Living Gospel Inclusivity and Empowerment Now
Saturday, November 2, 2013
Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community, Sarasota, Fl. Celebrates Day of the Dead/All Souls Day
On Nov. 2, Catholics around the world celebrate All Souls' Day.
At Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community, we remembered our deceased loved ones with a special liturgy at 4 PM at St. Andrew UCC. Katy Zatsick and another prominent member of our community co-presided at an inspirational liturgy that will become an annual celebration.
Our cantor led us in the responsorial psalm, the Litany of the Saints, in honor of the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us. This powerful prayer of remembrance named each deceased loved ones as part of the traditional Litany.
We decorated the side altar with photos and momentos of our deceased loved ones.
At the shared homily, members of the community shared how their dearly beloved family, and friends blessed their lives.
Day of the Dead/ Altars and Celebrations/Link
http://www.celebrate-day-of-the-dead.com/dia-de-los-muertos-altar.html
Friday, November 1, 2013
Mary McAleese for the Vatican
The Phoenix, Dublin,
Ireland,
November 1, 2013.
MARY MCALEESE is one of the most enthusiastic cheerleaders of Pope Francis due to his apparent, but yet uncontested, advocacy of a return to Vatican II values. But the former President has particular reasons to welcome the new Pope’s ascent to the Throne of St Peter.
McAleese, it will be recalled has marked out a role for herself as a Renaissance woman with a reforming book Quo Vadis which challenges Vatican conservatism and argues for returning Mother church to the faithful, the laity and, most subversive of all, to women. McAleese has armed herself with degrees in canon law and theology before setting up a foundation and think-tank at her Roscommon redoubt, from where she threatens to pursue her mission for church reform. So challenging has McAleese been regarded by the guarantors of church orthodoxy – as represented by such as Papal Nuncio, Charlie Brown – that rumours of her being “delated” to Rome had spread in Irish church circles last year.
Mary’s first steps in religious academia came at the Milltown Institute, the third level college of theology, philosophy and spirituality. As Irish clerics will know, Milltown is the Irish academic centre of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits. McAleese then proceeded to the Gregorian Institute (The Greg), in Rome where she studied for a doctrinal degree in canon law.
The Greg is the Jesuits’ oldest and most prestigious seat of learning. Most recently, McAleese signed on in Boston College as the Burns Library Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies. As Boston College puts it, “Boston College is transmitting to maintaining and strengthening the Jesuit, Catholic mission of the University, and especially its commitment to integrating intellectual, personal ethical, and religious formation.”
Is the Pope a Catholic? A more rhetorical question might be: Is Pope Francis a Jesuit? An even greater cataclysm for the soldiers of orthodoxy who ruled with such Roman absolutism under Pope Benny comes with the fantastic yet seriously regarded suggestion that the new Jesuit Pope will appoint a female Cardinal in the not so distant future. Apparently one does not need to have been an ordained priest to become a Cardinal and the church has seen female Cardinals before (admittedly it is 800 years since such an appointment).
Pope Francis has been given to remarking about the need to involve women in the Church, arguing recently that, “The woman is essential for the Church. The new Pope knows he cannot yet overcome the myriad obstacles to ordaining women priests b ut, ironically, he could appoint a female Cardinal. The Spanish newspaper El Pais was the first to report that Pope Francis was considering such an appointment and it was picked up by the Catholic media in Italy and also the US. There, Phyllis Zagona, an academic at Loyola University (another Jesuit College), posited the suggestion as realistic. So, too, did Fr James Keenan (another Jesuit – the plot thickens!) a moral theologian at Boston College, would you believe, proposed a list of possible candidates, including Linda Hogan, a professor of Ecumenics at Trinity College, Dublin. One feels sure that another female Irish academic with a CV that would dwarf any other candidate, would also make any such shortlist.
November 1, 2013.
MARY MCALEESE is one of the most enthusiastic cheerleaders of Pope Francis due to his apparent, but yet uncontested, advocacy of a return to Vatican II values. But the former President has particular reasons to welcome the new Pope’s ascent to the Throne of St Peter.
McAleese, it will be recalled has marked out a role for herself as a Renaissance woman with a reforming book Quo Vadis which challenges Vatican conservatism and argues for returning Mother church to the faithful, the laity and, most subversive of all, to women. McAleese has armed herself with degrees in canon law and theology before setting up a foundation and think-tank at her Roscommon redoubt, from where she threatens to pursue her mission for church reform. So challenging has McAleese been regarded by the guarantors of church orthodoxy – as represented by such as Papal Nuncio, Charlie Brown – that rumours of her being “delated” to Rome had spread in Irish church circles last year.
Mary’s first steps in religious academia came at the Milltown Institute, the third level college of theology, philosophy and spirituality. As Irish clerics will know, Milltown is the Irish academic centre of the Society of Jesus, or Jesuits. McAleese then proceeded to the Gregorian Institute (The Greg), in Rome where she studied for a doctrinal degree in canon law.
