"A Blessed Christmas with God- Nothing is Impossible" by Judy Lee RCWP

http://judyabl.wordpress.com/2014/12/26/a-blessed-christmas-with-god-nothing-is-impossible-rev-judy-and-the-good-shepherd-community/

A Blessed Christmas-With God Nothing is Impossible! Rev. Judy and the Good Shepherd Community

Christmas is filled with seemingly impossible events-events that are, however, totally possible with God. The words of the prophet Isaiah, speaking almost 900 years before Jesus was to be born forecasts the coming of the greatest Light who would be born a baby and called “Wonder-Counselor, God-Hero, Protector Forever, Prince of Peace” (Is 91-6). God will come to us as a tiny baby. The Awesome and great God of the entire Cosmos will be born into human life to show us how to live, and die and rise again. He will show us how to welcome everyone to God and leave no one out in the cold,to bring peace in a troubled world. Like Mary, who is asked to be the God-bearer, we are told as we hear the Christmas story once again “With God nothing is impossible” (Luke 1:37). Young Mary gets past her fears and is open to having this very special baby who will be called Yeshua, Jesus,  “Deliverance”. Joseph does not divorce her but embraces her and takes care of her. The baby is born in the space designed for animals, a most humble birth. The Shepherds are the first to be told about this event, and frightened though they are, they go and see the baby and go and tell the Good News of his birth. Along with Mary who said that the hungry will now be filled and the rich will go away empty, they, the lowly and often untrusted outsiders, the shepherds, are the first evangelists.(Luke 1 and 2). Later, the magi, astronomers, learned individuals, or kings, will follow their bright star and find him. And they will not tell the wicked and jealous king Herod about this newborn king so Joseph and Mary will flee to Egypt until it is safe to come back(Matthew 2).  How could these humble parents afford the trip to Egypt, perhaps with the gold and gifts that the Magi brought-or simply because “with God, nothing is impossible”. Christmas at its root is the impossible made possible, God made flesh and dwelling among us.

How do we enact Christmas this year with the deluge of human need and troubles ever increasing before us? We do it with faith, faith that embraces even the impossible. Faith that doesn’t need proofs for everything, faith that includes feelings of reverence and deep love. For me, that is a faith that makes me want to bow down on my knees and say “thank you God!”  and it is now and always has been the people of God that have taught me this faith.  Fourteen year old Keeondra saved her money and bought her Pastors two little ceramic snowmen this Christmas, one had the word “faith” on it, the other “peace” She explained in her hand-made card that “the church was where people found peace” and that the faith of the pastors grows faith in the people “who may not know God without it”, and that is how she chose those snowmen for us.   Keeondra is on the right in the picture on the right below. She is with her youngest sister Jakeriya and her brother Quay who nearly died of an opportunistic infection in November 2013, and who renewed his faith in reaffirming his hospital bed baptism just a few weeks ago. His life and affirmation of Life is one of the impossible events made possible by the faith that Keeondra is referring to as she affirms the miracle of faith. Also, several of our formerly homeless people have called and let us know how grateful they are to be enjoying their homes this Christmas. One man, Lloyd has now moved to Maine and married his High School sweetheart and he was able to get HUD housing in Maine after having it here as well.  Roger, our first housed person brought a donation to the church as he often does and prayed a prayer of thanks long with Lauretta and Nathaniel during our Prayers of the Faithful. Gary also spoke of the Peace of Christ at Christmas. And the “peace in the church” that young Keeondra was referring to in her card includes having a place to live in the rear of the church for her family of seven as they get back on their feet once again. Theirs is a faith of new life and second and third chances, a faith of the possibility of new things happening. A faith that includes her older sister being the first generation of their family members to be in college and doing well as of this September (on the right in the picture on the left below) .

And so this Christmas-tide we are asked to have the kind of faith that embraces what may be or seem to be impossible. The kind of faith that can see the great Light still among us, that can affirm the coming of the Christ who is with us still, the kind of faith that is for all people and welcomes everyone to the Table. The faith that can take the hopes and dreams of our lives, however impossible or broken they may be and breathe them into live reality. This is the faith that gives birth to love,no matter what.

