she received following her own ordination "as badges of honor.""The church has a habit of excommunicating holy women and men, such as burning Joan of Arc at the stake," she said. "Pope Benedict himself has canonized two previously ex-communicated nuns — Mother Theodore Guerin and Mary MacKillop — making excommunication a new fast-track to canonization. Meehan said she has the apostolic succession required by the Roman Catholic Church to ordain Beaumont as a priest because she herself was ordained by Bishop Patricia Fresen in 2009, who was ordained by a male bishop in communion with the Pope."Social justice, a love of the Church, the Church liturgy, and the holy people of the Church," Beaumont said. "Those were the values instilled in me as a child."

Thursday, December 28, 2017

"Jesus Died for our Debts, Not Our Sins" by Claire Connelly

https://renegadeinc..com/he-died-for-our-debts-not-our-sins/

As we turn towards our faiths this Christmas and Hanukkah in an attempt to make sense of the year that was, economist Professor Michael Hudson says we have been interpreting the bible incorrectly. And he has written an entire book about it. Rather than sex and sin, both Christianity and Judaism is preoccupied with debt. As it turns out, Jesus was a socialist activist who paid the ultimate price, fighting for the reinstatement of regular debt jubilees. In fact, the rulers of classical antiquity who cancelled their subjects’ debts were overthrown with disturbing frequency and tended not to live that long…

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

"10 Good Things About a Terrible Year" By Medea Benjamin , Let's Give Thanks for These Blessings

www.counterpunch.org - https://www.counterpunch.org –

Every year I do a list of ten good things about the year. This year, I was about to skip it. Let’s face it: It has been a particularly horrible year for anyone with a progressive agenda. When I recently asked a prominent activist how she was doing, she took my hands, looked me in the eyes and said, “Everything I’ve been working on for 50 years has gone down the toilet.”

With so many good people feeling depressed, let’s point to the positive things that happened, even in this really, really bad year.

1. #MeToo movement has empowered victims of sexual harassment and assault, and encouraged accountability. Those two small words defined a social media-based movement in which women, and some men, have come forward to publicly share their stories of sexual assault and harassment, and expose their abusers. The movement–and fallout–spread globally, with the hashtag trending in at least 85 countries. The bravery and solidarity of these victims of sexual abuse will help build a future in which impunity for sexual predators is no longer the norm.

2. The year has seen an explosion of grassroots organizing, protest, and activism. An active and uncompromising spirit of revolt has blossomed in the face of a frightening political climate during Donald Trump’s presidency. On January 21, two million people took to the streets in Women’s Marches across the world as a show of solidarity against Trump’s vile and misogynistic rhetoric. On January 29, thousands gathered in airports around the country to protest Trump’s xenophobic and unconstitutional Muslim ban.. In April, 200,000 people joined the People’s Climate March to stand up to the administration’s reckless stance on climate. In July, disability rights activists staged countless actions on Capitol Hill in response to the GOP’s cruel and life-threatening healthcare bill. In November and December, “Dreamers” protected by Obama’s provision called Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) stormed the Hill to demand a replacement for that program, which Trump ended in September. New groups like Indivisible have helped millions of Americans confront their members of Congress, roughly 24,000 people joined the Democratic Socialists of America, and organizations like the ACLU and Planned Parenthood have seen massive surges in donations.

3. We’re already seeing rebukes of Trump at the ballot box. A wave of Democratic electoral victories swept some unlikely regions of the country, showing popular rejection of Donald Trump and his party. Republican gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie, who ran a shameless race-baiting campaign, lost by a wide margin to Democrat Ralph Northam in Virginia. In New Jersey, Phil Murphy handily defeated Lt. Governor Kim Guadagno, making that state the seventh in the nation with Democratic control over legislative and executive branches. In Alabama’s special election to fill Jeff Sessions’ vacant Senate seat, Democrat Doug Jones took the lead over alleged sexual predator Roy Moore–an astonishing win in a deep red state, propelled largely by Black voters. Danica Roem in Virginia, who ran against a virulently anti-LGBTQ opponent, became the first openly transgender person elected as a US legislator. Her win ended 26 years of Republican rule in that district. And in Virginia’s 50th district, self-described democratic socialist Lee Carter defeated powerful Republican delegate Jackson Miller.

4. The first group of J20 protesters, people arrested in Washington DC on the day of Trump’s inauguration, were found not guilty. It was a scary year for the 194 protesters, journalists and medics facing multiple felony charges, including rioting and property destruction, that could have resulted in prison terms of up to 60 years. The state’s attempt to collectively punish almost 200 people for property destruction committed by a handful is an outrageous example of judicial overreach in an era in which First Amendment rights are under siege. On December 21, however, the jury returned 42 separate not-guilty verdicts for the first six defendants to stand trial. Their acquittal on all charges hopefully portendss more non-guilty verdicts for the remaining 188 defendants and gives a boost to our basic rights of free speech and assembly.

