From Phoebe to the Synod: Women Deacons and Priests Are Already Here — “What Comes from the Spirit Cannot Be Stopped” by Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP

Deacon Loan Rocher ARCWP  and Priest Mary Kay Daniels ARCWP - Ordination October 2024 in Rome
 

Phoebe’s witness in Romans 16:1-2, the Synod on Synodality’s affirmation of women’s leadership, and the prophetic ministries of the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests (ARCWP) and Roman Catholic Women Priests (RCWP) together reveal the Holy Spirit calling the Church toward the fullness of Gospel equality. In the Synod’s Final Document, paragraph 60 affirmed that “there is no reason or impediment that should prevent women from carrying out leadership roles in the Church” and acknowledged that discernment on women in the diaconate must continue. 

These words echo the reality of the early Church where women like Phoebe served openly as deacons, leaders, benefactors, and trusted ministers within Christian communities. Today, ARCWP and RCWP continue this prophetic witness by embodying a synodal model of Church rooted in baptismal equality, shared leadership, and inclusive sacramental ministry where women serve as deacons, priests, and bishops in communities of equals.

“I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchreae, so that you may welcome her in the Holy One as is fitting among the saints, and assist her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor and leader of many, including myself.”²

Phoebe stands as a luminous witness to the leadership of women in the earliest Christian communities. Paul does not describe her merely as a helper or servant, but as a deacon (diakonos) of the church at Cenchreae. The same Greek word is used elsewhere for ordained ministers, including Paul himself and other male leaders in the early Church. Paul also calls Phoebe a prostatis—a patron, protector, and leader of many, including Paul himself.³ These titles reveal that women exercised recognized ministerial authority, pastoral leadership, and missionary responsibility in the apostolic Church.

For me, Phoebe is not simply a figure from the past. She is a mirror reflecting the future to which the Spirit is calling the Church today. The Synod on Synodality has invited Catholics into deeper listening, shared discernment, and co-responsibility in the life of the Church. In many ways, inclusive Catholic communities led by deacons and priests in ARCWP and RCWP are already living this synodal vision through collaborative leadership, dialogue homilies, open-table Eucharist, and communities where all the baptized are recognized as equal in dignity and giftedness.

Yet, while affirming women’s leadership is an important step, genuine equality in the Church cannot stop short of ordination. Women cannot be fully equal while remaining excluded from sacramental and ordained ministry solely because of gender. Baptismal equality must lead to sacramental equality. Anything less leaves women in a subordinate place within the institutional Church and contradicts the Gospel vision proclaimed by Jesus, who called women and men alike to discipleship, leadership, and service.

The women priests movement witnesses publicly that the Spirit continues to call women to ordained ministry today. Like Phoebe, women priests and deacons carry the Gospel across boundaries of exclusion and injustice. We serve inclusive communities where all are welcome—married or single, LGBTQ+, divorced and remarried, believers and seekers. Around our Eucharistic tables, leadership is shared and the community prays together as a people of equals. In these communities, we experience what the Church can become when hierarchy gives way to partnership and domination yields to mutual service.

Phoebe’s ministry is not an isolated historical footnote hidden in Scripture. She is a prophetic sign for our time. As the Synod calls the Church to become more synodal, participatory, and inclusive, Phoebe reminds us that the future of the Church may actually be a return to the Spirit-filled inclusivity of its beginnings. For the fullness of Gospel equality to flourish, women must be ordained and welcomed fully into every dimension of ecclesial life and sacramental ministry. Only then can the Church truly become the community of equals envisioned by Jesus—rooted in justice, mutual service, compassion, and the liberating love of Christ.

¹ Synod on Synodality, Final Document, Paragraph 60, 2024.
² Romans 16:1-2, inclusive translation.
³ See Gary Macy, The Hidden History of Women’s Ordination; Phyllis Zagano, Women Deacons: Past, Present, Future.

Vatican Statement Supports Women’s Leadership in the Church

 #womenpriestsnow

#ordainwomen

Romans 16:1-2 –

“I commend to you our sister Phoebe, a deacon of the church at Cenchreae, so that you may welcome her in the Holy One as is fitting among the saints, and assist her in whatever she may require from you, for she has been a benefactor and leader of many, including myself.”
—Romans 16:1-2 (inclusive translation)

Phoebe stands as a luminous witness to the leadership of women in the early Christian communities. Paul does not describe her merely as a helper or servant, but as a deacon (διάκονος) of the church at Cenchreae. The same Greek word is used elsewhere for ordained ministers, including Paul himself and other male leaders in the early Church. Phoebe was also called a prostatis—a patron, benefactor, and leader—indicating that she exercised authority, pastoral care, and spiritual leadership within the community.

