Irish bishops don’t rule out keeping priests with kids By NICOLE WINFIELD , Associated Press- Finally priests with children will be able to come out of shadows!

My Response: Finally, Irish bishops are moving  the Vatican forward in a more just direction toward supporting responsible fatherhood. The injustice that priests with children and their families have suffered violates the Gospel values of compassion and justice.  Soon the door will open wide to married priests, (See article on Brazil requests for married priests) so this is a timely decision. Let the priests return to their partners and children and affirm their love as holy, not something to be hidden. I can imagine the Jesus of history challenging the mandatory male- only and celibate rule for the failure it has been and the injustice it has caused -like a ridiculous albatross squeezing the life and vitality out of  what should have been healthy, mutual relationships in caring families! Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP, www.arcwp.org, sofiabmm@aol.com


VATICAN CITY — Irish bishops, who have taken the lead in addressing the plight of children of Catholic priests, are signaling another envelope-pushing response to a problem that the Catholic Church has long sought to hide.

The Irish bishops’ conference has left open the possibility that a priest who fathers a child could remain in the priesthood under certain circumstances, such as if it’s in the best interest of the child and if the priest respects his vow of celibacy going forward.

“All reasonable and fair options should be considered as possible, so this neither rules in or rules out various outcomes,” said conference executive secretary Monsignor Gearoid Dullea.

Dullea made the comments in an April 10 letter obtained this week by The Associated Press. He was responding to written questions posed to the conference by Vincent Doyle, the Irish son of a priest who has been lobbying the church at large to better care for these secret families.

Doyle founded Coping International, an online self-help resource that also seeks to educate church leaders about the emotional and psychological problems that sometimes afflict priests’ children and their mothers. They often suffer depression, anxiety and other mental health issues due to the silence and stigmatization imposed on them by the church to hide the “scandal” of priests having sex.

Doyle has successfully pressed dioceses and religious orders around the world to adopt guidelines drafted by the Irish bishops that emphasize the wellbeing of the child and the need to respect the mother, rather than focus exclusively on the obligations of the priest.

For Doyle, the wellbeing of the child often depends on the father’s ability to provide financially — difficult when the church’s knee-jerk response is to effectively fire a priest him from a job that has few parallels in secular life.

Pope Francis, for example, has said that if he were confronted with a priest who fathered a child, he would try to persuade him to leave ministry even if he didn’t marry the mother.

“Because the child deserves to have a mother as well as a father with a face,” then-Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio wrote in a 2010 book “On Heaven and Earth.”

Doyle has bristled at such a response, which is common practice in the church. While laicizing the priest may save the church embarrassment and the financial strain of providing for a family, it may not necessarily be in the child’s best interest if the father cannot find work, Doyle said, noting that Francis has frequently extolled the need for “dignified” work for all.

“How can we ethically respond to the birth of a child with an assumption that the biological father must automatically leave his livelihood owing to this child’s existence?” Doyle told The Associated Press.

Doyle says he knows of several destitute former priests who are struggling to care for their families, as well as mothers who can’t openly press for more financial help because the fathers have chosen to remain priests and keep their families secret.

He praised the Irish bishops for having “opened a new path.” In pressing the bishops, Doyle made clear he was not challenging the Catholic tradition of priestly celibacy, and that any such decisions would obviously need to be made on a case-by-case basis, in consultation with the priest’s bishop.

“This is child centered and this is what makes the Irish Episcopal Conference world leaders in terms of safeguarding in this regard,” he said.

The conference declined further comment beyond Dullea’s letter. In it, Dullea stressed that each situation requires careful consideration.

“It is not possible to rule out, at the beginning, any possible response to these situations which involves a simple default position of insisting that a man ‘leave the priesthood,’ or that he automatically be permitted to continue in active ministry,” Dullea wrote.

Let us Pray for Peace in Syria: Most Powerful Force is Love, Letter by James Twyman

"Jimi Hendrix once said: “When the power of love overcomes the love of power, the world will know peace.” Think about those words for a moment. Do you believe that love truly is a powerful force? Is it possible that it’s the ONLY true force in this world? If you do, then I encourage you to keep reading, and then to join me is wielding this power.