5. Chelsea Manning was released from prison after 7 years. Army Pvt. Manning was first detained in 2010 and ultimately convicted of violating the Espionage Act after she leaked troves of documents exposing abuses by the US military, including a video of American helicopters firing on unarmed civilians in Baghdad, Iraq. She was sentenced to 35 years in prison. She developed post-traumatic stress disorder in prison and was repeatedly denied medical treatment for her gender dysphoria. The Army finally granted her the treatment after she went on a hunger strike. On January 17, 2017, President Obama commuted Manning’s sentence, and she was released in May. We owe Chelsea Manning a debt of gratitude for her tenacious commitment to exposing the crimes of U.S. empire.

6. Cities and states have committed to positive climate initiatives, despite federal regression. Twenty states and 110 cities signed “America’s Pledge,” a commitment to stick to Obama-era climate goals even after Trump’s disastrous decision to withdraw from the Paris Climate Accords. In December, a group of 36 cities signed the “Chicago Charter,” an agreement to reduce greenhouse emissions and monitor each others progress. These pacts demonstrate popular sentiment and political will, at the local, city and state level, to fight the corporate oligarchs who perpetuate climate chaos.

7. Trump’s presidency has deepened the critical national conversation about racism and white supremacy. The Black Lives Matter movement, which started under Obama’s administration, exposed this nation’s systemic racism. The victory of Donald Trump emboldened white supremacists, as evidenced in the violent Charlottesville neo-Nazi rally in August. But the year has also seen a wave of opposition to racism, Islamophobia and anti-semitism that includes the toppling of confederate flags and statues, confronting hate speech, demanding the removal of white supremacists Steve Bannon, Sebastian Gorka and Stephen Miller from the White House (two of the three are gone), and building strong interfaith alliances locally and nationally.

8. This was the year the world said no to nuclear weapons. While Donald Trump taunted North Korea’s Kim Jung Un (“Little Rocket Man”) and threatened to tear up the Iran nuclear deal, on July 7, 122 of the world’s nations showed their rejection of nuclear weapons by adopting an historic Nuclear Weapons Prohibition Treaty. The treaty, opposed by all nine nuclear states, is now open for signatures and the ban will come into effect 90 days after being ratified by 50 states. The organization that promoted this ban is The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN), an alliance of 450 nongovernmental organizations in about 100 countries. It was thrilling to learn that ICAN was awarded this year’s Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo. The treaty and the Peace Prize are indications that despite the intransigence of the nuclear-armed states, the global community is determined to ban nuclear weapons.

9. ISIS no longer has a caliphate. For peace activists, it’s hard to put forth military actions as victories, especially when these actions incur a large civilian toll. This is indeed the case with ISIS, where at least 9,000 civilians were killed in the battle to retake the northern Iraqi city of Mosul. But we do have to acknowledge that taking away ISIS’ territorial base has put a stop to some of the group’s horrific human rights abuses. It will also hopefully make it easier to find a settlement to the dreadful wars that have been raging in Syria and Iraq, and give our government one less excuse for dumping so much of our resources into the military.

10. The global community stood up to Trump’s stance on Jerusalem. In a stinging rebuke of President Donald Trump’s controversial decision to declare Jerusalem the capital of Israel, 128 countries, including some of the US’s most trusted and reliable allies, voted in favor of a United Nations resolution calling for a reversal of his position. Despite the threat from US Ambassador to the UN Nikki Haley that the US would be “taking names” of those who voted against it, only nine countries voted with the US and 25 abstained. The resolution isn’t binding, but it’s a stark illustration of just how isolated the United States is in its stance toward Israel.

As we head into the new year, let’s keep ourselves inspired by the hard work of folks at home and abroad who gave us something to cheer about for 2017. May we have a much longer list in 2018.

Article printed from www.counterpunch.org: https://www.counterpunch.org

URL to article: https://www.counterpunch.org/2017/12/26/10-good-things-about-a-terrible-year

New Year's Eve Music with Andre Rieu, Put on your dancing shoes and get ready!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iyu45zILLT8

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

"ARCWP Colombia: God's Image is Reflected in Both Women and Men" by Olga Lucia Alvarez Benjumea ARCWP

https://evangelizadorasdelosapostoles.wordpress.com/2017/12/26/arcwp-colombia-dios-no-es-en-modo-alguno-a-imagen-del-hombre-no-es-ni-hombre-ni-mujer-olga-lucia-alvarez-benjumea/

"Why are you so cold, these Christmas days?" A very special friend of mine asked me, and he has every right to ask me that question.