In our Good Shepherd Inclusive Catholic Community the possibly impossible has been possible this Christmas. Due to the generosity of individuals,like Mary Pautz, Ellen and Jack McNally, Peter Lee, Ellie VerNooy, Danielle Nisivoccia, Jean Bauer, Pearl Cudjoe and Judy Alves, Rudy Elder, Monica Piccirillo, Evelyn Touhsaent and her husband Cliff, and Joan B. Volkmuth and Klaus Helf, Katy Zatsick and Bridget Mary Meehan, Phyllis Owen and Michele Nowosad, Stella Odie-Ali and Hank and Claire Tessandori,  and special organizations, like the Orioles, a local Social Club pictured below on left, and Gini Beecroft,Tom Rutkowski and the Breckinridge Community and Red Thread Group, Lisa Munklewitz and the Lamb of God Church and Thrift Store, below on right, we were able to give meaningful Christmas gifts to over thirty-five children and young people and over twenty-five adults,and also to serve wonderful Christmas meals all during advent. What a joy this is!

   

Our Sunday school has increased by six young people most of whom participated in our Christmas Pageant. It was great joy to see them learning the Gospel by acting it out. Here are some of them at rehearsal. After the rehearsal, Niyah,6, went outside by herself and knelt down at the Nativity scene, placing her hands over her heart as Mary did. We caught her there praying and she smiled for the camera. She has been doing this quietly and spontaneously since she was three years old,somehow drawn to Mary. We especially thank our Junior and Little Lambs teachers, Pearl Cudjoe and Linda Maybin for their year long assistance, and Efe Jane Cudjoe for her youth leadership.

One of the miracles of Christmas was that Niyah’s Mom, who has sent her since she was two without accompanying her and her sisters and brothers, came to church to see the Pageant.

The joy and laughter as the congregation watched the Pageant was overwhelming. Joelle white was Mary and Keion Lewis, Joseph. The part of Mary’s donkey was played by Jakeriya Maybin and the Angel by Arnya Jackson. The reverence of the children was most moving. And Santa Claus, (Hank Tessandori) paid us a visit that caused squeals of delight.

These young girls are holding “the Baby Jesus” and his “sisters” , dolls lovingly made for them by Helen Hearn, a compassionate and highly skilled octogenarian, who also makes extensive wardrobes for each doll.

Arnya,7, just loves her new doll. Her face says it all for the joy of Christmas at the Good shepherd Inclusive Catholic Community in fort Myers. Thanks be to God! To quote our wise Keeondra, “MERRY CHRISTMAS-HAVE FAITH !”

Love and Christmas Blessings throughout the New Year,

Pastor Judy Lee,RCWP

Pastor Judy Beaumont, RCWP

"Can Pope Francis Still Save the Vatican?"

Bridget Mary's Response: I support Pope Francis' efforts to reform  the Vatican Curia.

His scolding of the cardinals the week before Christmas is a hopeful sign. He understands that spiritual renewal and living the Gospel joyfully is the main job of  church's leaders. If the Pope had been Santa, the Vatican Curia would have received coal in their stockings for Christmas! Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, www.arcwp.org

Another view by Jerry Slevin:

" Can Pope Francis Still Save the Vatican ? Probably Not ! "

http://christiancatholicism.com/can-pope-francis-still-save-the-vatican-probably-not/

"We are all meant to be mothers of God"

“What good is it to me if Mary gave birth to the Son of God 1400 years ago

and I do not give birth to the Son of God in my own person and time

and culture?…We are all meant to be mothers of God."

                                — Meister Eckhart

"Woman intends to be Kansas City’s first female Catholic Priest" BY MATT CAMPBELL,THE KANSAS CITY STAR 12/25/2014

http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article4986519.html

Kathy Kelly and Deacon Georgia Walker, ARCWP- Peace and Justice Activists

"In a few days Georgia Walker, at age 67, intends to become a priest, at which point she 
will be excommunicated from the Roman Catholic Church.

That doesn’t faze her.

“I don’t accept the legitimacy of that excommunication,” said Walker, 
who will be the first woman in Kansas City to defy the church and be ordained a priest.

The church in turn will not accept the legitimacy of her ordination because, 
under canon law, only men can be priests.

“That’s their problem,” Walker said of the church.

That steadfastness is a trait of the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests,
 a growing movement of people who see the church as too
 authoritarian and unwilling to be inclusive. But instead of leaving the church, they hope to change it from within.

At other stages of her life, Walker has been a sociology professor at the 
University of Missouri, a financial officer and a hospital manager.
 In midlife she converted to Catholicism and became a Sister of St. Joseph,
 although she did not take final vows. 
She is working on a graduate degree in theology.

Walker also is a peace activist who has been convicted of trespassing 
at the Bannister Federal Complex in south Kansas City and at 
Whiteman Air Force Base near Knob Noster, Mo.