Tonight, as I write this letter to you, the US, the UK and France are launching targeted strikes against Syria’s military to cripple its ability to use chemical weapons against its own people. We all know that the civil war in Syria has been a great and terrible blow against humanity, and it’s easy to resort to violence as a means of ending these violent actions by the leadership of Syria. Even as I write these words I can’t say that I know what the right answer is or what the right response should be, but there is one thing I do know: Violence ALWAYS results in more violence. And so as a spiritual peacemaker I know there must be another way, and I believe that we ARE that other way. I believe that when we join our hearts and minds together we become the most powerful force that exists in this world. I’ve been fortunate enough to stand on a hill overlooking Syrian villages held by ISIS, and while standing there I felt the force of millions of people like you ready to claim peace on a higher level. I’ve had the privilege of singing peace prayers in Bagdad (twice) while bombs were being readied to level that country, and while I stood there singing I felt the energy of millions of people who were prepared to use the power love as the only solution for ending that and every conflict. And there have been many, many other times when I’ve traveled to countries where peace seemed impossible, and yet each time I’ve witnessed miraculous powers overcome military powers and prayer overcome political hostilities. I truly believe that focused massive prayer efforts are the most powerful force on this planet. "

"Should women rejoice over 'Gaudete et Exsultate'?" Apr 13, 2018 by Jamie Manson, National Catholic Reporter, My Response: Journey to holiness and wholeness includes women priests in a community of equals

https://www.ncronline.org/news/opinion/grace-margins/should-women-rejoice-over-gaudete-et-exsultate

My Response: Pope Francis needs women like Jamie Manson in his life who will raise his consciousness that the journey to holiness includes affirming everyone's God-given gifts and call- including women priests. Many women priests would be open to sharing their call and experiences. So far, no invitations have been forthcoming!
Francis keeps going down the same rabbit holes with bad, misogynist "jokes" like comparing gossiping nuns to terrorists!
 "You know what a gossiping nun is? A terrorist!" Francis told the women, according to a Reuters report.

"Because gossip is like a bomb," the pope added. "One throws it, it causes destruction and you walk away tranquilly. No terrorist nuns!" 

I smiled when I read Jamie Manson's tongue and cheek response: "Francis, of all people, should know that gossip is a far graver problem among the men in the Curia than it could ever be among women in the supermarket.Sure, Francis was making an attempt at humor here, but it was another example of one of his "jokes" straying uncomfortably into misogynist territory. (Remember the wisecracks about Adam's rib and the priests being controlled by female housekeepers?)"

Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP, www.arcwp.org, sofiabmm@aol.com

Jamie Manson's article:

"The first impressions of Pope Francis' apostolic exhortation, Gaudete et Exsultate, are in and, not surprisingly, the reviews are glowing.

And with good reason: in his reflection on the universal call of all of God's people to holiness, Francis taps into one of the richest dimensions of the Catholic imagination. That is, the notion that those who live in our midst, from our next-door neighbor to the homeless person on the street, can, and often do, reflect God's presence.

As has been the hallmark of so many of Francis' teachings, in Gaudete et Exsultate, he reserves special concern for the plight of the migrant, the destitute, the abandoned and the enslaved.

But, sadly, another hallmark of Francis' theological vision also resurfaces in this latest work: his narrow view of a woman's purpose in the world.

It comes out early in the document in Paragraph 16, where Francis imagines a woman having encounters in her daily life that are also invitations to take a "step foward in holiness."

Perhaps Francis thought he was being cutting edge by using a female character in his paradigmatic example of the path to holiness, but the scenario reveals that his perception of women's lives continues to be painfully antiquated.

Those who have heard Francis' countless glorifications of motherhood and homemaking will not be surprised that the woman is a young mother who is out shopping. Her first moment of spiritual struggle comes in the urge to gossip. She declines. Then her child wants to talk with her. She is tired, but decides to listen with patience and love. When anxiety befalls her in the evening, she recalls "the love of the Virgin Mary" and picks up "her rosary and prays with faith."

These examples may seem rather innocuous to the occasional reader of Francis, but those who listen to him regularly will recognize that he is reasserting, for the umpteenth time, his belief that women's most essential vocation, and her true path to holiness, comes in motherhood and nurturing her family.

Related: It's time to be honest about Pope Francis and women

Another of Francis' recurring themes also emerges here: a woman's temptation to gossip. For the pope, gossip is no venial sin. In fact, he considers it to be "an act of terrorism," as he told a group of cloistered nuns during his recent visit in Peru in January.

"You know what a gossiping nun is? A terrorist!" Francis told the women, according to a Reuters report.