I fell into a deep silence ... I just wanted to remember, listen and observe what was happening around me.

Few mangers in sight ... it was not like in ataño, grandmothers, mothers and aunts, in the tradition they did. TV, radio, did not extinguish the bombs of war, that between brotherly peoples, to the East in pain, and death enveloped. Here, in my town, the baffles, the full orchestra, the gunpowder, the magic of the colored lights, the liquor, drown the birth of Emmanuel, the humanized God, ignore, ignore, confuse, his message could not be heard .

"What was born, girl or boy?" It was the question, when a new child was born in the family, to the midwife or doctor, it was done. "A girl!" They answered. The father puts his hands on his head: "Now, what do I tell my friends?" Between beer and beer "celebrating" with friends: "It's not your fault, nor mine, is that the mother-in-law had only little women ... "

Revindico, with pride and joy, Christmas, and the role of Mary the mother of Jesus! Without Mary, I would not have given "yes", we would not have Christmas, we would not have salvation, nor possible redemption. Without Maria, we would not have known her voice, strong in the Magnificat!

Every time a child is born, or a child, how many times we look at him, there is present the image of God, who returns and incarnates in our families, in our homes, neighborhoods, towns and nations.

In each birth, we claim the image of God, that dignifies us and that Baptism rekindles us. It is proper for human beings to recognize the dignity of daughters of God (GS 12.3).

The following text is not mine, neither of the feminists, nor of the women priests, it is of the Catechism of our Church. Nor has anything to do with "sextremista" that I try to get out of the manger, in Rome. the figure of the God-Child. *

"God is not, in any way, in the image of man. He is neither man nor woman. God is pure spirit, in which there is no place for the difference of sexes. "370 (Catechism of the Roman Catholic Church).

HAPPY CHRISTMAS EASTERS: EMANUEL, GOD IS WITH US.

"What Christmas Means" by Chris Hedges

My response: As I read this article, I think of Pope Francis, who preaches the Gospel of joy in the spirit of Jesus -from the side of the oppressed- liberating the oppressor. All of us are called to be prophets, mystics and saints in our world today.

Loving God, may we work for equality, transform oppression, challenge "malignant power" that exploits and abuses our sisters and brothers, and, may we be the loving, compassionate face of Christ in our world in 2018. Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP, www.arcwp.org

https://www.truthdig.com/articles/what-christmas-means/

..."The radicalism of the Christian Gospel would be muted, distorted and denied by the institutional church once it came to power in the third century. It would be perverted by court theologians, church leaders and, in the 20th century, fascists. It would be mangled by the heretics in the Christian right to sanctify the worst aspects of American imperialism and capitalism. The Bible unequivocally condemns the powerful. It is not a self-help manual to become rich. It does not bless America or any other nation. It was written for the powerless, for those the theologian James Cone calls the crucified of the earth. It was written to give a voice to, and affirm the dignity of, those being crushed by malignant power and empire.

Undocumented parents living in mortal fear of being seized by immigration agents and being separated from their children, African-Americans living in the hellish violence of south Chicago, know the true meaning of Christmas. They feel what Mary and Joseph felt. Fear, even terror, is the foundation of Christmas...

Writer James Baldwin said he left the pulpit to preach the Gospel. There is more Gospel in Baldwin than in most Sunday sermons or theological texts. Those who proclaim the Gospel are outcasts, including from the institutional church. They are often branded as heretics. They defy power. They stand with the oppressed. And when you stand with the oppressed you are treated like the oppressed.

“Being in jail on Christmas day is not just counter-cultural, but anti-cultural,” wrote the Rev. Daniel Berrigan from his cell on Christmas 1993, imprisoned for one of his many acts of civil disobedience. “The culture has no sense of Christ’s spirit. People spend billions of dollars in an orgy of consumption, exchanging presents while ignoring the plight of the poor and the demands of discipleship. As George Anderson of St. Al’s says, ‘We cannot mark Christmas without remembering—and taking up—the cross. Instead of marking this day with the cultural spirit of materialism, we sit here in poverty. The only gifts we have to give each other are a piece of bread and an embrace of peace in Jesus’ name. That is more than enough.”

...The Christmas story is about learning how to be human, about kneeling before a newborn infant who is helpless, vulnerable, despised and poor. It is about inverting the world’s values. It is about understanding that the religious life—and this life can be lived with or without a religious creed—calls on us to protect and nurture the least among us, those demonized and rejected.