For women deacons and priests today, Phoebe’s witness is both affirming and prophetic. She reminds us that women’s ordained ministry is not a modern invention but is rooted in the Gospel and in the lived experience of the early Church. Long before institutional barriers excluded women from holy orders, women like Phoebe preached the Good News, led house churches, offered pastoral care, and served as trusted emissaries of the apostolic community.

Phoebe’s story challenges the Church to remember its own origins. The Spirit called women and men alike to ministry through baptism and gifted them for service according to their charisms, not according to gender. In our own time, women deacons and priests continue Phoebe’s legacy by serving inclusive communities where all are welcome at the Eucharistic table and where leadership is shared in a community of equals.

Like Phoebe, women in ordained ministry today carry the Gospel across boundaries of exclusion and injustice. We proclaim through our lives that the Holy One calls women fully and equally to preach, preside, and serve the People of God. Phoebe’s ministry is not an exception hidden in Scripture—it is a signpost pointing toward the Church’s future: a renewed Church rooted in Gospel equality, mutual service, and the liberating love of Christ.

Letting Go into Infinite Love by Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP

When I am tempted to dwell on my past mistakes or failures, I have learned again and again that healing cannot happen if I keep reopening old wounds. Forgiveness of self and others means letting go and trusting that God’s love within us is more than enough to make us whole.

There is a difference between honestly acknowledging our pain and becoming trapped in endless reflection on it. At some point, we are invited to trust enough to let go and allow God’s healing love to mend the wounded places within us and within our relationships. When we surrender ourselves to Infinite Love, our hearts slowly open again. Compassion replaces bitterness, peace quiets our fears, and our prayers become blessings flowing outward to others.

For me, praying with an open heart helps me place the past into God’s loving hands and trust in Divine Providence to guide me forward with greater understanding, humility, and grace. Prayer becomes a kind of divine therapy that gently releases me from useless anxiety over situations that belong to the past and cannot be changed, fixed, or undone.

I am learning that forgiveness and healing invite us not to remain imprisoned by old wounds, but to open ourselves to the transforming power of Infinite Love. As we grow spiritually, we begin to see ourselves and one another more as God sees us — not defined by our failures, fears, or conflicts, but as beloved companions on the journey, completely loved and continually becoming.

This does not erase accountability or the lessons life teaches us through suffering and struggle. Rather, it allows us to move forward with tender hearts, deeper wisdom, and renewed compassion for ourselves and for one another. I believe this is part of the sacred work of becoming ever more fully the Body of Christ in our world today.

Rev.Teresa Keogh ARCWP in Ottawa , Canada: Serving God’s people as a Chaplain, Presider , and Pastor

Teresa is a priest who presides at liturgies -

in  St. Phoebe’s Catholic Community in Ottawa, Canada 

She serves as both a Priest and Music Minister 

Teresa presided at her mother’s and brother’s funeral Liturgy in England

Teresa has served as a Chaplain on a Cruise Ship

Teresa ministers to staff on Cruise Ship

Teresa prays with workers on Cruise Ship Restaurant 

Teresa ministers as a Chaplain in a hospital in Ottawa, Canada

Books by Bridget Mary Meehan on Amazon

 https://author.amazon.com/books

"Come to the Well": A Prayer Journey for Women Called to Ministry Today by Bridget Mary Meehan

https://open.substack.com/pub/bridgetmarymeehan/p/come-to-the-well-a-prayer-journey?r=2kfqor&utm_campaign=post-expanded-share&utm_medium=web

Today we come carrying our own water jars:

our hopes and fears,

our callings and doubts 

our wounds from exclusion

our longing to serve your people.

Meet us here, O Christ,
as you met the Samaritan woman—
without judgment,
without hierarchy,
without fear.

Awaken within us the fountain of living water
that no institution can silence
and no patriarchy can contain.

Amen.

