Homily by Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP/Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests Ordains 3 Women in Albany, New York on Sept. 15, 2013

We rejoice because Mary Theresa Streck, a woman of faith, an artist, educator, minister of the Gospel, will be ordained today as a Roman Catholic Priest in a historic ordination here in Albany, New York.

Like the apostle to the apostles, Mary of Magdala, Mary Theresa’s ministry is a living witness to our liberating God’s presence in this local community. Mary Theresa began her life in ministry 48 years ago as a Sister of St. Joseph of Carondelet and continued her journey with these strong women for 18 years. She left the Sisters of St. Joseph to continue a life of service with Jay Murnane, her soul mate and marriage partner for 20 years. On June 22, 2013, Mary Theresa was ordained a deacon and is a member of the Inclusive Catholic Community of Albany, NY, a community of equals that meets regularly to support each other’s ministries to the local and global community.

Like deacon Phoebe, whom St. Paul praised as an outstanding leader in Romans 16, Mary Sue Barnett has been living a life of service to the Christian community with a special focus on pastoral care for young people and women.   She currently develops Women's Spirituality retreats, mentors a feminist peace and justice young adult group called Revealing Sophia's Truth and assists in pastoring at Christ Sophia Inclusive Catholic Community in Louisville.

Today we will ordain Maureen McGill a deacon, from St. Petersburg, Florida,  Maureen is a mother, grandmother, and a lawyer. She is a woman of deep faith and persistent advocacy for justice, and has a rich background in ecclesial ministry and service to those in need. Maureen served abused, neglected and abandoned children for most of her professional life as the Circuit Director of the Guardian Ad Litem Program in North West Florida.

Sisters, I guarantee that this will be quite a spiritual adventure. Remember the biblical scene of Peter walking on stormy waters! Women priests today are definitely rocking the boat of Peter as Christ is calling us to step out of the boat and to live Gospel equality now!

Our new Pope Francis has been called a “rock star” with his down to earth, folksy, charismatic appeal to millions of youth in his recent trip to Brazil. There is much to admire. He lives simply, advocates for the poor and for world peace specifically in the recent Syria crisis, challenges economic inequities, promises reform of the Vatican Curia and of the Vatican Bank. He has a big to do list!

Commenting to the National Catholic Reporter on Pope Francis' remarks on the papal plane on July 29^th, that the late Pope John Paul II had "definitively ... closed the door" to women priests, Jamie Manson, a young, contemporary feminist theologian’s analysis reflects deep disappointment:

“Pope Francis' words about women were spirit-breaking. The idea that we need a "deeper theology of women" is remarkable only because, for the past half-century, Catholic women theologians, many of them women religious, have been developing, writing and teaching a profound theology of women. Just because the hierarchy has not cared to read it doesn't mean it doesn't already exist … In essence, he said even though women will never have ecclesial decision-making power or the opportunity to exercise sacramental ministry, they are so much more special than the men who get to run and lead the church.”

·         http://ncronline.org/blogs/grace-margins/when-does-our-hope-francis-become-denial

·     History repeats itself again and again! Even though the male apostles, except John, deserted Jesus in his hour of need, Mary and the women were there at both the cross and the tomb. The guys didn’t believe the faithful women when they reported that Christ had risen.  Like Mary of Magdala, contemporary women still encounter disbelief and rejection from church authorities. Women Sexism, like racism and classism, is a sin that breaks our hearts today. We need women priests so that justice will be a reality in our church.  Like Rosa Parks, who refused to sit in the back of the bus, Roman Catholic Women Priests will not tolerate second class citizenship in our church any longer! No matter what our beloved Pope Francis says!

More than ever we need the experiences and wisdom of women if our church is to become more whole, more balanced, more human. We need feminine images of God and the Gospel interpreted from the lives and experiences of women. Two-thirds of the poor are women and children. A huge issue that needs to be addressed is the use of responsible, affordable, safe, birth control. If we had women priests or married priests, the ban on artificial birth control would be gone!

Like Mary of Magdala, Phoebe, Junia and the women of the early church in our readings today, the Risen Christ is calling the community of the baptized today to be leaders in the church in proclaiming freedom and equality in ways that will liberate and heal us from the bondage of sexism and patriarchy.  Our biblical sisters are our role models in living Gospel equality now.

Jesus did not ordain anyone, but women were definitely apostles.