I have seen the infant Jesus in the United Nations feeding stations during the famine in Sudan, in the squalid and overcrowded refugee camps in Gaza, in the rubble of wartime Sarajevo and in America’s inner cities, where children go to bed hungry and live in fear. I have seen too the spirit of Christmas. As a boy I saw it in my father during civil rights demonstrations and in street protests against the Vietnam War, ones he joined as a minister and a World War II veteran. I saw it in his standing up for gays and lesbians at a time when the church chastised clergy who championed gay rights. I saw it when he gave his annual sermon to raise money for orphans, a sermon he never managed to complete. He tried each year to tell the stories of these abandoned boys and girls. His voice always gave way to tears. I listened, along with the hushed congregation, to my father weep for the infant Christ, unable to continue. There was an elderly woman in our church who set up the candles before every service. She struggled with dementia. She was often unsure which end of the candle was supposed to be inserted into the base. My father, without saying a word, would help her place the candle in the holder. He did this every week. These tiny, often unseen acts of kindness, ones that take place in war and peace, are humankind’s meaning.

I met with the Rev. Coleman Brown, the university chaplain and my professor, once a week when I was an undergraduate at Colgate University. He gave me books to read by Reinhold Niebuhr, Paul Tillich, William Stringfellow, Martin Luther King Jr. and Fyodor Dostoyevsky. One winter’s afternoon, as sheets of snow fell outside his office window, he read to me T.S. Eliot’s poem, “Journey of the Magi.”

In this poem the wise men make the long and arduous journey to the infant Jesus. This is not only a physical journey. It is a spiritual journey. Eliot writes:

A cold coming we had of it,
Just the worst time of the year
For a journey, and such a long journey:
The ways deep and the weather sharp,
The very dead of winter.

The magi turn their backs on their old world to embrace one that is alien, obscure and perplexing. They are full of doubt. They feel pain, not joy, “with the voices singing in our ears, saying that this was all folly.” There is no sudden epiphany. There is only bewilderment. They become aliens in their own land, “with the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly.” Faith, they find—this new faith—is exhausting and even disillusioning. Eliot concludes:

All this was a long time ago, I remember,
And I would do it again, but set down
This set down
This: were we led all that way for
Birth or Death? There was a Birth, certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt. I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different; this Birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us, like Death, our death.
We returned to our places, these kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here, in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death..."

Solemnity of Christmas, Monday, December 25, 2017, 10 am. The Community of St. Bridget: An Inclusive Catholic Community at BUCC Presider: Mary Eileen Collingwood, ARCWP

Mary Eileen Collingwood ARCWP, Presides at Christmas Liturgy in Cleveland, Ohio

A genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of Miriam, the daughter of Anna:

Sarah was the mother of Isaac,

And Rebekah was the mother of Jacob,

Leah was the mother of Judah,

Tamar was the mother of Perez,

The names of the mothers of Hezron, Ram, Amminadab, Nahshon and Salmon have been lost.

Rahab was the mother of Boaz,

and Ruth was the mother of Obed.

Obed's wife, whose name is unknown, bore Jesse.

The wife of Jesse was the mother of David.

Bathsheba was the mother of Solomon,

Naamah, the Ammonite, was the mother of Rehoboam.

Maacah was the mother of Abijam and the grandmother of Asa.

Azubah was the mother of Jehoshaphat.

The name of Jehoram's mother is unknown.

Athaliah was the mother of Ahaziah,

Zibiah of Beersheba, the mother of Joash.

Jecoliah of Jerusalem bore Uzziah,

Jerusha bore Jotham; Ahaz' mother is unknown.

Abi was the mother of Hezekiah,

Hephzibah was the mother of Manasseh,

Meshullemeth was the mother of Amon,

Jedidah was the mother of Josiah.

Zebidah was the mother of Jehoiakim,

Nehushta was the mother of Jehoiachin,

Hamutal was the mother of Zedekiah.

Then the deportation to Babylon took place.

After the deportation to Babylon

the names of the mothers go unrecorded.

These are their sons:

Jechoniah, Shealtial, Zerubbabel,

Abiud, Eliakim, Azor and Zadok,

Achim, Eliud, Eleazar,

Matthan, Jacob and Joseph, the husband of Miriam.

Of her was born Jesus who is called Christ.

The sum of generations is therefore:

fourteen from Sarah to David's mother;

fourteen from Bathsheba to the Babylonian deportation;

and fourteen from the Babylonian deportation to Miriam,

the mother of Christ.

Gathering Hymn: #341: O Come, All Ye Faithful – Genia P. Haddon/adapt

O come, all ye faithful, joyful and triumphant,

O come ye, O come ye to Bethlehem.