Article in English: "In Spain, the woman priest who defies the Vatican -Christina Moreira ARCWP

https://www.lemonde.fr/le-monde-des-religions/article/2026/05/10/en-espagne-la-femme-pretre-qui-defie-le-vatican_6687671_6038514.html 

"Christina Moreira, who claims the right of women to the priesthood, was excommunicated by the Vatican for coveting a place reserved for men. She continued her vocation as a Priest, which disturbed even the top of the Church, in a Galician parish. By Pierre Terraz (A Coruña (Spain)

In Spain, the woman priest who defies the Vatican

Christina Moreira, who claims the right of women to the priesthood, was excommunicated by the Vatican for coveting a place reserved for men. She continued her vocation as a priestess, which disturbed even the top of the Church, in a Galician parish.

By Pierre Terraz (A Coruña (Spain), special correspondent)

Christina Moreira at the altar of her informal parish in A Coruña, Spain, April 5, 2026.  PIERRE TERRAZ

"This is our low-cost sacristy," Christina Moreira jokes as she opens a locker inside which she retrieves a porcelain chalice and a bottle of Spanish liqueur that will be used as mass wine. This Sunday morning, the woman of religion is busy preparing for the Easter celebration that should soon begin in the heart of this small church in the city center of A Coruña, in northern Spain.

Accustomed to the place, the faithful enter the chapel discreetly nestled on the fourth floor of a residential building by an elevator. Except for this handful of regulars, who have found their way without difficulty and for whom everything seems normal, what is about to happen here is nothing ordinary. The altar is a desk covered with a white tablecloth, the host a loaf of bread bought that morning in a neighborhood bakery, and the priest is a woman.

Ordained in 2015 after an obstacle course, then consecrated bishop in 2025, Christina remembers precisely the day of her call. "I was 14 years old. To prepare for a catechism class, I reread a passage from the Last Supper, Jesus' last supper, surrounded by his apostles. All of a sudden, I was carried to the table next to Christ and I heard him say to me: 'You will do this in memory of me,'" she recalls, still shaken by the event.

Aware that the priesthood was forbidden to women, she decided to open up to her parish priest: a tutelary figure, at the time, for this daughter of Spanish immigrants who had fled the Franco dictatorship (from 1936 to 1975), before landing in the working-class Parisian suburb of Villiers-le-Bel (Val-d'Oise). The latter acknowledges that her vocation seems real, but he orders her never to talk about it again so as not to "hurt" those around her. He encourages her to become a nun, while gradually distancing herself from the young girl. "He wanted to lock me up in a convent, to turn me into a contemplative," says Christina.

A religious procession during the "Semana santa" preceding Easter in the Spanish tradition, in A Coruña, Spain, on April 4, 2026.  PIERRE TERRAZ

What follows is a crossing of the desert. One evening, as she puts on her pajamas, young Christina stands naked in front of the cross hanging on the wall in her room and implores: "Lord, if you call me to serve you, why did you give me this body? Why did you make me a woman? Lost, she finally decided to move away from religion and get closer to her roots.

Obsession

After her baccalaureate, she went to Spain for a holiday during which she decreed that her only goal would be "to go out clubbing and meet boys". There she married a man she had met at a party and moved with him to Galicia at the age of 20. For years, she did everything she could to channel her obsession, which never really left her. Even though she gives catechism classes and invests herself in the life of her parish, Christina refuses to come out again  for fear of being ostracized by the community. A trying period, with a husband who turns out to be violent towards her. In 2010, an event will once again change Christina's destiny. As she reads the motu proprio, a declaration of the pope that promises excommunication to all those who abuse children within the Church, a shock hits her right in the heart. "I was enjoying myself internally as the lines went by. I kept repeating to myself: "Bravo, bravo, my dear Benedict XVI"! It wasn't too soon, with everything we knew... »

At the end of the text, a short mention warns that any woman ordained by a member of the clergy will be entitled to the same treatment, in reaction to an event that took place in 2002 on the Danube: in a boat, seven women were made priests for the first time by male bishops, outside any official jurisdiction of the Catholic Church. "There, we were put squarely on the same level as pedophiles. I was devastated," she says.

The fear of being removed from an institution that she now considers "rotten from the inside" is gone. Christina gets in touch with the "Danube Seven". At the same time, she spoke about her vocation to a Galician priest, Father Victorino, who was the first to support her. "He listened to me without interrupting me and said, 'If you had been a man, you would be a priest today.'"

