Bridget Mary's Blog: 11/23/14

Saturday, November 29, 2014

Austrian Lesbian Politician Tells Pope Francis: 'It would be great if you spoke up in favour of same-sex marriage and... women's rights inside the church"

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/austrian-lesbian-politician-tells-pope-francis-it-would-be-great-if-you-spoke-up-in-favour-of-samesex-marriage-9886563.html

...Ulrike Lunacek, who is head of delegation of the Austrian Greens in the European Parliament and openly lesbian, addressed the head of the Catholic Church in Strasbourg on Tuesday, after he had given a speech in front of Europe’s leaders.

Lunacek, who is also co-president of the European Parliament's Intergroup on LGBT Rights, handed the symbolic garment to the Pope in front of a crowd of people.

She said: “I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed about the fact that you didn’t address any of the other urgent things inside the church and outside.

“Women’s issues, women’s rights inside the church. Today is the International Day [for the Elimination of] Violence Against Women. I think you should have mentioned something like that.”

Lunacek went on: “It would be great if you had spoken up in favour of same-sex marriage or also for the use of contraceptives, for example, especially in times of HIV and other situations.

“But I didn’t hear that and that was a bit disappointing.”

Bridget Mary's Response:

Yes, Pope Francis needs to make the connection between justice for migrants, justice for the poor and justice for women in the church and world. Pope Francis has said that inequality is the root of social evil. Therefore, human rights and women's rights s both inside and outside the church are all interconnected and should be proclaimed by church leaders, like Pope Francis, as an integral part of the social justice teaching of the church. Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, www.arcwp.org

Friday, November 28, 2014

Pittsburgh Bishops Warns Against Roman Catholic Womenpriests, but Will Not Excommunicate Catholics Who Attend Liturgies

http://www.wtae.com/news/pittsburgh-catholic-diocese-warns-against-outside-groups/29969100
Is this a positive signal by the Bishop of Pittsburgh? Bridget Mary's Response

..."Sunday's Bread is led by Bishop Joan M. Clark Houk, who was ordained in 2006 by the Roman Catholic Womenpriests group, which is lobbying for female ordination.

She said her group celebrates the same Mass, but "we do break with rules, which exclude and discriminate, with no intended arrogance."

Pittsburgh Bishop David Zubik said the church considers involvement in the outside groups a "serious matter" but doesn't plan on excommunicating people found to be participating."

Support Women Priests, Your Gift Will Help Us Grow

Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, Inc.

3041 Stuart Drive

Macon, GA 31204

November 2014

Dear Friends of ARCWP:

The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests (ARCWP) wish to thank you for standing beside us as you support our ministries through sharing in our Eucharistic communities, your enthusiasm, prayers and donations during this past fruitful year. Together, we have been called to serve and work for justice and equality in our communities and in the world.

Our branch of the international women priest movement is working to renew priestly ministry in the all-male dominated Roman Catholic Church. As we come to the close of 2014 we thank our Creator for our increased numbers, from an initial group of 6 priests in 2010 to 32 priests,16 deacons, 5 candidates, several applicants, total is 60. Please follow our growth on our website [www.arcwp.org] for the dates and locations of ordinations.

ARCWP is in the United States, Canada, and South America leading inclusive, enthusiastic, egalitarian communities where all are welcome to share at the Eucharistic table. In March 2015, Bishop Bridget Mary will travel to Columbia, South America to ordain women priests.

The Spirit has been calling us at an increased rate and we are answering the call for women’s involvement in our church at all levels. As Bishop Bridget Mary would say, we are not leaving the church, we are leading it.

Yearly, we come to you, dear friends, family, communities, and supporters to ask for your financial help. Our needs are three-fold: travel costs for those who attend ordinations, scholarship assistance for candidates needing to complete academic requirements, and support for growing our faith communities. The greatest of these are costs involving ordinations. Any gift, no matter the amount, makes you part of our movement for justice and equality in our Church. Please give, as you are able.

Asking God’s blessing for you and your loved ones.