Come and behold this child born of Mary!

Refrain: O come, let us adore them, O come, let us adore them,

O come, let us adore them, Mother and Child!

Sing choirs of angels, sing in exultation,

Sing, all you messengers of God's holy word.

Glory to God in-carnate, all glory. R

Christ-child, we greet thee, born this happy morning,

Born of the Woman Mary, glory given;

Word of creation, now in flesh appearing. R

P: My sisters and brothers, we gather today to rejoice in the presence of the

Holy One, who abides as Spirit in each of you!

ALL: And also with you!

P: Welcome, Everyone! (optional) For those of you who are celebrating with

us for the first time, I am Mary Eileen Collingwood, a bishop with the

Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, and your presider here

this happy morning! On behalf of Ann Klonowski, my sister priest and

co-presider here at the CSB, Sue Guzik, our deacon, and all the members of the CSB, we wish you a very blessed and holy Christmas season. I also want to thank Jan Snow, our pianist here this morning, for sharing her talent with us to make this a wonderful uplifting celebration. For those who are new, and those who have returned after an absence, know that your presence always enriches us during our time of celebration together. All of you are always welcome at this Table, and our hearts are glad and honored to be with you. And so, we begin in the name of the Divine: Source of All Being, Eternal Word, and Holy Spirit.

ALL: Amen.

Blessing of the Manger (sprinkling of manger and assembly)

O Holy Creator of every nation and people, from the beginning of creation you have manifested your love. When our need for you was great, you sent Jesus to be born of Mary. Into our lives Jesus brings joy and peace, justice, compassion, and love. O Holy One, bless all who look upon this manger. May it remind us of the humble birth of the Holy Child and raise our thoughts to the one who is God-with-us and who lives and loves forever. Amen.

Transformation Rite:

P: The One we awaited is already among us. Do we have the courage to see?

1. Most Tender Being, as you gift us with your constant presence, it is with Joy that we have begun to see that the One we have longed for is already with us, waiting for our acceptance, hoping for our recognition.

ALL: Transform us, O Holy One!

2. Open our hearts, as well as our eyes, to see the Wonder that you are as you enter into our lives with your tender compassion and gentle love

ALL: Transform us, O Holy One!

May we rejoice in your work in us and in our world, calling us to be your

living and abiding presence for one another and for our world, becoming

messengers of hope and love, compassion and peace as we celebrate your living in us and among us.

Gloria: # 347: Angels We Have Heard on High

Refrain: Gloria in excelsis Deo! (x2)

Angels we have heard on high, sweetly singing o’er the plains;

And the mountains in reply echo back their joyous strains. R

Shepherds why this jubilee? Why your joyous strains prolong?

Say what may the tidings be, which inspire your heavenly song. R

Come to Bethlehem and see, Him whose birth the angels sing;

Come adore on bended knee, Jesus Christ our newborn kin. R

See him in a manger laid, whom the choirs of angels praise;

Mary, Joseph, lend your aid, while our hearts in love we raise. R

Opening Prayer:

P: O God, you have sent Jesus to earth to show us how to live life

fully. He laughed, cried, walked and talked, and by his

example, we learn how to love and be loved. O Holy One,

there is nothing we could experience that you do not

understand. We know that your mothering presence is always

with us. May we, like Mary, rejoice as we give birth to God

within us, and may we give birth to God in everything we say

and do. ALL: Amen

LITURGY OF THE WORD

First Reading: Isaiah 52: 7-10

Reader: The inspired words of the prophet, Isaiah.

ALL: Amen.

Responsorial: #95: All the ends of the earth have seen the power of

God (x2)

Second Reading: Hebrews 1: 1-6

Reader: The inspired words of the apostle, Paul.

ALL: Amen.

Gospel

Acclamation: 8 Alleluias

“A holy day has dawned upon us. Come, you nations, and

adore God. Today a great light has come upon the earth.”

8 Alleluias

Gospel: Luke 2: 15-20

Reader: The inspired words of the evangelist, Luke.

ALL: Amen.

HOMILY: Christmas Day 2017

Our Advent journey this year was centered around “Imaging God Together.” No one can really accomplish this alone. It takes a community supporting and encouraging one another in prayer and action to truly image what our Christian vocation is all about. And as we continue on this path of discovery, we experience the Creative Spirit working in the darkness of night, the earth, and the womb.

As the hymn says: The shepherds kept their watching o’er silent stars by night, and behold, throughout the heavens there shown a holy light. (Traditional)

And we know that seeds are planted in the darkness of earth’s soil, and behold, the flowers bloom toward the light.