She now works with men and women coming out of prison to
 help them reintegrate with society.

As a priest, Walker wants to establish a regular schedule to visit prisons in the 
Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph to bring the sacrament to inmates. 
She also wants to build a small community of worshipers 
while remaining a member of St. James Parish in Kansas City.

The church says no.

Canon Law 1024 of the Roman Catholic Church says that only 
baptized men may be ordained as priests. That is based on Jesus calling only 
men to be his disciples.

In 2004, Pope John Paul II issued an apostolic letter affirming that the priesthood was 
for men only.

Pope Francis had raised hopes that he would bring more flexibility to the church. 
But in July 2013, at a surprise news conference on the plane back to Rome 
after a visit to Brazil, he made clear that women cannot be priests.

“That door is closed,” he said.

Walker said those rules “have been made by men who seemingly forget that the 
first person that Jesus appeared to after his resurrection was a woman. 
Did he make a mistake? Mary Magdalene was the first one to see him. 
She was the first one to start spreading the good news of his resurrection.”

Women priests claim legitimacy through “apostolic succession,” which says 
the authority to ordain was passed from bishop to bishop going back to Peter. 
Proponents say the early church had many women priests and bishops, 
and only later did church leaders quash the practice.

The modern movement began with the ordination of seven women in 2002
 on a boat in the Danube River. In 2008, the Vatican said any woman attempting 
to be ordained and anyone attempting to ordain a woman would be automatically 
excommunicated and could not receive the sacrament.

The Diocese of Kansas City-St. Joseph issued this statement:
 “Since this ‘ordination’ does not involve the participation of any validly ordained Catholic clergy, the diocese does not see a reason to comment any further.”

Walker said the diocese explicitly warned her she would be 
excommunicated if she continued with her plan. She said she was not dissuaded.

Walker’s ordination, scheduled for Jan. 3, will be performed by 
Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan, who travels the country 
ordaining women priests and deacons — 25 of them in 2014.

Walker’s ceremony will be held at 2 p.m. at St. Mark Hope 
and Peace Lutheran Church, 
3800 Troost Ave.

Donna Simon, pastor at St. Mark, has no patience for the view that women 
cannot be priests.

“The logic for male (only) ordination is spurious,” she said.
 “Nowhere in the Bible does it say you may not ordain women. 
But because Jesus only called men, the church has leaned into this tradition 
that you can only call men. It hasn’t leaned into a tradition that you can only call 
Jewish men because all the men that Jesus called were Jewish. They just picked 
that one thing.”

Polls have shown that a majority of American Catholics support women as priests.

There are now nearly 200 women priests, with more than 150 in the United States.

The National Catholic Reporter said a survey by the Pew Research Center 
found that one in every 10 Americans is an ex-Catholic. Meehan says church 
doctrine is driving people away.

“There is a big spiritual chasm in the heart of the church that does not 
reflect the love and compassion of God,” she said. 
“Women priests are saying everyone is welcome. 
There are no outsiders in God’s family.”"

 http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article4986519.html#storylink=cpy

To reach Matt Campbell call 816-234-4902 or send email to mcampbell@kcstar.com Follow on Twitter @MattCampbellKC

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/article4986519.html#storylink=cpy

Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community 2014 Celebrates Christmas/Homily by Sally Brochu, Deacon ARCWP/With Photos of Community

Bridget Mary Meehan and Lee Breyer co-preside at Christmas Liturgy

Bridget Mary Meehan and Lee Breyer Co-Presiders with Community Pray Epiclesis/ Invocation of Holy Spirit on Bread and Wine/Community is the Celebrant of Eucharist

Deacon Sally Brochu ARCWP proclaims Gospel, preaches homily and leads dialogue community homily

As we gather today on this wonder-filled feast of Christmas, we each come with our memories of days gone by, of children and their excitement, of parents or grandparents, of other loved ones - some still with us, some not – but all brought close to heart as we remember how they may have touched our lives and enriched them. Some of us may not have cherished memories of earlier days because they were so difficult. Yet, this day is a day of celebration, of hope and thankfulness for the magnificent gift that God gave humanity. It’s etched in our hearts and it so good. It is an event that gives us hope when times are difficult and we are reminded of the incredible love of God for us.

