http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2009/1209/1224260356178.html
The Irish Times
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Time for the faithful to choose our own bishops
Living Gospel Inclusivity and Empowerment Now
Wednesday, December 9, 2009
Roman Catholic Womanpriests: "Dancing with God" by Eileen DiFranco
Sing joyfully, be glad and rejoice. Exult with all your heart. Fear not and do not be discouraged. The Lord God is in your midst. Zep. 3
This was a real dream that I had about ten years ago. I wrote it down immediately because I never wanted to forget how I felt when I woke up. I had this dream.
I was dancing in a country garden with lush green grass. Tulips and daffodils and hyacinths bloomed against a low stone wall. Magnolia, cherry, and dogwood trees draped their branches over the top of the wall. The sun shone in a blue sky with soft edges and the wind was the sweet breeze of late spring. I recall wondering in my dream why I was dancing in the middle of the day when I should be at work, and went right on dancing. There were, I think, three other women with me. Two, I recognized as my friends. Mary danced with her book bag over her shoulder, Monica carried her paint brush. I held my pen. The third one, who stood next to me, had a round, pleasant face and wore her blonde hair in braids coiled around her head. She was dressed in a frilly white dress dotted with small flowers while the three of us wore business clothes. All of us were barefoot. My first thought when I saw the woman in the white dress was that she was grotesquely fat from the waist down. Never in my life had I ever seen a woman with hips that large. I immediately felt guilty for thinking that she was fat. We all did some kind of dance. We kicked out our legs and waved our arms up at the sky. The woman next to me moved agilely in spite of her great girth. And then we all began to sing. The words we sang over and over were snippets of hymns we might sing at church although there was a lot more. I just don't remember it. While we were singing and dancing in that garden I asked myself again with more joy than I could ever remember, I began to wonder. Who is this strange woman with the golden crown of braids want from me, from us?
At the conclusion of our dance, the large woman began hugging all of us, one at a time. When she hugged me, I realized that she was not made of flesh and blood. Her body felt like the aluminum poles we use to give shape to our tent. I looked up at her face in wonderment. She drew me to her in a closer embrace and then I saw that inside Her was the earth, and that She was giving shape to it with her Body. "All of the earth," She told me, "Is my Body and My Blood. Rejoice and be glad.” Her human Face smiled this very loving smile. Her golden braids sparkled in the sunlight. She lifted Her Hands in blessing and the three of us danced out of the garden, waving streamers.Then I then realized that there were hundreds of other people in the garden behind us, lining up. They, too were going to be given the rules of the universe and to get their chance to dance with God.
Eileen DiFranco, RCWP
This was a real dream that I had about ten years ago. I wrote it down immediately because I never wanted to forget how I felt when I woke up. I had this dream.
I was dancing in a country garden with lush green grass. Tulips and daffodils and hyacinths bloomed against a low stone wall. Magnolia, cherry, and dogwood trees draped their branches over the top of the wall. The sun shone in a blue sky with soft edges and the wind was the sweet breeze of late spring. I recall wondering in my dream why I was dancing in the middle of the day when I should be at work, and went right on dancing. There were, I think, three other women with me. Two, I recognized as my friends. Mary danced with her book bag over her shoulder, Monica carried her paint brush. I held my pen. The third one, who stood next to me, had a round, pleasant face and wore her blonde hair in braids coiled around her head. She was dressed in a frilly white dress dotted with small flowers while the three of us wore business clothes. All of us were barefoot. My first thought when I saw the woman in the white dress was that she was grotesquely fat from the waist down. Never in my life had I ever seen a woman with hips that large. I immediately felt guilty for thinking that she was fat. We all did some kind of dance. We kicked out our legs and waved our arms up at the sky. The woman next to me moved agilely in spite of her great girth. And then we all began to sing. The words we sang over and over were snippets of hymns we might sing at church although there was a lot more. I just don't remember it. While we were singing and dancing in that garden I asked myself again with more joy than I could ever remember, I began to wonder. Who is this strange woman with the golden crown of braids want from me, from us?