The child is formed in the darkness of the mother’s womb, and behold, is born into the light of day.

And today, the day we have anticipated these last four weeks, we gather together to behold, the rebirth of Christ in our lives. We celebrate becoming once again, the people who honor Emmanuel, God-with-us.

We honor Mary, the Mother of Jesus, who carried him in her womb and birthed him. She was literally, the bearer of Christ.

And we have this manger, a symbol of the first manger that the Babe was placed in after birth—another bearer of Christ.

And we have been told, and have come to know through faith, that every time we break bread together and receive from this Table, we become what we experience, the Body of Christ, and are bearers of Christ for our world.

In essence, we are asked this Christmas Day to make a dwelling place within ourselves and within our world for the Christ.

We are celebrating hope born again:

A ray of hope, flickers in the sky

A shiny star lights up way up high.

All across the land, dawns a brand-new morn

This comes to pass, when a child is born. (music/Ciro Dammicco, lyrics/Fred Jay)

Ah, but this Christmas Child is born, and appears as a troublesome child.

As troublesome as the Word that stirred the deep waters to let God’s voice be heard.

This Christmas Child is a spirited child, who seems to question the law and flouts the face of every pious convention, who laughs and plays the fool.

This Christmas Child is a generous child, excessively extravagant,
who spends his life of hope to recreate and bless.

This Christmas Child is a dangerous child, who becomes the prophet,
whose vision takes a thorny path, whose cross may be our own.

This Christmas Child is a radiant child, whose peace the angels sing,
whose star no darkness overcomes, and illuminates everything with his very life. (adapted/lyric by Shirley Erena Murray)

Providentially, Pope Francis recently shared a similar message with the Roman Curia:

“Christmas reminds us that a faith that does not put itself in crisis, is a faith in crises.

A faith that does not grow, is a faith that must grow.

A faith that does not question the church, is a faith that we must question.

A faith that does not animate the church, is a faith that must be re-animated.

A faith that does not upset the church, is indeed, a faith that must be upset.”

Sounds very much like what the Christmas Child is all about, doesn’t it?

We are called to be the earthen vessels that allow this Holy Child to live once again.

Behold a treasure, not made of gold, in earthen vessels wealth untold. One Treasure only, Jesus the Christ, in earthen vessels. (adapted/St. Louis Jesuits)

May we all be blest this Christmas as we become once again, the earthen vessels that carry the presence and message of Jesus born anew this very day!

Merry Christmas!

Profession of Faith:

O Holy One, Creator of this vast universe:

We believe that you are not far from us,

and that your loving care is shown

in the life, ministry, death, and continued presence

of Jesus, the Christ whom you sent

to show us the way to your living presence.

We believe that each of us is called

to continue your presence and your work in this world,

by loving and caring for one another.

We believe that no one is beyond

the reach of your love,

and so no one should be beyond

the reach of our caring.

We believe that you call us to be

one with you and with one another.

We believe that you will give us

the grace and inspiration of the Holy Spirit

to live fully in your love

when we are open to you.

We believe that you pardon our weaknesses

And use them to teach us how to come to you.

We believe in the resurrection of Jesus in our lives,

and life everlasting in your Divine Presence.

May God, the source of all patience and encouragement,

enable us to live as we believe,

in harmony with one another

so that with our hearts and voice and lives,

we may glorify the God who names us

and calls us to live in the fullness of being. Amen.

Prayer of the Faithful:

P: Always mindful of our Creator’s love and care for us, we now bring to this

Table our blessings, cares, and concerns.

ALL: Spirit Sophia, hear our prayer!

P: Compassionate Presence, hear the prayers of your people. In your

tenderness and love embrace our petitions and hold them and all our

unspoken desires close to your heart.

ALL: Amen.

Sign of Peace:

P: O Life-giving God, we celebrate your fruitful love as we embrace one

another with joy. May the peace that our brother, Jesus, offers be

always with us!

ALL: Amen.

P: Before we prepare the Table and join in prayer with one mind and heart,

let us extend a sign of communion and charity to one another.

Offertory:

P: Blessed are you, God of all life, through your goodness we have this

bread, this wine, all creation, and our own lives to offer. Through this

sacred meal, may we become a new creation.

ALL: Blessed be the Divine Presence forever.

Prayer Over the Gifts:

P: Let us pray… O Holy One, in this bread and this wine you give us food

for body and spirit. May our strength be renewed by your generous

blessings that will bring us health in mind and body.

ALL: Amen.

LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST

P: The Holy One is with you, abounding in love!

ALL: And also with you!

P: Open your hearts in Christ who lives and loves, heals and empowers

through you!