Rev. Barbara A. Duff

For: The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests

The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests, Inc. is a 501©(3) tax exempt organization.

No goods or services were provided by ARCWP in exchange for this contribution.

Your donation is tax deductible to the extent permitted by law.

Thursday, November 27, 2014

Homily for Holy Spirit Catholic Community, 1st Sunday of Advent, Cycle B by Beverly Bingle, RCWP

The four weeks of the Advent season that we enter today
symbolize the 4,000 years that the Chosen People waited
before the Messiah came.
Even though God was with the people
through all of those 40 centuries,
they were not always aware of the Divine Presence.
Sometimes they recognized the hand of God:
in the burning bush,
the parting of the sea,
cloud by day and fire by night,
in Moses and Miriam and Aaron
and the prophets.
But sometimes they got distracted with other things
and just didn’t see God with them.
__________________________________________
Many of the people of Jesus’ time
did not recognize the Divine Presence in him,
a human like us,
the one who was alert to God’s Divine Presence
and went about teaching people
how to live in right relationship with God.
We still know that God is with us,
but we don’t always pay attention to the fact
that God makes a habit of entering our lives,
being within us,
walking the road with us.
__________________________________________
Everywhere we look these days
we’re reminded of the Christmas story,
how Jesus—unique expression of the Divine Presence—
was born among us.
Bells and carols and crib scenes.
We’ll hear how Mary and Joseph traveled to Bethlehem
with no place to stay
until the innkeeper let them sleep in his stable.
We tell ourselves
that we would have welcomed that family into our home
if they had come to our door.
About 15 years ago a young couple with their children
showed up on the doorstep of a friend of mine, Paul.
He knew them from church and invited them in.
When they told him the story of their eviction and asked for help,
Paul moved them into his own house
and rented a room until they got back on their feet.
He saw the Divine Presence in that homeless family,
and I was privileged to see it in him.
And I see God up close in you
as you reach out with time and food and clothes and cash
to Family Promise, Assumption Outreach,
Cherry Street Mission, Habitat… the list goes on!
__________________________________________
Another part of our Christmas tradition
is the story of the terrified parents
taking the baby Jesus to another country,
running from the terror and slaughter wrought by King Herod. We tell ourselves
that we would have welcomed them into our country
if they had come here.
Like the children at our border.
In the Rio Grande Valley in Texas,
volunteers acting on their own
have been reaching out to the families.
When the refugees arrive,
according to Sister Norma of the Missionaries of Jesus,
"they are scared, they're hungry, they're tired.
They don't know who to trust.
They fear someone will take advantage of them."
Sister Norma tells the people
when she meets them at the bus station,
"Somos de la iglesia. Estamos aqui para ayudar."
("We are with the church. We are here to help.")
__________________________________________
Then there are the folks we see on the evening news,
distressed and dying, but far away from us.
They are victims of natural disasters—
flood, drought, hurricane, typhoon, earthquake, disease.
We know the disasters really aren’t “natural” any more.
Their severity is increasing because of the action—and inaction—
of us human beings who are changing our planet’s climate.
Interestingly, a recent political study shows
that Catholics in America who are of Latino or African heritage
are more concerned about climate change
than white Catholics are.
Why?
As people marginalized in our society,
they understand that climate change
will hit them first, and hardest, and longest.
Those faces on TV look like them.
__________________________________________
Here at Holy Spirit we’re launching
what for us is a major effort
to mitigate climate change.
We’ve decided to re-forest Toledo.
For the planet as a whole, it’s not very much.
For us, it’s something we can do right now
to help our children and grandchildren
and the whole earth.
But why do we care?
We’re not poor.
We don’t live on coastal lowlands or in a desert.
We have doctors and hospitals handy,
and insurance to help pay the cost of health care.
Even if we live in poverty,
we’re still well-off compared to most of the world’s people.
__________________________________________
So why do we care?
Why do we reach out to the homeless and the poor?
Why do we donate to disaster relief?
Why do we support immigration reform?
Why did we sign that public comment letter to the EPA last week?
When we look at the TV reports,
whether it’s an earthquake in Haiti
or a cyclone in Myanmar
or mudslides in Brazil
or starvation from drought in Somalia,
we see people created in the image of God,
people who are temples of the Holy Spirit,
people with the spark of the Divine Presence in them.
We see our sisters and brothers, our children, suffering.
They’re part of us—one people, one body—
and we are compelled to help.
It’s a moral imperative for us.
And from that impulse to help we have done two things.
First, we reach out when whenever we can
to help people in need now.
We have sent direct aid around the world
by contributing through Catholic Relief Services.
We help Toledo’s homeless at Family Promise and Tent City,
and we help feed the poor at Claver House
and Assumption Outreach Center.
Second, we are going to change the climate
by making it better.
We’re not waiting
while governments figure out environment policies
with deadlines 5 or 10 or 20 years off in the future.
We are going to start planting trees next spring,
as soon as the weather breaks.
If we plant a white pine seedling in 2015,
it will grow a foot a year
and by the year 2040
it will be breathing in 15 pounds of carbon dioxide a year,
equal to the emissions from 26,000 miles of driving a car;
and it will be breathing out 260 pounds of oxygen a year,
enough to keep two people alive.
_________________________________________
God speaks to us in many ways—through other people,
through nature, through the message of Jesus.
As we go through Advent,
God’s voice is loud and clear:
Be alert!
Live in right relationship with all people, with the earth,
and with me, God says.
I am with you!