At the conclusion of our dance, the large woman began hugging all of us, one at a time. When she hugged me, I realized that she was not made of flesh and blood. Her body felt like the aluminum poles we use to give shape to our tent. I looked up at her face in wonderment. She drew me to her in a closer embrace and then I saw that inside Her was the earth, and that She was giving shape to it with her Body. "All of the earth," She told me, "Is my Body and My Blood. Rejoice and be glad.” Her human Face smiled this very loving smile. Her golden braids sparkled in the sunlight. She lifted Her Hands in blessing and the three of us danced out of the garden, waving streamers.Then I then realized that there were hundreds of other people in the garden behind us, lining up. They, too were going to be given the rules of the universe and to get their chance to dance with God.
Eileen DiFranco, RCWP
Roman Catholic Womanpriests: Cardinal Sean Brady criticized the Vatican for not responding to Murphy Commission-Irish Times Article
"INTERVIEW: THE CATHOLIC primate Cardinal Seán Brady has criticised the lack of response by the Vatican and papal nunciature to correspondence from the Murphy commission.
Speaking to The Irish Times in Dundalk yesterday he said “it was unfortunate that requests from the [Murphy] commission didn’t get the courtesy of a reply” from the Vatican. “They should have,” he said."
Irish Times
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1207/1224260241868.html
Speaking to The Irish Times in Dundalk yesterday he said “it was unfortunate that requests from the [Murphy] commission didn’t get the courtesy of a reply” from the Vatican. “They should have,” he said."
Irish Times
http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/ireland/2009/1207/1224260241868.html
Roman Catholic Womanpriests: Radio Free Eireann Report on Sexual Abuse of Children by Priests in Ireland
Radio Free Eireann.
Report on the sexual abuse and assault of children by priests in Ireland. Their overseas call/interview is to a Sean Whalen. The links below are for the programs on Saturday 11/28/09 and 12/5/09. The radio station is WBAI, a listener sponsored station, part of the Pacifica network. The interview is a third to a half way into it.
http://archive.wbai.org/files/mp3/091205_130001rfeireann.MP3
http://archive.wbai.org/files/mp3/091128_130001rfeireann.MP3
If you can't get it through the links, go to WBAI.org, on the right side of the page there is a tab call archives. Click on it. Then click on See All Shows and scroll down to 11/28 at 1 PM and to 12/5 at 1 PM, Radio Free Eireann
Report on the sexual abuse and assault of children by priests in Ireland. Their overseas call/interview is to a Sean Whalen. The links below are for the programs on Saturday 11/28/09 and 12/5/09. The radio station is WBAI, a listener sponsored station, part of the Pacifica network. The interview is a third to a half way into it.
http://archive.wbai.org/files/mp3/091205_130001rfeireann.MP3
http://archive.wbai.org/files/mp3/091128_130001rfeireann.MP3
If you can't get it through the links, go to WBAI.org, on the right side of the page there is a tab call archives. Click on it. Then click on See All Shows and scroll down to 11/28 at 1 PM and to 12/5 at 1 PM, Radio Free Eireann
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Video Clips of Historic Ordinations of Deacons Dena O'Callaghan and Katy Zatsick in Florida on Dec. 5, 2009
Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Video Clips of Historic Ordinations of Deacons Dena O'Callaghan and Katy Zatsick in Florida on Dec. 5, 2009
Processional
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hTtQaHuZiM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hTtQaHuZiM
Presentation of Dena O'Callaghan for ordination
by married priest husband John O'Callaghan
Presentation of Katy Zatsick by Eleonora Marinaro
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zLlhfcu6WXc
Prostration/Litany of Saints
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddCJuYghVdA
Laying on of Hands/Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan
Laying on of Hands by married priest John O'Callaghan
at ordination of Dena, his wife.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0dV0Kn9Z8Lk
Laying on of Hands/Community
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7ZRgV4mCwY
Prayer of Consecration in Ordination Rite
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTZJKhFDaFE
Investiture with Stoles
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OY2D6tUuR5s
Presentation of newly ordained Roman Catholic Women Deacons to Assemblyhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Prn5A1ml5Q8
Dena and Katy prepare the Altar for Liturg y of the Eucharist
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1NpWkKDC1cg
Liturgy of the Eucharist, Prayer of Consecration
Married Priest, Mike Rigdon, from Mary,
Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community
presents gifts from CORPUS,
a married priests 'national organization,
that supports women priests
and works as partners to renew
the Roman Catholic Church
in grassroots communities in the United States.