ALL: We open them up to the Holy One.

P: Let us give thanks to the Source of All Life.

ALL: It is right to offer thanks and praise.

P: O Sacred Mystery, Maker of all the universe, you brought forth all

creation from your Life-giving Womb. O Love of the Ages, who was born

from Mary’s womb, we praise you and leap for joy in your presence.

O Holy One of ancient Israel, you revealed yourself in Mary’s womb, in a

shining star, in humble shepherds, in a baby wrapped in swaddling

clothes. You embrace us with infinite love in every situation and

relationship. You dwell in the depths of our hearts.

We invite you this day to set us free, heal us, transform us and empower

us as we gather around the Table of your love. As we celebrate your sacred mystery, in our Creator’s loving embrace, we sing your praise:

ALL: Holy, Holy, Holy One; Spirit of Love and Peace,

Heaven and earth are full of your glory. Hosanna in the highest!

Blessed are all who come in your Holy Name,

Hosanna in the highest. (x2)

Praise to you, all-giving Child, born of Mary. You are the body and blood of woman. We glorify you, our Creator, for the dawning of the sacred promise of the Anointed One, fulfilled in Jesus, the Christ.

We celebrate the birth of Jesus, our newborn Emmanuel who came to give us fullness of life. During this holy season we share the bread of freedom and lift the cup, the new wineskin of compassion.

ALL: We now call the +Spirit of the Living God

upon the gifts of this Eucharistic Table.

May the bread of the grain, and vine of the grape,

become the nourishment we long for,

nurturing afresh within us

the discerning gifts of wisdom, light and truth.

P: As Jesus gave birth to the New Covenant, he took bread, gave thanks,

broke the bread, and shared it with all those present saying:

ALL: Take and eat, this is my very self. (pause)

P: Jesus then raised the cup of blessing, and spoke the grace saying:

ALL: Take and drink of the covenant

made new again through my life in you.

Whenever you remember me like this,

I am among you. (pause)

P: When we share this bread and cup, let us embrace the gospel of

justice and peace as we proclaim this mystery of faith:

ALL: In every creature that has ever breathed, Christ has lived;

In every living being that has passed on before us, Christ has died;

In everything yet to be, Christ will come again;

In our breaking of the bread of earth, Christ is with us still!

As we wait with joyful hearts

for the fulfillment of your birthing power in our own lives,

we remember the prophets, martyrs, saints and mystics

who have gone before us,

and all those we remember as heroes in our church

who inspire us today, both living and dead.

Open us to the in-breaking of your healing love

in every area of our lives, creating within us new life.

When we feel sorrow, give your comfort.

When we are empty, fill us with your fullness.

When we are confused, guide us with your wisdom.

When we are lost, search for us and bring us home.

Embrace us in our brokenness

and help us celebrate Christ’s birth in our lives.

Impregnate the people of God

with the power of a Spirit-filled community of faith.

May your Spirit birth a new world of peace and justice.

May everyone feel accepted and welcome in our community.

P: May we give birth to the Word Made Flesh in us every day of our lives.

May we give birth to the church of our dreams and hopes.

May we give birth to a deep reverence for earth, and live in harmony with

all creatures.

ALL: For it is through learning to live as Jesus lived,

and why he lived,

and for whom he lived,

that we awaken to your Spirit within,

moving us to worship you truly,

O Holy Life-Giver,

at this time and all time and in all ways. (sing) Amen!

P: Let us pray together the Prayer of Jesus:

ALL: O Holy One, you are within, around and among us.

We celebrate your many names.

Your wisdom come, your will be done,

unfolding from the depths within us.

Each day you give us all that we need.

You remind us of our limits, and we let go.

You support us in our power, and we act with courage.

For you are the dwelling place within us,

the empowerment around us,

and the celebration among us,

now and forever. Amen. (Sr. Miriam Therese Winter)

P: Please join in the prayer for the breaking of the bread:

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

live justly.

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

tenderly.

Loving God, You call us to speak truth to power. We will walk with

integrity in your presence.

P: This is the bread of life and the cup of blessing. Through it we are

nourished and we nourish each other.

ALL: What we have heard with our ears, we will live with our lives;

as we share communion, we will become communion,

both Love’s nourishment and Love’s challenge.

P: Our Eucharistic celebration is all-inclusive. You are a spark of the

Divine and nothing can separate you from the Holy One’s love. All are

welcome to receive at this Table.

Communion Hymn: #363: sung to the tune of: “O Little Town of Bethlehem” (words by Jann Aldredge-Clanton, Eakin Press, 2006)

O Holy Darkness, Loving Womb, who nurtures and creates;

Sustain us through the longest night with dreams of open gates.