Immediately excommunicated

Over the course of several discussions, Christina's mystical revelations are studied by the sisters of the community. Christina's call to be a priest is finally judged to be true. In 2015, she was ordained a priest "in the catacombs" — a phrase from the time of the first persecuted Christians, meaning "secretly" — by female bishop Bridget Mary Meehan in the city of Sarasota, Florida.

When the thing got out, Christina was immediately excommunicated by the Vatican. Back in Galicia, she still managed to join an informal parish founded by a progressive priest named Manuel Espiña Gamallo. She was allowed to celebrate her first Masses, during which she was finally able to give the Eucharist, as in the vision she had had as a little girl. The same chapel where Christina officiates today, this Easter.

Christina Moreira breaks a loaf of bread to give communion, during Easter Mass, in A Coruña, Spain, on April 5, 2026.  PIERRE TERRAZ

The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, which campaigns for the ordination of women within the Catholic Church, now lists between 250 and 300 female vocations in the world. All of them made impossible by canon law. However, the Franco-Spanish priestess assures her: "The Church urgently needs women. Many of the faithful have confessed to me that they would not have confessed on certain subjects if I had been a man, especially on issues of sexual and intra-family violence. Mothers also trust me more than others. During his life, dozens of men came to confession in his parish about acts of assault, rape and violence against their spouses, for fear of being rejected if they spoke about it within the "official" Church.

On October 4, 2023, Christina was even called, despite her excommunication, to participate in the opening Mass of the synod on synodality at the Vatican. This event at the initiative of Pope Francis brought together bishops from all over the world to reflect on how the Church could become more inclusive. On this occasion, the priestess is invited to meet important personalities of the clergy, whose identities she is forbidden to reveal, to share her testimony. A cardinal is said to have confessed to him that he was "completely upset in his vision of dogma" at the end of this meeting.

"Women priests, we are a bit like Rosa Parks"

On the same day, she went to St. Peter's Square, where she decided to put on her alb and stole in public. She was arrested by the police, who took her to the police station without knowing what to blame the harmless fifty-year-old for. An agent eventually finds a law introduced under Mussolini prohibiting citizens from wearing the uniform of a profession that is not theirs, to justify police custody.

Christina retaliates, trying to explain that she is a priest and that she has even just been invited to think about a better integration of women in the Church. Ironically, her sacred clothes were confiscated, and she was released without being given a copy of the declaration she had to sign in exchange. "Women priests are a bit like Rosa Parks: we decided to sit in the wrong place, so we are made to pay for it," she concludes with disappointment."

A Prayer of Gratitude on Mother’s Day for my Mother, Bridie Meehan

 

Loving God,
On this Mother’s Day, I hold close in my heart the precious memory of my mother, Bridie Meehan.

I thank You for the gift of her life,
for her love that nurtured me,
for her wisdom that guided me,
for her courage, faith, and compassion that continue to inspire me each day.

Though she is no longer present to me in body,
her spirit lives on in the kindness she shared,
the love she planted in our family,
and the countless blessings she gave so freely.

I remember how she led us in prayer—
the rosary whispered beside the fire
in our cozy cottage in Coolkerry.
Those sacred evenings wrapped our family in love and faith,
while the warmth of the fire and the rhythm of her prayers
made our little home a holy place.

She was a woman of mountain-moving faith,
whose trust in Divine Providence knew no bounds.
In times of struggle and uncertainty,
she believed with all her heart
that God’s love would guide us through.

She showed me what true equality meant as a child
when she shared her homemade scones and loving hospitality
with Mrs. Adams, our wheelchair-bound neighbor next door.
In her gentle compassion, she taught me
that every person is worthy of dignity, friendship, and love.

She was my first teacher in the ways of love,
in the hospitality of Jesus,
in kindness freely given,
and in care for those who might otherwise be forgotten.

Today I remember her smile,
her gentle strength,
her sacrifices and tender care.- the many  cups of tea and soda bread at her table
I remember the ways she reflected Your Divine Love
in ordinary moments made holy by her presence.

May Bridie now rest in the embrace of Eternal Love,
surrounded by light, peace, and joy.
And may I continue to honor her memory
by living into her goodness and kindness,
by welcoming others with an open heart,
and by carrying forward the love she so beautifully embodied.

On this sacred day of remembrance,
I feel her love still with me—
like a quiet blessing,
like a warm embrace,
like a song that never ends.