--
Holy Spirit Catholic Community
at 3535 Executive Parkway (Unity of Toledo)
Saturdays at 4:30 p.m.
Sundays at 5:30 p.m.
www.holyspirittoledo.org

Rev. Dr. Bev Bingle, Pastor
419-727-1774

Thanksgiving Blessings, Abundant Love, Deep Gratitude for All God's Gifts

Mystical Ireland Pilgrimage

Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests' Ordination of 25 women in 2014

Family at VA. Beach

Gift of life, creation: Sunrises and Sunsets

St. Julian and all the saints

All Praise and Thanks to you, Loving God for the many blessings of 2014, too numerous to name in full.

Your abundance of love fills my heart this day with gratitude and love.

Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, www.arcwp.org, sofiabmm@aol.com

Wednesday, November 26, 2014

..."Fouzia Dahir, founder of the Northern Organization of Social Empowerment in Kenya, spoke about the prominent cultural structures in her home country that limit women's opportunities.

"Where I come from my role should be ... sitting in the kitchen and taking care of the children and stuff like that, and doing the chores, that is the conventional role of women," she said. "We are still inferior to men, and up to today we cannot ... vote unless your husband tells you that you should vote. So we cannot even make those decisions, let alone any other decision in the household."

As the hunger report pointed out, "when the norm is for women to be excluded from decision-making, then they will have little say over policy formation that is in the best interest of everyone."

Gary Barker, founder of Promundo, an organization that seeks to engage men in advocating for gender equality, said men play an important role in changing gender discrepancies, especially when it comes to women's health.

"We're ... engaging men around getting women to have access to the life-saving services they need in terms of maternal health," such as prenatal visits, he said. "What we're seeing is when [a man is] invited in that process, he is more likely to be supportive [and] she is more likely to get the services she needs.

These types of initiatives, Barker said, expand on "what men themselves already want."

"They often want better for their partners and their children," he said. "So we're trying to tap into that to make that possible..."

Photos of Eucharistic Celebration at SOA Watch Peacemakers from Bob Graf

Processional with ARCWP Priests right: Janice Sevre Duszynska, Olga Lucia Alvarez,
second row, Katy Zatsick and SOA Watch Peacemakers

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

SOA Watch Vigil- Photos of Witnesses for Justice in Solidarity with Our Sisters and Brothers in Latin America

ARCWP Priest Katy Zatsick greets Fr. Roy Bourgeois

"Two bishops Dine and Dialogue with Peace Activists"

http://www.cathnewsusa.com/2014/11/two-bishops-dine-dialogue-peace-activists/?newsletter=1

"During the recent U.S. Catholic bishops’ fall assembly in Baltimore, two bishops decided to forego the dinner sponsored by the U.S. Army Chaplains Corps and attended instead a simple supper and discussion on peacemaking.