Catholic Community in Ft. Myers
presents a painting of "women at the table" that depicts
Jesus with cotemporary women disciples of Christ.
Judy Lee, pastor of Good Shepherd Community and
administrator of the Southern Region is seated
administrator of the Southern Region is seated
next to Jesus in this inspirational painting.
Bridget Mary, joyfully accepts painting.
Recessional Hymn: Notice RCWP bows before altar
and before the Body of Christ, the people of God
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YBBwA2w7FqE
Visit our website:http://www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org/
Information on ordinations in Southern Region and liturgies: http://www.marymotherofjesus.org/
email: Bridget Mary Meehan at sofiabmm@aol.com
Monday, December 7, 2009
Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Homily for 2nd Sunday of Advent/Cycle C by Roberta Meehan
Homily for the 2nd Sunday of Advent – Cycle C – 06 December 2009
(This homily was prepared for presentation at the Ecumenical Worship Service at Banner Estrella Hospital in Phoenix, Arizona.)
Readings from the Common Lectionary
Alternate Readings Malachi 3:1-4 ,Baruch* 5:1-9Psalm126 Luke 1:68-79Philippians 1:3-11 Philippians 1:1-11, Luke 3:1-6 ,(Same)
(* Baruch in the Catholic and Episcopal traditions is called a Deuterocanonical text; in many – not all – Protestant traditions it is considered to be an Apocryphal book and is found in the Apocryphal sections of most Protestant Bibles.)
Today’s theme is Prepare and Rejoice! Here we are at the second Sunday of Advent and I must ask you if you are prepared and if you are rejoicing. How easy it is to forget that this is a season of rejoicing! After all, we are re-enacting the time that the chosen people waited for the Messiah. We forget the rejoicing part and we tend to think only of the waiting part. I think we forget we are not really waiting but that we are re-enacting the time of waiting. Jesus is here and we are preparing to celebrate his birthday!
This is a wonderful birthday party that we are getting ready for! And we are all invited! Our theme is Prepare and Rejoice! but if we look at our readings today, the rejoice part comes first! This is amazing! In our common way of thinking, we usually think that we have to prepare before we rejoice. But, that is not what we learn in today’s readings!
For the first reading, I looked at both the selection from Malachi and the section from Baruch. Both say approximately the same thing. You can check that for yourself. Baruch is a bit more dramatic and flamboyant, which is why I chose it for our reading. So, what does Baruch say? Let us look at a few select phrases. “Jerusalem, take off your robes of mourning and misery and put on the splendor of glory from God….for God is leading Israel in joy by the light of his glory, with his mercy and justice for company.” Does this not sound like an exciting reading? Does this not sound like a call for rejoicing? Does this not sound like we should be preparing with a sense of jubilation? After all, we have the glory of God to guide us! Now, let us look at that Psalm. The Antiphon is, “God has done great things for us; we are filled with joy.” Now, that sounds pretty exciting! And if we look at Psalm 126 (a Psalm that is almost unique in that it is complete within the liturgy – most Psalms are included only in part), we see several very interesting jubilation points. Here they are: “…our tongue with rejoicing,” “we are glad indeed.” “Those who sow in tears shall reap rejoicing.” “…they shall come back rejoicing.” Those are very happy exclamations! How can we not rejoice?