The Greg is the Jesuits’ oldest and most prestigious seat of learning. Most recently, McAleese signed on in Boston College as the Burns Library Visiting Scholar in Irish Studies. As Boston College puts it, “Boston College is transmitting to maintaining and strengthening the Jesuit, Catholic mission of the University, and especially its commitment to integrating intellectual, personal ethical, and religious formation.”
Is the Pope a Catholic? A more rhetorical question might be: Is Pope Francis a Jesuit? An even greater cataclysm for the soldiers of orthodoxy who ruled with such Roman absolutism under Pope Benny comes with the fantastic yet seriously regarded suggestion that the new Jesuit Pope will appoint a female Cardinal in the not so distant future. Apparently one does not need to have been an ordained priest to become a Cardinal and the church has seen female Cardinals before (admittedly it is 800 years since such an appointment).
Pope Francis has been given to remarking about the need to involve women in the Church, arguing recently that, “The woman is essential for the Church. The new Pope knows he cannot yet overcome the myriad obstacles to ordaining women priests b ut, ironically, he could appoint a female Cardinal. The Spanish newspaper El Pais was the first to report that Pope Francis was considering such an appointment and it was picked up by the Catholic media in Italy and also the US. There, Phyllis Zagona, an academic at Loyola University (another Jesuit College), posited the suggestion as realistic. So, too, did Fr James Keenan (another Jesuit – the plot thickens!) a moral theologian at Boston College, would you believe, proposed a list of possible candidates, including Linda Hogan, a professor of Ecumenics at Trinity College, Dublin. One feels sure that another female Irish academic with a CV that would dwarf any other candidate, would also make any such shortlist.
Thursday, October 31, 2013
Vatican Asked For Poll of Catholics on Contraception, Same-Sex Marriage and Divorce/What's next a poll on women priests?
http://ncronline.org//news/vatican/vatican-asks-parish-level-input-synod-document
The Vatican has asked national bishops' conferences around the world to conduct a wide-ranging poll of Catholics asking for their opinions on church teachings on contraception, same-sex marriage and divorce.
Archbishop Lorenzo Baldisseri, secretary general of the Vatican's Synod of Bishops, asked the conferences to distribute the poll "immediately as widely as possible to deaneries and parishes so that input from local sources can be received."
The poll, which comes in a questionnaire sent to national bishops' conferences globally in preparation for a Vatican synod on the family next October, is the first time the church's central hierarchy has asked for such input from grass-roots Catholics since at least the establishment of the synod system following the Second Vatican Council.
The upcoming synod, which Pope Francis announced earlier this month, is to be held Oct. 5-19, 2014, on the theme "Pastoral Challenges of the family in the context of evangelization....
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Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
Sign Petition to Bishop Johnson: Don't Put Pastors on Trial for Performing Gay Marriages/Faithful America
"In
America 's largest mainline protestant denomination, the
United Methodist Church
But more than 30 Methodist pastors inPennsylvania
Their fate will ultimately be in the hands of their local bishop, Peggy Johnson, who recently wrote that she favors marriage equality.
Now she has an opportunity to send a powerful message by disregarding the church's immoral and discriminatory rules and refusing to pursue formal charges against these pastors.
Let's show her that thousands of us are praying for her to help demonstrate God's love for our gay and lesbian neighbors.
Sign the petition to Bishop Johnson: Don't put pastors on trial for performing gay weddings.
ThesePennsylvania
Last weekend, Bishop Melvin Talbert became the first-ever Methodist bishop to publicly officiate at a same-sex wedding.
A veteran of the civil rights movement, he says it's time to begin practicing what he calls "biblical obedience":
"When I sat at lunch counters during the civil rights movement, I had to commit myself to non-violence as a way of life. I was prepared to offer my very life to draw attention to the injustices that were occurring. When we were jailed, the people in our communities came to our rescue. That is the very same response we need today."
If Bishop Peggy Johnson refuses to pursue charges against thePennsylvania pastors, it could be the beginning of the
end of anti-gay discrimination in the United
Methodist
Church
Sign the petition.
Thanks!
-- Michael and Aaron
P.S. Our friends at the Reconciling Ministries Network are leading the fight for the full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in the United Methodist Church. Visit their website to learn more.
But more than 30 Methodist pastors in
Their fate will ultimately be in the hands of their local bishop, Peggy Johnson, who recently wrote that she favors marriage equality.
Now she has an opportunity to send a powerful message by disregarding the church's immoral and discriminatory rules and refusing to pursue formal charges against these pastors.
Let's show her that thousands of us are praying for her to help demonstrate God's love for our gay and lesbian neighbors.
Sign the petition to Bishop Johnson: Don't put pastors on trial for performing gay weddings.
These
Last weekend, Bishop Melvin Talbert became the first-ever Methodist bishop to publicly officiate at a same-sex wedding.
A veteran of the civil rights movement, he says it's time to begin practicing what he calls "biblical obedience":
"When I sat at lunch counters during the civil rights movement, I had to commit myself to non-violence as a way of life. I was prepared to offer my very life to draw attention to the injustices that were occurring. When we were jailed, the people in our communities came to our rescue. That is the very same response we need today."