Amen.

An Offering of Love by Bridget Mary Meehan

 https://substack.com/@bridgetmarymeehan/note/c-256481221?r=2kfqor&utm_medium=ios&utm_source=notes-share-action

An Offering of Love by Bridget Mary Meehan

In the heart of Infinite Love there are no strangers, no outsiders, no one forgotten.

We are gathered like stars in the holy night, each one shining with the light of the Holy One who lives and breathes within us.

Love is the sacred river flowing through every soul, through the broken places, through the joyful songs, through the silent tears we carry into the mystery of becoming.

The Holy Presence wraps the world in tenderness— in the laughter of children, in the courage of prophets, in the wisdom of elders, in the aching hope for justice and peace.

And still, Infinite Love whispers: “You belong. You are my beloved. You are held forever in the embrace of mercy.”

So let us become an offering of love for one another.

Let us set wider tables, heal wounded hearts, lift up those pushed aside, and kindle compassion where fear once lived.

May our lives become Eucharist— bread broken and shared for the healing of the world.

May our hands carry blessing. May our voices speak kindness. May our communities reflect the radiant circle of Divine Love where all are welcome and all are one.

For Infinite Love has no edges, no borders, no ending.

Only the eternal invitation to rise together rooted in hope, rising in love.

Healing Our Broken World Through Ecospirituality: A Review of Unity and Harmony by Rev. Dr. Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP

https://www.amazon.com/Unity-Harmony-Ecospirituality-Ecology-Justice/dp/1626986363

Victorino Pérez Prieto’s Unity and Harmony: Toward an Ecospirituality is a profound and timely contribution to contemporary theology and spirituality. Drawing from Christian mysticism, interreligious dialogue, ecology, philosophy, and science, Pérez Prieto invites readers into a deeper awareness of the sacred interconnectedness of all life. Rooted in the wisdom of Raimon Panikkar, Pope Francis’ Laudato Si’, and the world’s spiritual traditions, this book offers not simply an ecological critique, but a transformative spiritual vision for our wounded world.

What makes this work especially compelling is its insistence that the ecological crisis is fundamentally a spiritual crisis. Pérez Prieto argues that humanity suffers from “superficiality”—a way of living disconnected from Reality, from one another, and from Earth itself. In response, he calls us toward a contemplative consciousness grounded in unity, harmony, and relationality. This is not abstract theology. It is a spirituality that challenges systems of domination, consumerism, and exploitation while opening pathways toward compassion, justice, and reverence for creation.

As a woman priest and bishop committed to Gospel equality and ecological justice, I found this book deeply resonant with the vision emerging in inclusive Catholic communities today. Pérez Prieto reminds us that all life exists within a sacred web of relationships. This insight mirrors the experience of many grassroots communities where Eucharist, shared leadership, and care for Earth are lived as interconnected expressions of Divine Presence.

The author’s dialogue with mysticism and nondual consciousness is especially beautiful. He moves beyond rigid theological categories and invites readers into a spirituality of communion—where God, humanity, and cosmos are understood in dynamic relationship. His work echoes the growing awareness among contemporary theologians such as Ilia Delio and Raimon Panikkar that the future of religion depends upon recovering our sense of belonging within the living universe.

Unity and Harmony is both intellectually rich and spiritually nourishing. It is a prophetic call to ecological conversion and to a new consciousness capable of healing divisions within humanity and between humanity and Earth. At a time marked by environmental destruction, polarization, and spiritual fragmentation, Pérez Prieto offers hope rooted in the wisdom that “everything is connected.”

I highly recommend this book to theologians, spiritual seekers, pastors, educators, and all who long for a more compassionate, sustainable, and interconnected world. Victorino Pérez Prieto has given us a luminous vision of ecospirituality that can help guide humanity toward a future of unity, justice, and harmony with all creation.

— Rev. Dr. Bridget Mary Meehan

Liturgy Celebrating Mary: Woman of Courage, Prophet of Justice by Bridget Mary Meehan ARCWP

 

Welcome and Gathering


Presider 1:

A warm welcome to everyone!
We gather as a community of equals, to honor Mary—
woman of courage, prophet of justice, bearer of Divine Love. We are here to say “yes” with Mary.


Opening Song: Hail Mary: Gentle Woman – Carey Landry

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUey6ytEXqY



Greeting:


Presider 2:
In the name of the Holy One—Source of Life, Love Incarnate,

and Spirit Wisdom—Amen.