"Because gossip is like a bomb," the pope added. "One throws it, it causes destruction and you walk away tranquilly. No terrorist nuns!"

"Francis, of all people, should know that gossip is a far graver problem among the men in the Curia than it could ever be among women in the supermarket."

Sure, Francis was making an attempt at humor here, but it was another example of one of his "jokes" straying uncomfortably into misogynist territory. (Remember the wisecracks about Adam's rib and the priests being controlled by female housekeepers?)

These clichés give the sense that one of women's greatest spiritual temptation is to dish the dirt. Francis, of all people, should know that gossip is a far graver problem among the men in the Curia than it could ever be among women in the supermarket.

Even when Francis speaks well of women in this document, he cannot help but see the path to holiness through a gendered lens. For example, he speaks highly of women saints whose great faith has produced reforms in the church through their "feminine styles of holiness" and "attractiveness."

These women, he writes, were lifted up by the Holy Spirit "in times when women tended to be most ignored or overlooked." This, of course, begs the question of when exactly the time was that women weren't treated this way. Francis seems oblivious to the fact that, in his own church, women have been mostly ignored or overlooked from the third century to the present.

To his credit, Francis does recognize, in Paragraph 3, the important witness of "our own mothers, grandmothers, or other loved ones." Unfortunately, he adds the caveat that has shattered millions of women's spirits: "Their lives may not always have been perfect, yet even amid their faults and failings they kept moving forward and proved pleasing to the Lord."

Like so many men before him and around him, Francis cannot rejoice in women’s achievements without feeling the need to point out that we still are not perfect.

If there is any hope worth clinging to in this document, it may be Francis' acknowledgement of "unknown or forgotten women who, each in her own way, sustained and transformed families and communities by the power of their witness."

But five years into his pontificate, this small acknowledgment of anonymous women does little to advance the notion that Francis has offered any progress on the issue of justice for women in the church.

Unfortunately, as with Francis' past statements, his stereotypical characterizations of women will likely be excused away with appeals to his age or his patriarchal culture. His words about women will be held to a lower standard of expectations than all other justice issues.

But rather than give Francis another pass, Gaudete et Exsultate offers an opportunity to recognize that Francis' limited understanding of women and the restrictions he places on women's vocations in the world and the church have serious spiritual ramifications.

In the Gospels, Jesus tells us that the call to holiness is, at its heart, a call to wholeness. Jesus, in Matthew 5:48, calls us to "be perfect" as God is perfect. But this isn't perfection in the sense of failing to meet the highest standard. The word that Matthew uses for perfect, teleios, is rooted in the Greek word telos, and it really means complete or whole.

In Christian terms, our telos is that ultimate purpose to which God calls us. The path to wholeness is an ongoing process of flourishing in which God — who is the fullness of love, generosity, goodness, peace, faithfulness — becomes more and more present within us. Holiness is a journey to become fully alive, to become more completely the being whom God calls us to be.

But Francis' prescribed path to holiness for women will remain narrow as long as he celebrates the patriarchal idea that God created men to be leaders and action-takers and women to be nurturers and servants. The path will remain truncated as long as he continues to exalt ideas that justify the rule of men over women.

Can women really achieve wholeness is an institutional church that does not see them as equal? Can women grow into holiness under a pope who insists that they are incapable of administering sacred rites? Can women reach the fullness of life to which God calls them in a church that rejects their gifts and bars them from ministering to the body of Christ?

As long as these limits remain on a woman's ability to be fully alive in her church, there will be serious limits on the extent to which she can truly rejoice and be glad. :

[Jamie L. Manson is NCR books editor. She received her Master of Divinity degree from Yale Divinity School, where she studied Catholic theology and sexual ethics. Her email address is jmanson@ncronline.org.]

I greet the Beloved One in you, Namaste!