If Bishop Peggy Johnson refuses to pursue charges against the
Sign the petition.
Thanks!
-- Michael and Aaron
P.S. Our friends at the Reconciling Ministries Network are leading the fight for the full inclusion of gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people in the United Methodist Church. Visit their website to learn more.
"From the Streets to the World's Best Mom" by Nicholas Kristof/ Sex Trade, Again Women Get the Raw Deal/Shut Down the Johns
http://paradigmsshifting.org/from-the-streets-to-the-worlds-best-mom-nytimes-com/
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
NASHVILLE — "WHEN men paid Shelia Faye Simpkins for sex, they presumably thought she was just a happy hooker engaging in a transaction among consenting adults. Shelia Simpkins said that when she was in her 20s and working in the sex industry, she was arrested dozens of times. But her pimps never were..."
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
NASHVILLE — "WHEN men paid Shelia Faye Simpkins for sex, they presumably thought she was just a happy hooker engaging in a transaction among consenting adults. Shelia Simpkins said that when she was in her 20s and working in the sex industry, she was arrested dozens of times. But her pimps never were..."
..."Simpkins figures she was arrested about 200 times — and her pimps, never. As for johns, by my back-of-envelope calculations, a john in Nashville has less than a 0.5 percent chance of being arrested. If there were more risk, fewer men would buy sex, and falling demand would force some pimps to find a new line of work.
In short, there are steps we can take that begin to chip away at the problem, but a starting point is greater empathy for women like Simpkins who were propelled into the vortex of the sex trade — and a recognition that the problem isn’t hopeless. To me, Simpkins encapsulates not hopelessness but the remarkable human capacity for resilience.
She has married and has two children, ages 4 and 6. The older one has just been accepted in a gifted program at school, and Simpkins couldn’t be more proud.
“I haven’t done a lot of things right in my life, but this is one thing I’m going to do right,” she said. “I’m going to be the world’s best mom.”
Bridget Mary's Response:
Excellent article by Nicholas Kristof in NY Times! The issue again is a human rights violation of women working in the sex industry and little or no prosecution of the pimps. Let's get real here and shut down the pimps! The blame does not go to the prostitutes. How about the clients and the pimps! Bridget Mary Meehan, www.arcwp.org, sofiabmm@aol.com
Monday, October 28, 2013
Bishops Need to Rethink their Understanding of Religious Freedom/ Honor Individual's Freedom of Conscience
http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/bishops-need-rethink-understanding-religious-freedom
..."What DeCosse highlights is that Catholic teaching since the Second Vatican Council is focused on the individual's freedom of conscience, which enables and even requires that individual to make his or her own personal moral decisions. The elevation of Pope Francis to the papacy now all but demands a change in the way the bishops are approaching this concept of religious liberty..."
..."It is time for our bishops to stop trying to compel the entire country to follow their dictates. Lip service or a distorted notion of freedom of conscience is not sufficient. Bishops need to truly understand that individuals have a mind and a conscience that cannot be violated. Interfering with the freedom of others in order to attain the freedom you want for yourself and your truth as you define it is not good enough in the church of Francis.
The saddest part of this misguided episode by the bishops is that it has put them on the wrong side of the health care issue. For years, the Catholic church has espoused the importance of universal health care coverage. They have advocated for health care as a right, not a privilege. Now they come down on the side of denying millions of Americans health insurance, just as the most extreme tea party members seek to do. What a shame."
..."What DeCosse highlights is that Catholic teaching since the Second Vatican Council is focused on the individual's freedom of conscience, which enables and even requires that individual to make his or her own personal moral decisions. The elevation of Pope Francis to the papacy now all but demands a change in the way the bishops are approaching this concept of religious liberty..."
..."It is time for our bishops to stop trying to compel the entire country to follow their dictates. Lip service or a distorted notion of freedom of conscience is not sufficient. Bishops need to truly understand that individuals have a mind and a conscience that cannot be violated. Interfering with the freedom of others in order to attain the freedom you want for yourself and your truth as you define it is not good enough in the church of Francis.
The saddest part of this misguided episode by the bishops is that it has put them on the wrong side of the health care issue. For years, the Catholic church has espoused the importance of universal health care coverage. They have advocated for health care as a right, not a privilege. Now they come down on the side of denying millions of Americans health insurance, just as the most extreme tea party members seek to do. What a shame."
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Today is World Priesthood Sunday/ Women Priests Are Now Serving Inclusive Catholic Communities in Europe, Canada, U.S. and Latin America
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| Roman Catholic Woman Priest with children and teens at Easter Vigil at Good Sherpherd Inclusive Catholic Community, Ft. Myers, Fl. |
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| Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests at ordination of 5 women in Virginia in June 2013 |
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| Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community, Sarasota, Florida Lent 2013 |
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| Roman Catholic Woman Priest Katy Zatsick at Easter Vigil at MMOJ Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community, Sarsaota, Florida |
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