Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests Ordains Five Women in Louisivlle, KY. on Dec. 8th/ Homily by Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP

Homily: “Christ Sophia Calls Us to be Emissaries of Equality”

By Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP

Today we rejoice because 5 women will be ordained in Louisville, Kentucky in the second ordination in this city in less than 1 year.

Who says there is a vocation shortage in the Catholic Church?

Women are saying “Yes, we will follow Christ as deacons, priests and bishops in a community of equals.”

Yes, like Peter, we are stepping out of the boat and walking on water, trusting that God is leading the way!

Believe me, it is quite a spiritual adventure and rocking the boat sure is fun!

As a woman priest, Mary Sue Barnett, like the female disciples of Jesus, will be living her dream of Gospel equality.  Mary Sue writes poetry and develops Wisdom Retreats, she mentors an ecumenical young adult activist group called Revealing Sophia's Truth and she assists in pastoring at Christ Sophia Inclusive Catholic Community in Louisville. 

Like deacon Phoebe, whom St. Paul praised as an outstanding leader in Romans 16, our newly ordained deacons will be serving the needs of their faith communities.

As a deacon, Betty Smith,  spouse of Dr. Amory C. Smith, mother of four and grandmother of 13, will be ministering in local nursing homes to families  of  residents whose loved ones have had strokes, head trauma injuries, or dementia.  Betty has served as a Catholic school educator for 18 years. She will continue to serve in ministry here at Christ Sophia Inclusive Catholic Community.

In claiming her role as a deacon, Denise Menard Davis seeks to give her fullest self to all she meets. Bringing to them experience gained from years of teaching in high school and university, volunteering in many capacities and mothering, she intends to deepen her knowledge and abilities to serve ever more fully God’s creation and to work with her sisters here at Christ Sophia Inclusive Catholic Community.

Deacon Ann Harrington from North Carolina will focus on growing her spiritual direction ministry on those recovering from mental illness, especially clinical depression.  Free Spirit Inclusive Catholic Community of Greenville NC began celebrating liturgies on Pentecost 2013 and has formed a Founders Circle to guide this infant community in the renewed model of priestly ministry.

Deacon Mary Weber from Indianapolis has been nurtured in the faith by the Sisters of Providence. She has served as a pastoral associate, social worker and hospital administrator. She will form a home church and minister to the sick, dying and grieving as a nursing home chaplain

In our Gospel, Mark 5 :21-43, Jesus touches a dead girl, and the woman touches Jesus- both making him ritually unclean (Numbers 19:11-13). The twelve –year-old girl, just the age to begin menstruation, like the hemorrhaging woman receives new life.

In Jesus’ time these two stories were shocking. “In a world where girls were chattel and where menstruating women were forbidden access to the well and the marketplace,” comments Rose Sallberg Kam, “ Jesus matter of factly summons two “dead” women to fullness of life.”

Like the hemorrhaging woman, Jairus has exhausted all his resources. Unlike the daughter whose father acts for her benefit, the risk-taking  woman takes responsibility for her own life and breaks the paternalistic barriers imposed by her religious tradition. Her journey to wholeness challenges her society’s blood taboo and reveals a woman’s dignity as a person in the face of religious and social discrimination.

 In a world where pornography is a big business and women’s and girl’s bodies are exploited daily, this Gospel story affirms the beauty and power of women’s bodies as reflections of the Holy One. Like the woman in the story and Jesus, women are emissaries of Spirit freedom.   

Surely, this woman’s story is repeated in women’s stories across the globe. So few of the world’s resources are being spent on women’s health, education, employment and well-being. Yet, women are taking matters into their own hands in micro-businesses where they are generating income and serving their communities. Women and children still suffer the brunt of world poverty and wars.  Young girls, like Nobel Prize Nominee Malala, who was seriously wounded by the Taliban for her efforts on behalf of education for girls, have inspired a world-wide movement of support for education of girls in war-torn areas.

So too, a man-made canon law prohibits the ordination of women in the Catholic Church. But, the good news is that women priests are taking responsibility to create an inclusive church where all are welcome to receive sacraments and where women are spiritual equals.