The Gospel story that we heard proclaimed, is the familiar story of Jesus birth and we have all heard Luke’s Gospel many times. This week I saw this Gospel in a new way when I read an editorial in America Magazine that brought me a new understanding of this story. This editorial says “In a sense the Christmas story is one of borders. The Gospel of Luke tells us that the Holy Family’s journey begins with a population divided, a census of the whole world…each to his own town.  In Matthew’s Gospel, Mary and Joseph travel to Bethlehem, then flee to Egypt, then settle in Nazareth….crossing border after border so that the Son of God might one day break them down.”   

Jesus did just that in his adult years. He crossed borders both literally and figuratively. One major boundary was that “Christ entered fully into our humanity”. He came to us born of a woman. He also crossed from death into new life on our behalf. He lived fully among us during which time he broke rules, laws, always siding with the poor and those struggling. He fought for justice in a society that had as many challenges as we have in today’s societies and cultures. He advocated for peace in people’s hearts and peace among people. He was a shining example of one who works to break down obstacles that separate us from each other. His life then is a challenge to us. I think each of us here at Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community and also the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests know this and are trying to live this challenge of breaking down unjust borders. I would also say that each of us here are in some way or another are involved personally in breaking down boundaries that disallows people to be fully who God called them to be.

By the same token we know that we may have to overcome our fear of taking these stands for justice and required change. We have to keep reminding ourselves of Jesus words “Do not be afraid, I am with you”. And Jesus is! This Cosmic Christ holds no divisions, no boundaries, just an openness and desire that we will become fully who we are and meant to be and take up the work of Jesus in our world. Over and over at Eucharist we say, “You are the Body of Christ, We are the Body of Christ, I am the Body of Christ”, then we really have to believe it. Let this beautiful child whose birth we celebrate today and whose life was one where new light came into the world and touched our hearts and souls and our world with God’s love. Let this child fill your heart with peace and purpose. Let me say this again, God’s boundless, unconditional love came to us as Jesus came into the world to tell us so. Even when life is tough and our life seems to be or is in chaos, remember God’s love for you, just as you are. This is the meaning of Christmas. Once we know of and experience God’s love we experience a peace within that is so profound that it will give us the courage to move to eliminate borders, or boundaries or divisions or unjust laws. The Spirit is calling us to do this. So allow this little one, this Christ Child, to give you hope.

“Today we celebrate the God of the past who loves us in the now and is the power of our future”.    

Merry Christmas everyone!

Shared Homily questions:

As you have aged, do you see Christmas in a new way?

For you, what does Christmas say about God’s love?

Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP and Priest Lee Breyer Co-Presided at Christmas Liturgy

Bridget Mary Meehan and Lee Breyer break the bread as community prays

Kevin and Judy Connelly

Brunch after liturgy coordinated by Mary Al Gagnon on left in white

left to right; Mark Binder, Mary Al Gagnon, Pat MacMillian Bob MacMillian, Ford Englerth, Lee Breyer

Left to right:Janet Blakeley, Sally Brochu, Bridget Mary Meehan

Add caption

Demetre and Mindy Lou Simmons
Left to right,  Eileen Miller with back to camera, Russ Banner, Michael Rigdon, Imogene Rigdon, Bob Murray, Mary Murray, Debbie Hanson
www.marymotherofjesus.org
www.arcwp.org

ARCWP Deacon Georgia Walker Shares Her Call to Priesthood in a Letter to Fr. Rowe, Vicar General of Kansas City Diocese

           Georgia Walker ARCWP shares the reasons she will be ordained a  Jan. 3rd,  2015  in Kansas City, Missouri with Fr. Rowe, Vicar General of Diocese of KC. (email)

  Deacon Georgia Walker at a  Peace and Justice Witness Event 

        December 23, 2014

 Re:  Your phone call to me on December 11, 2014
 Dear Fr. Rowe,
 I have tried to reach you at your office to see if I could come in to speak with you about your  phone call to me regarding ordination to the priesthood.  Perhaps because of the holidays, I  have been unable to reach you.  So I am sending this message to you by email prior to a story  appearing in the Kansas City Star about the ordination of women.

 First, I want to thank you for contacting me by telephone to give me a warning about the gravity of my plans to be ordained to the priesthood.  It was very considerate of you to inform me of the potential consequences of my course of action.  I appreciate it and I have carefully considered what you had to say.  I have taken this to prayer over the last ten days and have consulted with many other priests in the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests and discerned with several close spiritual advisors.  As a result of that discernment, I have decided to continue with my plans to be ordained on January 3^rd.

