Inclusive
Catholic Ministries Newsletter
Florida
East Coast
October, 2012 Palm
Coast, Florida
Rev. Miriam Picconi 502-320-6817 miriampicconi@gmail.com
Rev. Wanda Russell 502-320-6814 wandayrussell@aol.com
Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests
INCLUSIVE
CATHOLIC MINISTRIES
For the time being we
are using the name, "Inclusive Catholic Ministries."
We want to maintain the
best of our Roman Catholic heritage and traditions so we include CATHOLIC in
our name. We want to invite EVERYONE to participate in God's love and
our ministries, so we include INCLUSIVE in our name. We want to offer what you
the people of God want and need. We are starting with several ministry
outreaches and so we include MINISTRIES in our name. Come and see if this is
the faith community you are seeking.
Dear Family and Friends,
My Mother went home from
rehab. Praise God!! But, Miriam’s sister was just moved from the
hospital to rehab in Cocoa, FL. Miriam
is with her now. Please pray for her sister’s healing and peace
for Miriam.
Some of you live out of
state and cannot participate in our ministries but we ask that you keep God’s
work and our families in your prayers.
We hope that those who are local will be able to participate with us
over the next months. Listed below is
our calendar of ministries for October. Call
or e-mail us for additional information.
Wednesdays,
October 10, 17, 24 and 31 from 3:00 to 4:30 P.M.
INTER-FAITH THEOLOGY CLUB OF PALM COAST
For seven weeks we will be discussing
“RECLAIMING THE WORLD.” Topics this
month include: Restoring Relationships;
The Prophetic Jesus; Evil, Suffering and a God of Love; and The Myth of
Redemptive Violence. As we share our
journey of faith with each other we live sharing our questions. Come join us!
We will use the “Living the Questions” series. (Google, “Living the Questions,” to see more about
the series.) You do not need to be a
scholar to share in the discussion. We
will watch a DVD and then discuss the topic and respectfully share our insights
and questions.
Place: St. Thomas Episcopal Church, 5400 Belle Terre
Pkwy, Palm Coast
Thursday, October
7, 2:00 P.M. CUP CAKE MINISTRY
Want to make or help deliver cup cakes to firemen this
month? Contact Wanda or Miriam
Saturday, October 13, 4:00 P.M. MONTHLY
MASS in Palm Coast
Come join our
community as we celebrate Eucharist. God's transformative power works through an invitation to
the table, not exclusion from it. It is our firm desire to offer a welcoming
place of worship to all those seeking to be fed, all those desiring communion
and community, all those desiring healing in mind, body and spirit, all who
have been alienated and or ostracized by the institutional church or other
denominations for whatever cause or reason.
All are welcome to the table in a
community of equal discipleship. If
you like, bring your favorite appetizer or desert to share afterwards as we get
to know each other. We will provide the
drinks.
Place:
2 Westmill Ln., Palm Coast, 32164.
Inter-Faith
Dialogue, Thursday, November 15 in St. Augustine
More details next month.
Mark your calendar.
“Pink Smoke Over
the Vatican” We need someone to host a showing.
This is a documentary about women in
priestly ministry in the Roman Catholic Church since the early founding days of
Christianity to our current time. Want
to know more about who we are? Come
watch the documentary and we will respond to any questions. We have learned that speaking truth to power
is a necessity if ministry is to be life giving in all of our churches.
Place: 2 Westmill Ln., Palm Coast, 32164
ADDITIONAL MINISTRIES:
We
would like to show the documentary, “Pink
Smoke Over the Vatican” in your area.
If you would host us we will be glad to come to you. Invite friends into your home and show the
documentary. We will be glad to come and
answer questions about our movement.
This DVD helps people understand the history of discrimination of women
in the churches over the centuries and we can discuss what we can do about it. Invite
a friend.
Call to Action is a movement of
Roman Catholics who are working together to overcome injustices in the Church
and in the communities. If you are
interested in becoming a part of the solution, let us know and we can work on
getting a chapter formed in this area. www.cta-usa.org
Additional Faith Communities
may be formed in other
areas. If a few people in different
areas want a Mass, let us know and we will come to you. Just get a few folks together and let us know
when you would like to gather and we will work it out. Some interest has been expressed in Ormond
Beach and Jacksonville areas. New Smyrna
Beach area?
YOU CAN HELP:
Please pray….. Gather people together and invite us to come……
Work on publicity for our movement…..Make phone calls….. Bring a friend with you…… Talk about what is happening in the Church
today and how others can help…… Help us create a web site….. Make cup
cakes…… PLEASE PRAY
We are attaching a copy of an article about Vatican II.