Namaste! Acknowledge the Fullness of Divinity Within Self, and Others , and the Ongoing Process of Transformation
In Prayer Seeds, Joyce Rupp writes:
"Namaste welcomes the other as the Beloved, and accepts each one's less than perfect self with compassionate non-judgment.
I greet the Compassionate One in you .
I greet the kindness in you.
I greet the spirit of the ancestors in you
I greet the strength to endure in you.
I greet the gift of laughter in you.
I greet the dancing muse of creativity in you.
I greet the listening heart in you.
I greet the radiant light in you.
I greet the deep peace in you.
I greet the gift of hope in you.
I greet the Holy One's strength in you.
I greet the divine beauty in you.
I greet the playful child in you.
I greet the strength to surrender in you
I greet the Beloved One in you. "

"Race, Religion and Resistance" Excellent Documentary

https://www.cbsnews.com/video/race-religion-resistance/

"Pope Francis Requests that Roman Catholic Priests be given Right to Get Married" by Matilda Long, Yahoo News UK

https://www.yahoo.com/news/pope-francis-requests-roman-catholic-priests-given-right-get-married-163603054.html?soc_src=hl-viewer&soc_trk=fb

My Response: It is about time. I am happy we are returning to our ancient tradition of  a married clergy. Optional celibacy will open the doors to hopefully a more balanced priesthood where there is choice. Now we need the institutional church to accept women priests and finally say and mean "equality means equality!" Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP, sofiabmm@aol.com, www.arcwp.org

"The request applies to priests in Brazil, and is on the agenda for an upcoming synod (church council) in the Amazon region.

The controversial move would address the critical shortage of men joining the priesthood – but is likely to drive divisions through the church by enraging conservative factions.

A small number of married Roman Catholic priests already exist, including previously married Anglican vicars who have joined the church.

A request to lift the ban on marriage was made by Brazilian bishop Cardinal Claudio Hummes, who reportedly asked the Pope to consider ‘viri probati’, meaning married of great faith, as priests."

Canadian women take New York by storm as Peterborough MP speaks at United Nations Rosemary Ganley is part of a Canadian delegation to the UN by ROSEMARY GANLEY Peterborough Examiner

https://www.thepeterboroughexaminer.com/opinion-story/8389665-canadian-women-take-new-york-by-storm-as-peterborough-mp-speaks-at-united-nations/

I visited the Big Apple recently, the first time in 20 years. What I saw was two Canadian women taking the town by storm, each in difference sectors.

I was hanging out with an Inuk woman, President Rebecca Kudloo of the Inuit Women of Canada (Pauktuutit), from Baker Lake in Nunavut, and with the head of the Metis women of Canada, Melanie Omeniho. They were part of our delegation to the annual UN Conference on Women. They were such fun to be with: Speaking poignantly about their groups, tipping cabbies lavishly ("they have families to support") and making an impression everywhere with their authenticity. They wanted to see a Broadway musical, and I was game.

Ten blocks from our hotel was Times Square and there, at the Stephen Sondheim Theatre, the musical about the life of American songwriter Carole King was playing to sold-out crowds. King had written more than 100 hit songs in the '60s, including You've Got a Friend.

Here's the Canadian connection: the show, called Beautiful, stars Chilina Kennedy of Toronto, formerly of Stratford and Shaw, a demon of a piano player and singer, who rightfully earns a standing ovation every night.

Here's another New York story: at intermission, naturally, the line-up for the men's washroom is short; for the women's, long. The usher calls out briskly, "Ladies, pee with purpose, please!" Did our best to comply.

Some 12 or 14 blocks away, on the East River, the impressive United Nations compound reaches to the sky. Here, Peterborough's Maryam Monsef, Minister of Status of Women, was head of the Canadian delegation, some 200 people, who had come to the 62nd annual UN Commission on Women meeting.

We were from civil society organizations who work with women, civil servants, elected MPs and MPPs, cabinet ministers and staff from the Canadian Mission to the UN, who were affable hosts all week. At one reception, Monsef had us navigate to a part of the room for our sector, then find a person from another group and spend five minutes catching up. I nailed Speaker of the House Geoff Regan. "You do a good job," I told him. A Maritimer, with the usual sense of humour, Regan answered, "My wife thinks so."

Monsef's ease at hosting, and her friendly, down- to-earth style make her easy to relate to and fosters community. Then, her formidable intellect readies her to deliver up to four speeches a day on different topics. I was there and I saw it. This is not a political piece, it is a paean of praise from an older woman to a gifted younger one.

One morning, she addressed a breakfast meeting of 600 people from around the world on engaging men and boys in the work of progress for women. A little later, it was a keenly received speech on accountability for civil society organizations in receipt of money from any source, along with a helpful handout prepared by Canadian John Reed, that was quickly snapped up, especially by reps from developing countries.

Then on to a lunch talk on gender-based budgeting with Finance Minister Bill Morneau, and finally a rousing five-minute speech in the General Assembly on Canada's progress in gender equality. Canadian commitment now is widely praised at the UN as global leadership par excellence.