 Since I have been unable to reach you to obtain a possible appointment and the short time frame, I have decided to send you a brief overview of my position on this subject of ordination (see attached note).  Of course, many of the ideas which I have set to paper are thoughts and opinions which are shared by others in my Association and/or other writers. 

 If you have any questions of me after you have read my paper, please contact me at 816.572-3453 or by email at gkwalker@juno.com
Sincerely,
Georgia K. Walker

1      1. What is the reason that women are seeking ordination despite the threat of excommunication?

The Spirit’s call is strong and we are responding, “Yes.”

Ours is a prophetic witness for justice. God is a God of justice.

We are choosing not to continue in our own oppression by denying our call.

Joan of Arc was declared a heretic, burned at the stake, and later declared a saint by the church. Pope Benedict canonized two formerly excommunicated nuns, Mother Theodore Guerin from the United States and Mother Mary MacKillop from Australia. Therefore, you could say excommunication has become a new fast track to canonization!

The treatment of women in the Roman Catholic Church directly influences the treatment of women everywhere. By answering God’s call to ordination even when the Church has a law against women being ordained, we are empowering women everywhere to follow their conscience by speaking truth to power and acting upon it.

We love the church, we are dedicated to serving the people of God, and we preside at sacraments within inclusive communities.

Jesus never ordained anyone but did travel with men and women who listened carefully to his life-giving message. These men and women went to cities, towns and villages to bring the Gospel message to all who would hear it, and the story continues to the present day.  We are from the line of Gospel bearers, and as ordained women we are part of a long history of men and women who were ordained to ministry in the early Church.  We encourage our church leaders to read the theologians of the 21^st Century and open the door to dialogue for a new model of church.

As we looked back on our lives, this step into ordained priesthood was our response to the Lover God who has been beckoning us into ever and deeper relationship.

When we realized that some close friends were recognizing our priestly vocation, we also realized that this woman priest movement at this particular point in history was carved out especially for us. The calling for us was twofold: the priestly part and the justice part.

We do not accept the legitimacy of excommunication of women priests.  God does not practice the art of patriarchy. 

Why would the hierarchy excommunicate priests who are following their call from God to priesthood, while the hierarchy does not excommunicate bishops who protect pedophile priests or priests who are pedophiles?

       2. What would the benefits to the Church (people of God) be if the hierarchy accepted women’s ordination?

We would bring forth and take forward our model of priesthood: non-clerical, inclusive communities where all will be welcome and all will be co-equal in their participation in liturgy, service and governance.

Inclusive liturgies with feminine as well as masculine images of God (who is beyond gender) would support girls’ and women’s images of themselves as being created in God’s image, thus strengthening their psyches and souls. The benefits to men’s souls and psyches would be that they would be more in touch with their own feminine and be inclined to be more cooperative and less inclined to hubris, competition and violence.

Women at the table imaging the imago dei in our sacred bodies would strengthen women’s images of themselves as coming from the Divine and perhaps lessen femicide and the murder and violence toward girls and women. Perhaps seeing women at the table would help men to reinforce their respect for women and our sacred bodies.

The people of God need to hear the Gospels interpreted from our (women’s) living and dying.  The Gospels are grounded in social justice. Men and other women need to hear our stories of how justice-making heals and how injustice causes suffering.  Women’s voices need to be heard in our families, local communities and our world community.

We as women priests want to bring new life into a dying Church by making it a place where diversity is welcome and all people have an equal voice.

There is a connection between the oppression of women in religion and violence done to women (and their children of all ages) in the world. We must see the connections among sexism, racism, militarism, nationalism and capitalism.

God does not practice patriarchy. Jesus teaches us liberation from the domination/subordination pattern in any relationship. We are to empower each other in healthy relationships.

The Church could relieve male priests from their service overload to parishioners so they would not have to serve multiple parishes simultaneously.

Fewer local parishes would have to close when female priests and deacons could share the service.

Sacraments could be made available to more people on a more regular basis in prisons, hospitals, nursing homes and other group living situations.

Maybe many of the 33 million ex-Catholics in the United States would return to a more inclusive and co-equal Church that empowers and liberates the people of God.

It is time to open all the windows!

3. What is it about the hierarchy (Church) that upsets women?

Women have been caring for people in their families, in society and in their parish without due equality in power (say-so) and wages.

We are saddened and scandalized by doctrines and teachings that oppress, exclude and diminish the lives of anyone. We are ashamed of a Church that is unwelcoming to women, LGBTQ, divorced or anyone else who is living life in dignity and love. We do not find Jesus in such exclusions.