All: Amen.




Rite of Transformation: Healing Prayer


Presider 1:


Mary sang of a world turned upside down—where the lowly are lifted, and the hungry are filled with good things.

Let us pause and reflect: Where have we resisted this vision? Where are we called to say “yes” again?

(Silent reflection)

All: Loving God, you call us, like Mary, to bear Christ into the world.

Heal our fears, transform our hearts, and renew our courage to live the Gospel boldly. Amen.




Gloria: Presider 2 and All:


Glory to God in the highest, and peace to all on earth!

We praise you, we bless you, we honor you—

Holy One, alive in Mary and in us.

You lift up the lowly, you fill the hungry with hope, you call us to justice and joy.

Glory to you, Source of Life, through Jesus, born of Mary, in the power of the Holy Spirit.

Amen!



Presider 1: Opening Prayer:

Holy One, Source of Life and Love, you choose what is small and hidden

to reveal your presence in the world.

In Mary of Nazareth, you found a courageous heart—a woman who said “yes”
to your dream of justice and compassion.

Open our hearts today, that we, too, may say “yes” to your call—to lift up the lowly,t o feed the hungry, to welcome all as equals at your table of love.

Make us, like Mary, bearers of Christ in our world—
prophets of hope, builders of peace, and companions on the journey
toward a more just and loving Church.

We ask this through Jesus, born of Mary, and alive within us now, in the unity of the Holy Spirit,
one God, forever and ever.

All: Amen.



Liturgy of the Word


Reader 1: First Reading: Micah 5:2–5

Thus says the Holy One:

You, Bethlehem of Ephrathah,

though you are small among the clans of Judah,

from you shall come forth for me

one who is to shepherd my people Israel—

whose origin is from of old,

from ancient days.

Therefore God will give them up

until the time when she who is in labor has brought forth;

then the rest of the kindred shall return

to the people of Israel.

And this one shall stand and shepherd the people

in the strength of the Holy One,

in the majesty of the Name of God.

They shall live secure,

for now this one shall be great

to the ends of the earth—

and this one shall be our peace. These are the sacred words in the Book of the Prophet Micah and we respond: So be it.


Responsorial Song:

Holy Is Your Name (Magnificat) by John Michael Talbot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0TEL_7TS5FE


Reader 2: Contemporary Reading on Mary, Woman of the Promise

(Feminist Theology Adaptation)

Reader:

Mary of Nazareth is not a passive figure in salvation history.
She is a woman of courage, agency, and prophetic voice.

In her Magnificat,
Mary proclaims a God who overturns injustice—
a God who casts down the mighty
and lifts up the lowly.

As feminist theologians remind us,
Mary’s song is not a gentle lullaby—
it is a revolutionary vision of God’s dream for the world.

Her voice rises from the margins,
declaring that the poor will be filled
and systems of oppression will not endure.

Mary is a woman who chooses.
She consents freely to God’s call—
not in submission to power,
but in partnership with the Holy One.

Her “yes” is an act of courage,
an act of resistance,
an act of co-creation with God.

As Elizabeth A. Johnson teaches,
we remember Mary as our sister—
a woman among women,
walking in faith within the Communion of Saints,
close to us in struggle and hope.

Mary is not distant or unreachable—
she is one of us.

A woman who trusted her voice.
A woman who spoke truth to power.
A woman who believed that God’s justice
could be born through her life.

Today, her promise lives on.

Whenever the lowly are lifted,
whenever women claim their voices,
whenever communities gather as equals—

Mary’s song is still being sung.

These are the sacred thoughts of feminist theologians and we respond by saying; So be it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=APtNt5iG1oY&t=2s

Presider 2: Gospel: Luke 1:39–56 (The Magnificat- Adaptation by Bridget Mary)

My soul sings of a God

who dwells within and among us,

a God who births new life

in the hearts of those who dare to say “yes.”

For the Holy One raises up

those pushed to the margins,

and calls them into leadership,

into prophecy, into sacred service.

The Divine overturns systems of injustice,

breaks open structures of exclusion,

and creates a world

where all are equal in dignity and love.

In every generation,

the Spirit rises—

in women and men,

in all genders and identities—

calling us to live the Gospel boldly.

These are the sacred words in the Gospel of Luke and we respond by saying: So be it.