Please pray for all lay and religious leaders.
HAPPY
50TH ANNIVERSARY, VATICAN II
The attached article is written about priests at the
start of Vatican II. Miriam and I were
in religious communities at that time and it was a period of much anticipation
and excitement. At last women would be
able to be leaders in ministry. At last
the laity would be heard. At last the
Bible was no longer to be interpreted literally and only by the priest. At last we could trust our consciences. We could finally start asking out loud the
questions previously kept in our hearts.
We no longer had to check our brains at the church door. What an exciting time to be alive!
I was in the Sisters of Loretto at Nerinx,
Kentucky. Mother Mary Luke was one of
the few women observers at the Council.
When she returned she shared all the news “right off the press.” She was optimistic and shared her enthusiasm
with us. We immediately knew what was happening
even though we were not allowed to watch television during our formative years. After one return trip she shared about her
long rosary getting caught in the airplane door. The realization hit her about the potential
dangers to all of us should we continue wearing the long rosary with our
habits. This event made it easier for us
to make adjustments in the habit as Vatican II called us to return to our
community’s roots. Most religious
communities referred to wearing the “dress of the day” in their earliest
constitutions. Thus it was relatively
easy to change from our religious garb to “street clothes.”
I have talked with many who left their communities
and have met many people over the years who are former religious. Most of us have been very active in ministry
in the Church and in our secular communities.
We believed Vatican II when it told us that ALL are called to share the
Good News of the Gospel. Priests are not
the sole guardians for evangelistic outreach.
All baptized are called to go out into the vineyards wherever we live
and share God’s love. We are ALL called
to bring about justice wherever we find injustice.
If we each do our part in our small corner of the
universe, what a wonderful world we would have!
Reach out and share your love and your giftedness! The people are the
Church!
Mass, September 15, 2012 Palm Coast, Florida
We had six people join us for Mass. Two were wonderful children. One asked her mother some very good questions
and the younger colored and read for a while and then had a peaceful nap.
One woman was moved to tears. She shared that she knew her mother was
present at our Mass and that meant her mother was okay with her
participating. Her mother was very
conservative and would not have approved had she been alive. She was very encouraged and at peace.
Do
you want a Mass with inclusive language and open communion? Are you divorced and re-married without an
annulment? Are you or a family member or
friend affected by sexual abuse in the Church? Are you gay, lesbian, bi-sexual
or transgendered and not allowed full participation in the Church?
Whatever has kept you from a Catholic Church,
please come and see that there is a Catholic community where you can worship,
be loved and accepted for YOU just as you are right now.
As
Jesus said, “Come and see.” Come and see
if this is the faith community for you.
OTHER FIRSTS: As Roman Catholic Women
Priests, we are ordained to administer the sacraments. Miriam heard her first confession and was as blessed by the
opportunity as the penitent. It was
truly a special encounter with our loving, forgiving God.
I too had a
“first”; actually, two “firsts.” A staff
member at Mom’s nursing home asked me if I would bring her communion since she
had not received in about six months.
She works weekends and many overtime hours because she truly cares about
the people for whom she works. My mother
and I grew to appreciate all she did and came to love her. She loved Mom.
I told Mom I
was going to bring communion and asked if she also wanted to receive. She paused and said yes. This was very big for me as she did not come
to my ordination since the hierarchy said people would be excommunicated if
they came. (At 87 she did not want to
tempt the Lord.)
Needless to
say, I brought communion to the staff person and to my Mother. We had a special time in the small
chapel. As a priest I was able to pray
with them more than I was trained to do as a lay Eucharistic minister. It was my first time to give communion to my
Mother as a priest. It was all I could
do to keep my emotions in check as God’s love was ministered to all three of
us. What a special time of prayer.
YOU ARE INVITED TO
ATLANTA FOR SIX ORDINATIONS!
Saturday, October 20,
2012 1:00 PM
First Metropolitan
Community Church, 1379 Tullie Rd., Atlanta, Georgia 30329
On October 20 there will also be
five women ordained deacons:Barbara Ann Duff (Macon, GA), Debra Meyers
(Batavia, OH), Joleane Presley (Manassas, VA), Rosemarie Smead (Bedford, KY),
and Irene Scaramazza (Columbus, OH). Please pray for all of our ordinands.
Go to
links below for more details. Have your Atlanta friends join us.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.