I hope Pope Francis is listening!

Much to my surprise and delight, the Vatican has restored beautiful frescoes in the Catacomb of Priscilla that provide evidence of the ancient tradition of women deacons, and priests. 

 

On Nov. 19^th, Google Street View announced a stunning “see inside” option to explore the catacombs so anyone can see these frescoes via the internet.

Dr. Dorothy Irvin, a prominent archaeologist and Catholic theologian has spent years researching the archaeology of women’s traditional ministries in the church.(irvincalendar@hotmail.com) She has published a treasure trove of scholarship in calendars that include maps, tombstone inscriptions, frescoes, mosaics and articles. Let me share a brief glimpse into St. Priscilla’s catacomb from the powerful lense of Dr. Irvin’s scholarship .

The first fresco "depicts a woman deacon in the center vested in a dalmatic, her arms raised in the orans position for public worship."
 

 In the same fresco there is a "a woman being ordained a priest by a bishop seated in a chair. She is vested in an alb, chasuble, and amice, and holding a gospel scroll."
 

 The third woman in this fresco is wearing the same robe as the bishop and is sitting on the same chair.  She is holding a child on her lap. Some scholars believe that this image of Mary Mother of Jesus shows her connection to women liturgical leaders in the early church.
 

Another fresco in St. Priscilla’s catacomb depicts women celebrating a Eucharistic Banquet.

The Vatican ‘s response to our claim that this provides evidence of women in liturgical ministry in early Christianity was given by Fabrizio Bisconti, superintendent of religious heritage archeological sites owned by the Vatican.   He told Reuters: “This is a fairy tale, a legend... sensationlist and absolutely not reliable.”
 

Once again, sisters and brothers, the Vatican is the gift that keeps on giving!

And now I would like to share a brief overview of the Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement. Roman Catholic Women Priests are ordained in apostolic succession because a male bishop with apostolic succession and in communion with the pope ordained our first women bishops!

In 2002, 7 women were ordained on the Danube, in 2006, 12 women were ordained in the first U.S. Ordination in Pittsburgh. Now there are approximately 165 in the international Women Priests Movement in Europe, U.S. Canada, and  Latin America. We serve more than 60 inclusive faith communities in 30 states in the U.S.

 As part of an international initiative the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests claims equality as a human right.  Our vision is justice for all, justice for the poor, justice for women, and justice for women in the church including ordination. 

  Like Rosa Parks, whose refusal to sit in the back of the bus helped to ignite the civil rights movement, the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests is renewing and reforming the church. We women priests in ARCWP stand in solidarity with all the baptized who love our church and want to make Jesus’ vision of partnership and equality a reality today.

 

I believe that on a deep spiritual, mystical level women priests are beginning a healing process of centuries-old misogyny in which spiritual power was invested exclusively in men. For some like the Catholic hierarchy, women priests are a spiritual uprising. For millions of people the time has come for a holy shakeup that will bring new life, creativity and justice to the church and beyond.

 Now we ordain our beloved Sisters, Mary Sue, Betty, Denise, Ann and Mary who like the woman and girl whom Jesus set free in the Gospel, will share God’s liberating, healing love with all those they encounter in their ministry. Like the woman and the girl,we too are taking responsibility for the liberation of women in our church. Thank you for your support of our movement for justice and equality in the community of the baptized.  Together, we are emissaries for equality, walking on water and rocking the church!
 
Bridget Mary Meehan, D.Min., a Sister for Christian Community, was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 31, 2006. She was ordained a bishop on April 19, 2009.  Dr. Meehan is currently Dean of the Doctor of Ministry Program for Global Ministries University, and is the author of 20 books, including   Living Gospel Equality Now: Loving in the Heart of God, The Healing Power of Prayer and Praying with Women of the Bible . She presides at liturgies in Mary, Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community in Sarasota, Florida.  Dr. Meehan can be reached at sofiabmm@aol.com and  www.arcwp.org