Let us look at our second reading from Philippians. This too is full of joy and excitement! Just to lift a few phrases, we hear, “I pray always with joy” and “that your love may increase ever more and more in knowledge of every kind of perception….” And that you may be “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ for the glory and praise of God.” These are exciting phrases! These are statements that fill us with hope and joy! How can we think anything else? This is part of our REJOICE statement. We need to rejoice because we know the story, We know what will happen. We know that Jesus has come and that we are awaiting his birthday party! Are you ready for the birthday party???? So far we have talked about the rejoicing part of our theme. But, the theme is Rejoice and Prepare. Now let us look at the Gospel. Keep in mind that so far we have heard nothing except the Rejoice message.
Finally, here in the Gospel, the final reading of the liturgy, we hear something about preparing. Amazing! Look at that message from Luke. We are excited by the rejoice messages but now, suddenly, we have a PREPARE message. Isn’t this interesting? The PREPARE message is amazingly simple. Luke tells us that John went throughout the region proclaiming a baptism of repentance and he then quotes Isaiah’s profound statement of “Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths….” The Gospel concludes by saying that “all flesh shall see the salvation of God.” What does all of this mean for us? Well, clearly we have to prepare for God in our lives. But, I think it is important for us to keep this in perspective. The last line of the Gospel tells us that all flesh will see the salvation of God. But, we have already seen it! We know the story.
We know what happened. Jesus came, he was crucified, and he rose from the dead. Jesus is our salvation. So, we know the end of the story. We have seen the salvation of God! In addition to our personal preparations, perhaps we need to concentrate on the other part of the day’s message – REJOICE. Do we spend so much time with pious preparations that we forget to rejoice? These are exciting readings! These readings are full of glorious and rejoicing words. That is where we need to be. After all, Christ is here. It is not that he is coming; he is here. During advent, we are simply re-enacting the time our ancestors waited for the Messiah. But, he is here and we need to rejoice as we prepare for this marvelous birthday party we are all invited to on December 25.
Roberta M. Meehan
Sunday, December 6, 2009
Roman Catholic Womenpriests: Diverse Congregations Welcome The Historic Ordinations of Roman Catholic Women Deacons in Florida
On Dec. 5, 2009 Dena'O Callaghan and Katy Zatsick were ordained as deacons in the Roman Catholic Women Priests. This historic occasion marks the first ordinations of women priests in Florida and the combining of two congregations served by women priests and representing the inclusive church that is not of the future but is here now.
Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan presided, Judy Lee , the Regional Administrator, was the MC and Eleonora Marinaro, the Regional Coordinator, presented the women to the assembly. Linda Miska was the Music Director and Michael Rigdon, Jack Duffy and Jack Meehan the Music Ministers. The Good Shepherd Inclusive Catholic Community, of Ft. Myers, and the Mary, Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community of Sarasota participated enthusiastically. On this holy day, we were one church, well to do and poor, male and female, black and white, the once homeless and those with homes, born Americans and strangers in the land. We came together to celebrate Dena and Katy, Deacons,called to serve the people of God.
Pastol Phil Garrison, welcomed the assembly, to the United Church of Christ , the first church to ordain a woman Pastor in 1956. At the Table all were welcomed. Co-celebrants were: Michael Rigdon, John O'Callaghan, and David Gabhouri, married priests, Phil Garrison, United Church of Christ Pastor, and Eleonora Marinaro and Judy Lee, women priests with Bridget Mary Meehan, Bishop of the Southern Region presiding.
At the closing of the litrgy Corpus, represented by Michael Rigdon presented Katy and Dena with pyxes. And, Hank Tessndori, an artist from the Good Shepherd Community presented Bridget Mary and the Southern Region with a prophetic and beautiful painting entitled: Women At the Table.