Pontifical Commission for Latin America Proposes Synod on Women, My Response: Women are not the issue, patriarchy is.

http://www.heraldcourier.com/news/vatican-commission-proposes-a-synod-on-women/article_7f41d268-c1ea-5d98-b7e5-46573d88dfc2.html

Pope Francis greets a woman in 2017 at the blessing of the cornerstone of Talitha Qum homeless shelter in Cartagena, Colombia. At the end of their plenary meeting March 6-9 at the Vatican, members of the Pontifical Commission for Latin America proposed that the Church hold a Synod of Bishops “on the theme of the woman in the life and mission of the Church.” (Credit: Paul Haring/CNS.)

My Response:Women are not the issue, patriarchy is. Any Synod on women must be led by women and women need to be voting members, otherwise, it will be another going down the rabbit hole! When will the Vatican ever learn? Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP, www.arcwp.org


https://cruxnow.com/vatican/2018/04/11/pontifical-commission-for-latin-america-proposes-synod-on-women/

Other articles that may be of interest about Pope Francis and apology for sex abuse etc.

https://mobile.nytimes.com/2018/04/11/world/americas/pope-francis-sex-abuse-apology.html

https://www.sltrib.com/religion/2018/04/12/in-extraordinary-move-pope-francis-admits-he-made-grave-errors-in-chile-sex-abuse-case/

Westar on the Road, Contemporary Scholarship- Searching for Truth in Bible, Christianity Seminar

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbkvQcf6kJg

Biblical Literacy is important, public discussion about historical Jesus, meaning of Bible for today. 
What is the context of the Bible and Christianity?
We are interpreters of the Gospel. 

Ruby's Memorial Service by Judy Lee RCWP

https://judyabl.blog/2018/04/11/rubys-memorial-service/

Ruby Tuesday, also known as Stacie Pearce, had a beautiful and heartfelt send-off yesterday. Here are some highlights from the Memorial Service for Ruby Tuesday yesterday afternoon-Tuesday April 10 from about 4-6 PM on the river front in Fort Myers, Florida.

I started the Service off with the help of four of the members of Good Shepherd Ministry, Harry Lee Gary, Brenda Cummings, Kathy Roddy,and Judy Alves and Pastor Marina Teresa Sanchez leading the singing: This is the day, the Lord has made, Let us rejoice and be glad in it” and This is Holy Ground. Then Rev. Ron Willis of Love and Compassion Ministries opened the Service with prayer and shared his reflections of Ruby’s road and closeness to Jesus. He, and all of the others who shared their memories also noted that Ruby could stretch our abilities to help. He told, with humor, a story of taking her to breakfast before an important meeting with all the difficulties of managing Ruby’s large cart of personal items.

Janet Bartos, Director of the Coalition shared how Ruby taught her how to relate to homeless people by commenting with dry humor on her very nice and very proper suit. She emphasized how Ruby attended every Coalition meeting and was a great Advocate for the homeless.

Portia Wright had created a beautiful large portrait of Ruby that we all admired as we remembered Ruby.

We remembered Ruby as an artist and jewelry maker and several commented on her generosity in sharing her work with others. A painting of lovely houses on a hill that Ruby made has been donated to the Coalition for fund raising by Ruby’s Case Manager who had been gifted with it. We also recalled how she constantly tried to help others, giving much away.

Kathy Sager and others shared how working with Ruby helped them to learn how to be helpful to others who experience the pain and sorrow of physical and mental illnesses and yet demonstrated the unusual strengths that Ruby did.

Kathy Roddy shared how she and Ruby became acquainted at Goodwill Housing in North Fort Myers. While I asked Kathy to reach out to Ruby, Ruby made herself known by appearing every day at dinner time. Kathy was also helpful in getting Ruby’s cat Gouda ready for adoption when Ruby went into Assisted Living Care. Kathy Roddy was moved by the Service and shared how much Ruby had taught her about helping.

Portia Wright then shared the story of fourteen years of knowing Ruby and accompanying her through many moves and changes, sometimes with exasperation but always with patience and love. She reflected on how much Ruby meant to her and her family including her grandson who was present at the Service.She played two beautiful songs on the CD player before the weather suddenly changed and a storm quickly brewed.