On the evening of Nov. 11, at historic St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church in Baltimore, Archbishop Joseph Tobin of Indianapolis and Bishop John Michael Botean, head of the Romanian Catholic Eparchy of St. George’s in Canton, Ohio, broke bread with about 20 Catholic peace activists, including me, and dialogued with us about how the Catholic church could shift from a “just war” to a “just peace” doctrine and spirituality.

Eli McCarthy, director of justice and peace for the Conference of Major Superiors of Men, started the dialogue off with a presentation on the theological developments of the concept of “just peace.”

He explained that by supporting cooperative conflict resolution, fostering just and sustainable economic development, advancing human rights and interdependence, significantly reducing weapons and the arms trade, providing education in nonviolent peacemaking and resistance, and creating nonviolent civilian-based defense we can help advance a peace founded on social justice and nonviolence.

“War continues to create habits of war,” he said. As we quickly move from one armed conflict to the next, this observation is beyond dispute.

“War dehumanizes us,” Tobin said, adding that during World War II, U.S. Gen. Curtis LeMay, who planned and executed a massive bombing campaign against cities in Japan, seemed to have little regard for the lives of Japanese children, women and men...." [More]

Monday, November 24, 2014

SOA Watch Vigil: Witness to Justice in Solidarity with our Latin American Sisters and Brothers, Who Were Victims of Brutality from Graduates of the School of the Americas

The crosses give the names and sometimes the age and country of our Latin American sisters and brothers who are the victims of the brutality of the graduates of the School of the Americas and multi-national global corporations.

On Sunday morning for the memorial funeral procession we choose a cross to raise as their names and sometimes ages are sung in a litany of remembrance. Raising our crosses we chant "Presente"

ARCWP Women Priests: Olga Lucia Alvarez, Deacon, Rita Lucey, and Janice Sevre Duszynska

Add caption

left to right: Roman Catholic Women Priests; Katy Zatsick, Diane Dougherty, Barbara Zeman and Kay Akers, support member ARCWP

Then we marched three miles to the Stewart Detention Center which houses 1,700 people.

Corrections Corporations of America (CCA) is the largest for-profit prison company in the U.S. CCA is the owner of the Stewart Detention Center, which is the largest immigrant prison in the country. The fact that CCA and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) warehouse almost 2,000 men in Stewart simply for seeking a better life for themselves and their families is infuriating enough. That they do so for profit is immoral. But that is only the tip of the iceberg of the injustice occurring in Lumpkin and other private and public immigrant prisons across the country.

"Our movement is also connected to this big immigration issue. Stewart Detention Center is the largest detention center for the undocumented in the U.S. for profit about 2,000 undocumented there many of them from Latin America," Bourgeois says.

Stewart detainees are, by all accounts other than those of ICE and CCA, kept in inhumane conditions. Georgia Detention Watch (GDW) is the local coalition that organizes the Stewart Detention Vigil. According to Everitt Howe, a member of GDW, "The severity of the conditions in the facility strikes everyone who enters. We know we only see a fraction of what goes on inside." This is not a coincidence in the private prison industry. CCA makes more money by cutting on detainee medical services, food, amenities, recreation, as well as employee training and benefits. Not only does CCA profit from incarcerating migrants, but it also profits by forcing them to endure through horrendous conditions such as those inside Stewart.

From SOAW.org See:

http://soaw.org/news/organizing-updates/4169-the-shut-down-stewart-detention-vigil-during-the-novemeber-soa-watch-mobilization-the-connections-between-racism-imperialism-and-mass-incarceration-are-clear-in-georgia

ARCWP Priest, Ann Harrington, from Free Spirit Inclusive Catholic Community in Greenville, NC Celebrates Unity in Interfaith Service 11/23/14

Interfaith Service held at St. Paul's Episcopal

Church, Greenville, NC, 11/23/14.