Pope Hippolytus who lived from 170 to 236 AD, addressed the role of women in early Christianity: “Lest the female apostles doubt the angels, Christ himself came to them so that the women would be apostles of Christ… Christ showed himself to the male apostles and said to them…’It is I who appeared to the women and I who wanted to send them to you as apostles.’” (Brock, Ann Graham, Mary Magdalene, the First Apostle The Struggle for Authority, 2003 (quotes Hippolytus (DeCantico 24-26, CSCO 264) pp. 43-49)

Hey, hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church, listen up!

In Romans 16:7, St. Paul praises Junia and Andronicus, a married couple, as “outstanding apostles” who were in Christ before he was.

Since Paul, Junia and Andronicus were apostles, there were more than 12 apostles.  The “twelve” was a symbolic number referring to the twelve tribes of Israel.

Deacon Phoebe led a ministry of service in a community that in significance was equal to and independent of Paul. She was a prominent leader whom Paul admired and praised eloquently in Romans 16. 1-3.

The good news is that today we are moving toward a tipping point in support for a more open, inclusive, egalitarian church that includes women priests. According to a recent CBS/Gallup poll, 70% of Catholics in the United States support women’s ordination. In addition, male priests are expressing their solidarity. 400 Austrian priests, 300 German theologians and 800 Irish priests have endorsed women’s ordination. Maryknoll Roy Bourgeois, Franciscan Jerry Zawada, Jesuit Bill Brennan, Redemptorist Tony Flannery, the Irish Priests Association, and the Austrian Priests Initiative have endured condemnation and punishment by the Vatican for their support of the Women Priests’ Movement. Helmut Schuller who has spoken at a number of U.S. cities has promoted an agenda of reform that sounds a lot like the future of the church that is happening now in more and more grassroots communities! Fr. Helmut Schuller founded the Austrian Priests’ Initiative in 2006 to address a deepening priest shortage that closed parishes. In 2010, the Austrian Priests’ Initiative issued a “Call to Disobedience” asking for lay leadership and preaching in parishes without a priest, permitting divorced and remarried Catholics to receive the sacraments, and ordination of women and married men.

Today, in more and more places, inclusive communities are calling forth presiders, women and men, ordained and non-ordained to celebrate sacraments. In the early house churches, often owned and led by women, the community gathered to share Eucharist. 

Gary Wills, a prominent Catholic scholar, in his new book, Why Priests: A Failed Tradition challenges the biblical underpinnings of priesthood that Catholics have experienced for centuries. He states that Jesus was not a priest, and that neither Peter nor Paul were priests or bishops. There were no priests or bishops in the early Jesus movement. He reminds us priests do not have magical powers or exclusive control of the sacraments, rather, in the view of St. Augustine, it is the mystical Body of Christ gathers around the table and is on the Table.  So, perhaps, we have come full circle.

God is calling all of us to live the fullness of our baptismal call of mutual service and ministry. I believe that our women priests’ movement represents a return to the earlier understanding of “orders” as specific functions or roles in service of the community.

Our grassroots women priests’ communities are independent, inclusive and empowered! We embrace liberation and feminist theology and see our movement as a sign of justice rising up in the community of believers and women taking our rightful place as equals. Women priests are visible reminders that women are equal images of God.

The mission of the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests is a renewed priestly ministry in a community of equals. We make decisions by a circular model of consensus and/or democratic vote. And the bishop has one vote. Our priests do not make any promises of obedience to the bishop. We are renewing the church from within because we love the church. It is our church and we are not leaving it, we are leading it into its future, which is now.

An unnamed Roman Catholic bishop ordained our first women bishops to promote justice for women in the church. It has been over 11 years since seven women were ordained on the Danube in 2002. In 2006, 12 women were ordained in Pittsburgh in the first U.S. Ordinations. Now there are over 160 in our movement in Europe, U.S., Canada, and Latin America.  We have 60 inclusive faith communities in 30 states in the United States.

Just imagine this scene perhaps a dozen or more years from now! Remember I am an optimist!

A Vatican spokeswoman will appear before the world press with big news! As cameras’ roll, she will smile and say:

 “The Roman Catholic Church has always taught that women are spiritual equals. We are reclaiming our sacred tradition of women in Holy Orders modeled by deacon Phoebe, bishop Theodora, and by thousands of holy women deacons and priests in the East and West. In recent years, the international women priests’ movement has gifted the church with a model of Gospel equality that we now embrace.”

Now we ordain our Sisters, Mary Theresa Streck, Mary Sue Barnett, and Maureen McGill. Let us live the words of Micah the prophet: to love tenderly, to act justly and to walk humbly with our God. It is time to rock the boat of Peter and walk on water with Christ, trusting that nothing is impossible with God!