I quickly moved to wind it up and after a brief commendation of Ruby to our loving God, and the summing up that Ruby taught many of us here how to serve and we are thankful to her for that and for her courageous life the wind gained tropical storm force. I enjoined the group to join hands in Jesus’ prayer and as just we concluded all that was beautifully laid on tables, food, flowers, and art objects from Ruby began to fly across the area. I said, “well, go in peace but this is either a bad early summer storm or Ruby trying to tell us something”. Many answered definitively as they hastily departed: “It’s Ruby!”

Some aspects of Ruby’s life were like the Tropical storm force winds-capricious, unpredictable and causing chaos. She was one,like some of the other homeless people, who refused to accept that she needed medication for her mental health to be balanced and so it wasn’t. And her physical ills and pain would be equally strong and unpredictable. As she endured chemotherapy for her illness and also endured an unexpected move up to a facility in Punta Gorda she held on tight to her friends and to our loving God. And she kept on caring about and trying to help others. We also reflected on how Ruby is now with God, healed and whole and that was our comfort.
Then we were blown away and drenched to the bone- a new baptism of the Spirit for those who serve ?

In the words of the chorus of the song by the Rolling Stones that bears her chosen name:
“Goodbye, Ruby Tuesday
Who could hang a name on you?
When you change with every new day
Still I’m gonna miss you….”

Let us follow Ruby’s teaching and serve one another,

Love and blessings,
Pastor Judy Lee, RCWP
Good Shepherd Ministries of Southwest Florida

Peg Bowen Shares Sad News of Bob's Passing, Memorial Service Will be Held on Saturday, May 5, 2:00-5:00pm, at Murphy's Funeral Home in Arlington, VA.

Bob and Peg in their Annandale home in N.Virginia in October 2017

Bob, Peg and I enjoyed breakfast at First Watch during the recent Florida visit in February

"My dearest friend and love of my life has passed over to God’s loving eternal embrace. Bob died on Sunday, April 8, 2018, at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery and his funeral mass and burial will be at a date to be determined in the fall.

Family and friends are invited to join us to support one another and celebrate his incredible, full life on Saturday, May 5, from 2:00 – 5:00 pm, at Murphy’s Funeral Home, 4510 Wilson Blvd., Arlington, VA. There will be a viewing and beginning at 4:00 pm, a Memorial Service.

Thank you all for your love and support at this sad time." Peg Bowen

My Response: 
Dear Peg and family as you grieve the loss of dear Bob, my heart breaks for you.

I am grateful for Bob's and your friendship for the past 38 years.

I will miss Bob's loving presence, friendly advice and helpful hands, always ready to assist with household task like changing a light fixture or figuring some mechanical puzzles that I had no idea about. 

I also appreciate Bob's support of our women priests' movement.

He teasingly often asked me the same question:  
 "Bridget, what are you going to do when the Vatican accepts women priests?"

Peg, Bob and I spent many hours talking about the struggles, challenges and joys of our mission to renew the Catholic Church. 

Bob loved played an active role in many of our ARCWP retreats and events.  He was part of our family. Many of our members met Bob during our annual retreats. He worked side by side with Peg- often behind the scenes- to make the magic a beautiful and blessed retreat happen.  

I will miss dear Bob, We will  all miss his loving presence and wise advice - gently inviting us new vistas and possibilities for our future and supporting us on our journeys. 

Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP, www.arcwp.org

Catholic Women Preach: Solemnity of the Annunciation, Elizabeth O'Donnell Gandolfo

"She did not cry, ‘I cannot. I am not worthy,’

Nor, ‘I have not the strength.’

She did not submit with gritted teeth,

                                                       raging, coerced.

Bravest of all humans,

                                  consent illumined her.

The room filled with its light,

the lily glowed in it,

                               and the iridescent wings.

Consent,

              courage unparalleled,

opened her utterly.[1]"

"These words of the poet Denise Levertov remind us that today, the Feast of the Annunciation, is a day on which we celebrate the bright boldness and unparalleled courage of Miriam of Nazreth and of all those who are brave enough to conceive, carry, and give birth to the power of divine love in a world that resists such love, but so desperately needs it. In her poem, “Annunciation,” Levertov expresses regret that our received narratives of this event tell us of “meek obedience;” she laments that “no one mentions courage,” when the truth is that Miriam of Nazareth made a courageous choice when she consented to such a dangerous and momentous mission.