We, Free Spirit Inclusive Catholic

Community, along with the Hindus, Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, Pagans, Secular

Humanists, Pentecostals, Methodists and Episcopalians celebrated our unity.

ARCWP Priest Ann Harrington on right wearing green stole.

Interfaith Service 11/23/14
Jesus said: "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me won’t walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life". John 8:12
Jesus said: "You are the light of the world. No one would light a lamp and put it under a clay pot. A lamp is placed on a lamp stand, where it can give light to everyone in the house. Make your light shine, so that others will see the good that you do and will give praise to your Abba God in heaven". Matthew 5:14-16
1. A candle cannot light itself. It needs to receive light from another source. (Light pillar candle with a match)
O God, thank you for the light that Jesus the Christ brings to us and the light we can pass on to others.
2. A candle, when lit can give away its light without losing the light it has.
( light a small tea light from the central candle)
O God, thank you that you give us so much love that we can give away love to others without losing what we already have.
3. A candle burns as bright when it is new, as when it is old.
(light another pillar candle that is not as tall because it has already burned lower)
O God, thank you that whatever age we are, we can still be used by you to be a light for you to each other

4. A candle’s light is the same whatever the size, shape or color of the candle.
(light some other candles, of different shapes and colors)
O God, thank you that we all matter to you and are of equal value to you even though we are each very different. Help us to see the light of your love burning in everyone we meet.
5. Unless the candle’s light is passed on, that light dies when the candle itself comes to an end.
(light another candle)
O God, you want your light to be passed on to others. You are the light of the world and you call us to be lights to the world
6. A candle’s light is designed to be seen and is best placed high up so that it can give light to all; it is not for hiding away.
(demonstrate this by carefully lifting up the pillar candle higher)
O God, help us not to hide our light , keeping it to ourselves. You want us to be lights that bring light to as many people as possible
7. When the candles are snuffed out, ( snuff all but one candle) notice the spreading smoke, which like incense fills the room. Remember that the invisible presence of Jesus goes with us everywhere.
O God, even though some days we cannot sense your presence, you are always with us. May your invisible light shine brightly in and through us wherever we go in the days ahead.

And this light is not in some of us but all of us. God made us to shine this light. When we allow the light and love of God to flow through us in what we do, say and think, we spark others to let their light shine too.

The Progressive Catholic Coalition Eucharist In Solidarity with Our Sisters & Brothers of Latin America Seeking Justice

Left to right: ARCWP Priests: Olga Lucia, Janice Sevre -Duszynska,, Katy Zatsick

Introduction [given after the “housekeeping” directions] Janice

Welcome on the 25^th anniversary of SOA Watch celebrating our solidarity with our Latin American sisters and brothers. As the alternative community seeking the Kin-dom, the new social reality, we gather. Let us celebrate and renew each other in the Spirit of the God of Newness, in the Freedom of the Living One among us.

Commissioning of Leaders by the Gathering

Leader 1: Since we know that all baptized are anointed in Jesus, Priest, Prophet, and Shepherd, we are all ministers of this liturgy. We ask you as the People of God gathered here in one spirit:

Do you accept us as the ones you wish to lead this gathering in prayer, reflection and meal this evening?

All: We commission you to this ministry of service.

Response of the Commissioned Leaders: We thank you for your confidence in choosing to have us lead this prayer. Please pray that we carry out this ministry worthily. (Short pause for silent prayer)

Opening Song:

Opening Prayer

Let us pray.

All loving and wise God, Creator and sustainer of all reality. You are the ground of our being and the source of our hope. Holy One—like Hosea, Jeremiah and Jesus—we cry out against indifference and numbness to human suffering and all creation. Awakened to your alternative consciousness, we witness for an end to oppression. We name, we keen the “hurt, human pain and grief that the dominant royal culture has tried so hard to repress, deny and cover over.” (Walter Brueggemann, The Prophetic Imagination)

Fill our hearts with the confidence you deserve as we continue to stand in solidarity with our sisters and brothers. AMEN.

LITURGY OF THE WORD

First Reading

“From Below” by Colombian Judith Bautista, ARCWP (Proclaim English translation)

FROM BELOW

by Judith Bautista, ARCWP

I thank you, Father,

for hiding these things

From the wise and prudent,

and revealing them to the childlike.

- Mt 11: 25

I write from below,

From the sweat and dust,

Where the foundations of your Name may be found

Along with laughter as well as lament.

Your name when the cold at dawn

Makes us freeze,

And earth scorches

Our seedlings in its guts;

Your name when the sun

Lights up the afternoons

And enlivens

The harvest festival;

Your name when wailing

Rips open our dreams

And we grieve the children

robbed from us by war.

Your name in the morning

when the day’s work begins,

while the mother rocks

her child in her arms.

I write from below

where naked skin—

with neither clothing, nor excuses—

smacks more of heaven.

~translation by John P. Wentland

Gospel Acclamation (sung to the melody of the Celtic Alleluia

Alleluia, Alleluia! Alleluia, Alleluia! Alleluia, Alleluia! Alleluia, Alleluia!

Leader: The word of our God is forever;

God’s is the Word that is living.

It is brought to us by our brother Jesus Christ.

All: Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia! Alleluia!

Gospel John: 20: 19-31

A reading from the Gospel according to John.

A: Glory to you, O God.

In the evening of that same day, the first of the week, the doors were locked in the room where the disciples were, for fear of the Temple authorities.

Jesus came and stood among them and said to them, “Peace be with you.”

Having said this, the savior showed them the marks of crucifixion.

The disciples were filled with joy when they saw Jesus, who said to them again, “Peace be with you. As Abba God has sent me, so I am sending you.”

After saying this, Jesus breathed on them and said,

“Receive the Holy Spirit.

If you forgive anyone’s sins, they are forgiven.

If you retain anyone’s sins, they are retained.”

It happened that one of the twelve, Thomas—nicknamed Didymus, or “Twin—was absent when Jesus came. The other disciples kept telling him, “We’ve seen Jesus!”

Thomas’s answer to them was, “I’ll never believe without putting my finger in the nail marks and my hand into the spear wound.”

On the eighth day, the disciples were once more in the room, and this time Thomas was with them. Despite the locked doors, Jesus came and stood before them, saying, “Peace be to you.”

Then, to Thomas, Jesus said, “Take your finger and examine my hands. Put your hand into my side. Don’t persist in your unbelief, but believe!”

Thomas said in response, “My Savior and my God!”

Jesus then said,

“You’ve become a believer

because you saw me.

Blessed are those who have not seen

and yet have believed.”

Jesus performed many other sign as well—signs not recorded here—in the presence of his disciples. But these have been recorded to help you believe that Jesus is Messiah, the Only-Begotten, so that by believing you may have life in Jesus’ Name.

Short pause

Reader: The Gospel of Jesus the Christ.

All: Praise to you, Jesus the Christ!

Reflection: Olga Lucia Alvarez [Spanish] Read in English by Janice

Commentary: Fr. Jerry Zawada, OFM

Blessing with Water

As we receive the gift of water, reminder of our Baptismal covenant, we seek the Spirit’s renewal and refreshment to work in life-affirming community for the healing of the wounds of injustice in solidarity with our Latin American sisters and brothers.

SONG:

General Intercessory Litany

Leader 2: Let us join in prayer now as we are invited to remember our saints and companions—living and dead—on this journey, especially those in Latin America.

After each invocation, we will light a candle to remind us of the luminous presence of these witnesses and turn over the rain stick to remind us that our solidarity and theirs continues to resonate with us.

After each invocation, please note the response.

All you holy children, we pray for you

All you holy men and women, pray for us.

Leader:

Divine Light, Radiant Holy One, light of all Lights, we remember the saints who are with us and those who have gone home to God.

Voice 1: Let us remember the risk-takers, who faced their fears and took action, who sought justice even though they had to pay a price for it… the six Jesuits, their housekeeper Elba and her daughter Celina; the four church women of El Salvador, Rutillio Grande, Aida Escalante of Cinquera, El Salvador, Oscar Romero… (You are invited to shout out other names.)