We move inside to mystery that in our center dwells,

Where streams of richest beauty flow from sacred living wells.

Creative Darkness, closest Friend, you whisper in the night;

You calm our fears as unknown paths surprise us with new sight.

We marvel at your bounty, your gifts so full and free,

Unfolding as you waken us to new reality.

O Holy Night of deepest bless, we celebrate your power;

Infuse us with your energy that brings our seeds to flower.

The voice out of the darkness excites our warmest zeal,

To bring together dark and light, true holiness reveal.

O come to us, Sophia, your image black and fair,

Stirs us to end injustice and the wounds of earth repair.

The treasures of your darkness and riches of your grace

Inspire us to fulfill our call, our sacredness embrace.

Prayer After Communion:

P: Life-giving God,

as we find ourselves wrapped in this season of wonder and light,

the astonishment that is life ignites our spirits,

and we feel, if merely for a moment,

that we are as we were meant to be.

May we hold fast to this sliver of mystery,

this truth upon which we understand who we are.

May we call ourselves back to it time and again.

May the sacredness of life enfleshed in a Holy Babe,

fill us with the wonder that is our life:

its hope, its peace, its joy, its love.

ALL: Amen.

Announcements

While there will not be a social gathering after our liturgy today, so that everyone can get home to celebrate with their family and friends, our next liturgy here at the CSB will be held on Saturday, Dec. 30^th at 5pm, when we will celebrate the Feast of the Holy Family. All are welcome!

Before we take leave, I would like to thank our musicians with us today, Ann and Kate Klonowski for sharing their beautiful voices, and Jan Snow accompanying us on the piano. Thank You! We are blest by your gifts of talent and presence!

And, once again, I thank everyone here today for your courage to worship in a spirit of equality and justice!

Blessing:

P: Everyone please extend your hands in mutual blessing:

May our mothering God bring us to birth in every area of our living.

May Emmanuel, God-with-us, fill us with radiant joy.

May we be creators of hope in our world, and

May God bless us always with divine strength

to walk justly and serve generously all those we encounter.

And in so doing,

May we be blessed in the name of the Divine: Source of

All Being, Eternal Word, and +Holy Spirit.

ALL: Amen.

P: Let us birth Christ anew in our world today, as we

go forth with faith to ponder in our hearts the mystery and the

wonder of this holy season.

ALL: Thanks be to God!

P: Please join in our Closing Hymn: #362: "Good Christian Friends,

Rejoice!” – John Mason Neale, 1853, alt., Gretta Vosper, 2007

Good Christian friends, rejoice,

with heart and soul and voice!

Give ye heed to what we say:

All our dreams are born today.

Love has come to lead the way

and will with us forever stay,

Dreams are born today!

Good Christian friends, rejoice,

with heart and soul and voice!

Now ye hear of endless bliss:

Every child was born for this.

Love has opened heaven’s door

and we are blest for evermore.

Joy is born today!

Good Christian friends, rejoice,

with heart and soul and voice!

Wondrous news have we to tell:

Love with us is born to dwell.

Born within, it outward grows

and then to all the world, it flows.

Love is born today!

“We thank You for this holy season which reminds us of your love and gifts always present and active in our lives. Amen.

Translate

Saturday, December 30, 2017

NCR Podcast: A Catholic take on the #MeToo Movement

Friday, December 29, 2017

"Seeing is believing: Why Catholics need women deacons" by Nicole Sotelo, National Catholic Reporter

José María Castillo: "In the codification of rights in the Church, women are not mentioned" "Violence has no other solution than to eliminate all inequality in rights"

Pope Want Episcopal Conferences to Decide on Married Priests

"Living is giving" A Tribute to Judy Beaumont RCWP by Bridget Mary Meehan

Thursday, December 28, 2017

"Jesus Died for our Debts, Not Our Sins" by Claire Connelly

Wednesday, December 27, 2017

"10 Good Things About a Terrible Year" By Medea Benjamin , Let's Give Thanks for These Blessings

New Year's Eve Music with Andre Rieu, Put on your dancing shoes and get ready!

Tuesday, December 26, 2017

"ARCWP Colombia: God's Image is Reflected in Both Women and Men" by Olga Lucia Alvarez Benjumea ARCWP

"What Christmas Means" by Chris Hedges

Solemnity of Christmas, Monday, December 25, 2017, 10 am. The Community of St. Bridget: An Inclusive Catholic Community at BUCC Presider: Mary Eileen Collingwood, ARCWP

Bridget Mary's Books: https://www.amazon.com/Books-Bridget-Mary-Meehan/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3ABrid

Dr. Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP