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| Ordination of Julie Corron as deacon on right and Denise Hackert-Stoner as deacon on left, Albany, New York |
Bridget
Mary: Today we rejoice as we celebrate the ordination of Julie Corron and
Denise Hackert- Stoner as deacons in the Upper Room Community in Albany, New
York.
Even though the ordination of women
was one of the things that Julie found most exciting when she was
introduced to the Upper Room, she did not immediately feel called herself. It
took a trip to the Holy Land, walking where Jesus walked and connecting to his
message of love in a new and deeper way, for her to hear the call. She steps
forward today in prophetic obedience to the Spirit’s call to live gospel
equality in all areas of our lives, including all ministries of the Roman
Catholic Church. Julie doesn’t consider herself much of an activist but she
fervently agrees with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., that “Injustice anywhere is
a threat to justice everywhere.” That’s why, as members of the baptized in a
discipleship of equals, ARCWP serves God’s people in ordained ministry in communities
of faith like the Upper Room, leading the way toward a new paradigm of
inclusivity and partnership today.
As a nature photographer, who enjoys extreme closeup, the
picturing of small things, Denise is accustomed to looking at the world in
detail. Butterfly wings, Dragonfly faces, Hoverflies—the tiny
stitches in the quilt of creation get her attention. "So it was
quite surprising to her that her call came large, in a loving, human voice that
simply asked if she felt called to walk the road to priesthood. After a
brief period of resistance, Denise took the first steps, and has not looked
back.
In our
second reading St. Paul in Romans 16 commends deacon Phoebe and greets
prominent woman apostle Junia as well as a list of women ecclesial leaders
including, Julia. Women leaders like Phoebe, were not assistants to the
apostles, but rather were apostles, missionaries and leaders of communities equal
to and independent of Paul.
Contemporary
scholarship today reveals a treasure trove of evidence of women in inclusive church
ministry. Ally Kateusz, in her new book, Mary and the Early Christian
Women: Hidden Leadership offers a long list of women apostles, baptizers
and preachers. From the beginning of the Jesus movement texts and images show
women functioning as priests and bishops. For example, two ancient artifacts
depict women and men at an altar table presiding at a gender parallel liturgy
inside Old Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome and Hagia Sophia in Constantinople.
The
bottom line is that women did what men did in the early church even though this
evidence has been hidden through centuries of censorship. Today we are
reclaiming the original spirit of the followers of Jesus as we live inclusivity
and partnership in a community of beloved disciples!
Julie’s reflection:
In the gospel, Jesus prays for those he is sending out into the
world, “Protect those whom you have given me—Consecrate them….” Today Denise
and I officially join that group. And while I can’t speak for Denise, I for one
am very glad of the prayers. And yet you don’t need to be ordained to share the
message of Jesus with the world, the message of love, the message of peace, the
message of justice. That’s one of the first things I learned from the Upper
Room community, that we are all consecrated, we are all holy, we are all tasked
with carrying Jesus’ message. This life of faith in the world is not a
spectator sport.
How each of us
carries that message is as unique as we are. Whether you distribute lawn signs
welcoming immigrants; feed the hungry; or sit with those who are learning to
hear the still, small voice within, you are all messengers of Jesus’ love. You
are the Face of God. And I am so very blessed to know you and witness your good
works in the world.
Denise’s
Reflection:
In today’s
first reading, Mary Oliver asks “Who made the world?” and opens a winding,
grassy, meadow trail that eventually leads to the Divine. The only required skill for following that
trail is the ability to pay attention, to really look at things, to take them
in, and to see the Holy in them.
In his book
“The Universal Christ,” Franciscan theologian Richard Rohr says, “God loves
things by becoming them.” In these six
words, he opens our eyes to the Holy all around us. The people we meet, the
ones we will never meet. The grizzly
bear lumbering its way through the tundra, the hummingbird sipping nectar in
the garden. The earth beneath our feet
today, the cosmos spinning out of the past into the future. We are all of us at our core, sprung from
Divinity.
The Holy One
is here. The Kin-dom is now. This is the good news. The grasshopper eating sugar out of the
poet’s hand may or may not have realized it, but she was a full
participant. The first-century Rabbi
named Jesus did realize it, and used up every drop of his wild and precious
life proclaiming it.
Bridget Mary Meehan: Let us rejoice that we are recreating a more
open, vibrant and inclusive Roman
Catholic Church in Albany, New York as we ordain Julie and Denise women deacons
called to serve the community of faith here. Walking with Phoebe and the
thousands of women deacons who have gone before us, we proclaim the kindom is
now right before our eyes as justice
flows like a river and we rise up to live Gospel equality. Amen Alleluia!
