On Nov. 5th, 2011, Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community invited all to a joyous reception at St. Andrew United Church of Christ where we meet weekly during the winter and spring to celebrate liturgy on Sat. evenings at 6:00 PM.
There were warm greetings and hugs as we connected with our faith community. Dad and I are returning snow birds. There is a wonderful year round community who share summer montly liturgies. Here we have women priests and married priests and a vibrant community of equals living Gospel equality together!
Jack, (my Dad) played special requests during the reception. What a joy that he was able to do so after his recent hospitalizations during the summer and early fall. Pastor Phil Garrison, from St. Andrew UCC dropped by to greet us and welcome us back to this beautiful sanctuary for our weekly liturgies.
I gave a brief summary of the highlights of the Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement. There was time for dialogue and questions and lots to share!
Lee and Carol Ann Breyer, a married priest couple, designed the liturgy which Lee led with the participation of 9 leaders who had special roles. The theme of our gathering was a thought-provoking reflection on "priestly people" utilizing the resources of Vatican II and Future Church. In our dialogue homily, many in the assembly offered rich insights on this topic including that we could summarize the call of priestly people as rooted in our baptism and a call to service, justice and compassion in our world today. We then gathered around the altar to pray the Eucharistic Prayer together as is our custom in our MMOJ community.
As Dad, Marcia, our friend and I drove home, we gave thanks to belong to such a caring, energized and dynamic community on the margins of the Catholic Church, which is a very liberating and blessed place to be in today's church!
May everyone who joins us for future worship feel welcome and at home in the Heart of our God and in each others hearts as together we serve God's beloved people especially those who are alienated and hurt and in need of healing and acceptance.
Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP
sofiabmm@aol.com
2 comments:
really happy to be a member of this wonderful group of christens.
long may we prosper and grow.
looking forward to our weekly gatherings.
god bless all of us.
paddy in sun city center
Welcome back to your second home. It was great to see our RCWP representative in Rome. We are now seeing the first fruits of your life commitment. God bless and keep you and your Dad safe and continuing to share your Spirit of commitment with us. Bill Weiskopf
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