Homily: “From Bethlehem to Mary—God Chooses the Small and the Courageous” by Bridget Mary

Today, we are invited into two sacred songs of hope—

one from the prophet Micah, and one from Mary.

Micah speaks of Bethlehem—

a small, overlooked village—

and dares to proclaim that from this place

will come a leader, a shepherd, a bringer of peace.

Not from the centers of power.

Not from the halls of empire.

But from the margins.

And then, centuries later,

we meet a young woman from another small place—Nazareth.

Mary—poor, female, without status in her society—

and yet, she becomes the place where God is born.

Do you see the pattern?

God chooses the small.

God chooses the overlooked.

God chooses those the world often dismisses.

And Mary knows this.

That is why she sings the Magnificat—

not as a quiet lullaby,

but as a bold, revolutionary proclamation:

“The powerful are cast down…

the lowly are lifted up…

the hungry are filled with good things.”

Mary is not passive.

Mary is not silent.

Mary is a prophet.

She proclaims a God who overturns systems of domination

and calls forth a community rooted in justice and love.

And here is the heart of the Gospel for us today:

Mary’s “yes” is not just about giving birth to Jesus—

it is about saying yes to God’s dream for the world.

A dream where:

-no one is excluded

-no one is silenced

-no one is treated as less than equal

This is the same dream we live in our inclusive communities.

When we gather around the table as equals—

when all voices are honored—

when women answer the call to priestly ministry—

when LGBTQ+ persons are fully welcomed—

we are living the Magnificat.

We are becoming Bethlehem.

We are becoming Mary.

And Micah’s promise echoes again:

“From you… shall come forth…”

From YOU.

From this community.

From your courage.

From your willingness to say “yes.”

God is still being born in the world—

through us.

And perhaps the question today is not simply,

“What did Mary do?”

But:

Will we say yes as she did?

Will we trust that even in our smallness,

our voices, our communities, our ministries—

we are enough for God to work through?

Will we trust that even through the excommunicated ones- women priests- and all who have been rejected by the institutional Church.

Because the truth is:

The Church is not renewed by power—

it is renewed by people -in inclusive communities of love and justice like us- who dare to say yes.

And so today, with Mary, we proclaim:

Yes—to justice.

Yes—to equality.

Yes—to love without limits.

And together we become what Micah promised—

a people through whom Christ comes again

as peace for the world.

May we, like Mary,

become bearers of Divine Love—

and may our lives sing the Magnificat

in our time.

Amen.

For Community Reflection/Sharing:

Where do you see Mary’s “yes” alive today?

How are we being called to embody Christ in our world?

What does Mary’s prophetic voice say to our faith community, Church and world now?

Communal Statement of Faith

Reader 1 and All:

We believe in God,

the Holy Mystery beyond all names,

who is Mother and Father of us all.

We believe in Jesus,

born of Mary,

who revealed God’s inclusive love

and called us to justice and compassion.

We believe in the Holy Spirit,

present in every person,

moving through communities of equals.

We believe that we, like Mary,

are called to bear Christ into the world—

through love, justice, and courageous hope.

Amen.



Prayers of the Community

Reader 2:

Response: Mary, our sister, pray with us.

For a Church renewed in equality and justice…


For women called to priestly ministry…


For those who are marginalized and silenced…


For all mothers and caregivers…


For peace in our world…
Eucharistic Prayer:


THE LITURGY OF THE EUCHARIST




Preface:

Reader 1:

Holy One, Source of Life and Love,

it is right and just,

always and everywhere,

to give you thanks.

For you are a God

who chooses what is small and overlooked

to reveal your greatness.

From Bethlehem’s hidden streets

to Nazareth’s quiet home,

you bring forth new life

through the courage of those who say “yes.”

In Mary, woman of faith and fire,

you found a willing heart—

a prophet who sang of justice,

a mother who bore Divine Love into the world.

Through her song,

the proud are scattered,

the lowly are lifted,

the hungry are filled with good things.

Her Magnificat echoes through the ages,

calling us to become a people of compassion,

a community of equals,

a Church alive in your Spirit.

And so, with Mary and all the saints—

with prophets and visionaries,

with all who dare to dream your dream—

we join our voices in praise:

All: Holy, Holy, Holy by Karen Drucker

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

Presider 2:

Holy One,

You dwell within us and among us.

