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. 19th, 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
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