Take a moment to behold this courage of Miriam of Nazareth. Not yet the powerful Queen of Heaven robed in celestial invulnerability, she was a young woman living in a time of great political and economic vulnerability for her people, along with great social and physical vulnerability for women. On that fateful day of Gabriel’s visit, I imagine that she was alone, afraid, and most likely aghast at the strange and startling invitation that she receives from what seems to be an awfully intimidating messenger. How vulnerable Miriam must have felt at this moment. How confused. The text tells us, after all, that she was “greatly troubled.” And with good reason, since prior to Joseph’s dream and acceptance of her condition (Matt. 1:18-25), this unwed and expectant mother is in grave danger. As Catholic feminist theologian Elizabeth Johnson puts it in her book on Mary,  “nothing but public disgrace, endless shame, perhaps a life of begging, perhaps even death loomed before her.”[2]  In Johnson’s view, “[t]he terror of her situation should be allowed once again to fertilize the Christian imagination, which has tended to ‘wrap Mary in an aura of romantic joy’ at finding herself pregnant.’”[3] I would imagine that Miriam’s fear could not have evaporated in the instant Gabriel declared divine favor and she verbally accepted God’s will.  Her rapid flight to the hill country of Judea (Luke 1:39) sure seems to indicate otherwise. Nevertheless, without knowing what lies ahead, without even knowing that Joseph would spare her life, Miriam comes to know herself to be full of grace, lifted by divine love, and capable of mediating God’s prophetic and redemptive action in the world.  From the love of the Mighty One, Mary draws the strength to inhabit her vulnerability with the indomitable courage of a luminous image of God, a bearer of God’s steadfast love for human beings and all of creation.

Now that we have taken a moment to behold the courage of Miriam’s response to the Annunciation, let us consider, on the other hand, the literary foil for her character presented to us in today’s reading from the Book of Isaiah. Here we are invited to behold the cowardice of Ahaz, King of Judah. Faced with the invasion of Judah by Damascus and Israel in the Syro-Ephraimite War, Ahaz chose the security afforded by an alliance with Empire – the Neo-Assyrian Empire, to be precise – rather than trust in God’s promise that the invasion would not succeed. What’s more, Ahaz fearfully refuses to heed the Lord’s request that he ask for a sign of divine favor – “I will not ask! I will not tempt the Lord!” Exasperated, the Lord tells Ahaz that he will give him a sign anyway – the sign would be a virgin who would give birth to a son. You know him –  Emmanuel, God-with-Us. We Christians read this to be a positive prophecy of Christ the Messiah’s birth to the Virgin Mother Mary, but in the context in which it was uttered, the prophecy was intended as an ominous sign of doom and destruction. Doom and destruction for those who do not courageously choose to lean on the God of Life, and who choose instead to lean on the privileges of power, doctrines of national security, and the egregious abuses of Empire.

Ahaz made the cowardly choice of Empire; he chose the false security of alliance with imperial power. Young Miriam, on the other hand, made the courageous choice of collaboration with God’s plan for the Incarnation of Divine Love in a world of fear, loneliness, violence, and oppression. What will we choose? Will we choose the well-worn path of least resistance, clinging to or grasping for the power and privileges that promise us a sense of security, sanctity, and superiority? Will we choose the false assurances of white supremacy, toxic masculinity, wealth accumulation, unbridled gun rights, mass incarceration, nuclear proliferation, and the doctrine of America First? Or will we choose to open ourselves up and say yes to the grace that will empower us to stand with Miriam of Nazareth and, with our words and our lives, declare the greatness of a God who casts the mighty from their thrones and lifts up the lowly?

Emmanuel, God-with-us, does not offer us any assurances that it will be easy, or comfortable, or safe to conceive, carry, gestate, and ultimately incarnate – make flesh – the power of God in our world. Conception is a struggle, pregnancy is a struggle, childbirth is a struggle. And it is a dangerous one. But like Miriam, we can be assured that, when we say yes to this struggle, we will be filled with the grace that we need – the courage, compassion, and creativity that we need – to collaborate in God’s plan to resist the imperial forces of injustice, violence, and oppression, with the incarnation of divine justice, mercy, and love. May it be so. Amen."

[1] http://abidinginhope.blogspot.com/2014/12/poem-denise-levertovs-annunciation.html

[2] Elizabeth Johnson, Truly Our Sister: A Theology of Mary in the Communion of Saints (New York: Continuum, 2004), 230.

[3] Ibid.