Through Mary’s courageous “yes,”

your Word became flesh

and lives among us still.

We remember Jesus,

born of Mary,

who lived love without limits…

(All extend hands in blessing for Epiclesis- Calling on the Spirit)




Presider 1 and All:




Send your Spirit upon us

and upon these gifts of bread and wine,

that they may become for us

the presence of Christ

in this sacred meal.


Prayer of Consecration

All:
On the night before he died,

Jesus took bread, blessed it, broke it, and shared it, saying:

“Take and eat—this is my body.”




Presider 2:

He took the cup…

“Take and drink—this is my life poured out for you.”

Memorial Acclamation:

Presider and All: We remember. We celebrate. We are the Body of Christ.

Presider 2:

In this sacred moment, we remember Jesus—born of Mary,

who lived among us as compassion,who broke bread with outcasts,

and revealed your boundless love. As we share this holy meal,

we remember that we are not alone.

We are one with Mary, whose courageous “yes” brought Christ into the world.

We are one with Mary Magdalene, apostle to the apostles,

first witness of the Resurrection. We are one with all the holy women and men

who have gone before us—prophets and mystics, saints and seekers,

named and unnamed.




Prayer of Remembrance of Communion of Saints

Presider 2: We remember especially those we love who have died,

who now live forever in your embrace and remain present to us in love.

(Pause for silent remembrance or spoken names)

Together with them, we form one body—the Communion of Saints,

a great cloud of witnesses surrounding and supporting us.

In this bread and cup, we are united across time and space—

with those who came before us, with those beside us,

and with those yet to come.

May this remembrance strengthen us

to live as Mary did—bearing Christ into the world

through acts of justice, compassion, and love.



Doxology and Great Amen:

Reader 1 and All: Through Christ, with Christ, and in Christ,

in the unity of the Holy Spirit,

all glory is yours, Holy One,

now and forever.

We are the Body of Christ.

We are the presence of Love.

We are the ones who say “Yes” with Mary.

Amen! Amen! Amen!


Communion Rite


Prayer of Jesus

Reader 2: All:

O Holy One, Father-Mother of all,

may your light be revealed in us.

May your kindom of unity come,

your desire be lived on earth as in heaven.

Give us each day the bread we need,

and free us from our failings

as we release others from theirs.

Guide us beyond illusion

and free us from all that binds us.

For yours is the power, the life, and the glory,

now and forever. Amen.

(Adaptation of Jesus Prayer in Aramaic translated by Neil Douglas Klotz)

Sign of Peace

Reader 1:

Micah promises us a shepherd who will be our peace.

Mary sings of a world made whole in justice and love.

Let us share a sign of that peace with one another.

All:

Peace be with you.



Breaking of the Bread

Reader 2 and All:

Loving God, you call us to be bread for one another.

In this breaking, we become the Body of Christ.

Loving God, you call us to be cup for one another.

In this sharing, we become the Blood of Christ.

Loving God, you call us to live as one.

In this meal, we become Christ for the world.

Invitation to Communion

Presider:

This is the table of a God who turns the world upside down—

where the lowly are lifted,

and all are welcomed without exception.

This is Jesus, born of Mary,

who calls us to be bearers of Divine Love.

All are invited to this sacred feast—

for all are the Body of Christ.

Communion Song Litany of Mary by David and Laura Ash

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o0dRoBgpcW4



Prayer After Communion

Presider 1

Holy One,

we have received you

in bread, in wine, in one another.

Like Mary,

may we carry Christ within us—

into places of longing,

into moments of injustice,

into a world waiting to be made new.

May our lives become a Magnificat—

lifting up the lowly,

feeding the hungry,

and proclaiming your love without limits.

We ask this in the name of Jesus,

born of Mary,

and alive within us now. Amen.




Gratitude, Introduction and Announcements

Blessing:

Presider 2:

May the Holy One

who chose what is small and hidden

bless you with courage.

May the Christ

whom Mary bore into the world

be born anew in you.

May the Spirit

who overshadowed Mary

empower you to say “yes”

to justice, to love, to transformation.

And may you go forth

as prophets of hope—

singing the Magnificat with your lives.

All:

Amen!

Sending Forth

Presider1:

Go in peace

to love and serve—

as Mary did.

All:

Thanks be to God!

Closing Song(s) Mary of the Promise

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IIY-pCdtnEs