When the priesthood of women is rejected, the Church suggests that our God does not want what we are longing to give, thereby warping the image of God for all who accept that teaching, in a particularly pernicious way.

  

We cannot believe that it is women priests who must be reconciled to the Church, rather it is hierarchs who need to be reconciled to the people of God (the Church).

We are embarrassed by collectivities of men who meet behind closed doors and develop positions and edicts that have devastating effects on the lives of women, children and families without having women present to represent their experience.

We as women priests want to bring new life into a dying Church by making it a place where diversity is welcome and all people have an equal voice.

www.arcwp.org

The Christmas Story/According to Children!/Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/embed/kWq60oyrHVQ?rel=0

Homily at Holy Spirit Catholic Community, Holy Family B, Dec. 28, 2014 Beverly Bingle, RCWP

Many times over the past few weeks
I’ve been asked where I was going to
“have Thanksgiving” or “have Christmas.”
People care about whether or not I’ll have a place to go.
Maybe I get more of it
because people know I’m single and live alone.
But maybe I don’t.
I overhear lots of others getting that same question asked of them,
so maybe it’s a sign of the many hearts
overflowing with loving concern, especially this time of year.
My dad died in 1981 and my mom in 1997;
my older brother is 1500 miles south of here,
and my younger brother is 2400 miles west.
But I’m blessed to have cousins here in town,
so I always get invited to their holiday feasts.
On the few years when they’ve been visiting out-of-town relatives,
I’ve been equally blessed
with friends who invited me to share the holidays with them.
____________________________________
Today we celebrate the feast of the Holy Family
of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph.
When I was a youngster back in Fremont,
the Sisters at St. Ann’s School
and the Pastor in his sermons
and the pictures in our religion books
all depicted the Holy Family
as what sociologists called the “nuclear family”—
the paradigm of a married Mom and Dad
with their biological children.
That was presented as the norm,
but even then it didn’t include every family
and certainly didn’t include every person.
Still, it was presented as the “holy” family,
and the rest, by implication, were somehow not so holy.
In grade school there were Judy and Ron,
who lived with their divorced and remarried mother
and stepfather.
There was Grady, who lived with his grandmother.
There was Norma, whose parents looked so different from her
that we all knew she had to have been adopted.
The grown-ups would whisper about them,
but when we kids came into the room Grandma would say,
“Little pitchers have big ears,”
and they’d change the subject.
____________________________________
American society has changed in the last 60 years,
and one of the very good changes
is that we no longer shun people
whose family configurations are not
what we were taught to think of as “normal.”
The census data tells us that the model nuclear family
was not a majority, even in 1970.
Today fewer than 20% of U.S. households
fit that “nuclear” family model.
____________________________________
What kind of family do the other 80% of the households have?
The greatest number—60% of the population—
live either alone or in a household with one other person.
Nearly three million households
are grandparents raising grandchildren.
Two million children live in a family formed by adoption.
Over four million children
live with one biological parent
and one nurturing parent to whom they are not related.
More married couples now live without children
than live with children.
____________________________________
So it’s heartening for us to look more closely
at the real Holy Family of Nazareth.
They don’t fit the “model nuclear family”
that we had held up to us in our youth, either.
As our tradition has it,
we see a mother pregnant out of wedlock,
with her baby being tended by an older man
who married her
even though he knew he wasn’t the baby’s biological father.
____________________________________
So what’s a family?
One definition is a group consisting of parents and children
living together in a household.
Another definition is all the descendants of a common ancestor.
Or a social unit that operates as a family.
So it could be a traditional family, a single-parent family,
a blended family, an extended family, an adoptive family,
a nurturing family, a multi-generational family.
____________________________________
A holy family is easier to define.
It’s two or more people who care deeply for one another.
That includes our human family.
That includes our church family.
____________________________________
On Thanksgiving Day—
before feasting with my cousins
and their extended family and friends—
I went over to Christ the King Parish,
where I feasted with some of my Claver House family,
among them George and his grandson Lamar, Rob,
and Sherri and Dick.
Then we had our Community family’s Christmas Party
over at Bravo!, thanks to Suzy and Lou for organizing it..
Then Christmas Eve, again with my Claver House family,
for beef roast and mashed potatoes and all the trimmings,
and plenty of choices even for a “non-carnivore” like me.
And then the Christmas feast.
And next Sunday there’ll be the annual Epiphany Dinner,
again with my Claver House family.
And the almost daily gatherings in between,
all celebrated with members of the holy family of humankind.
____________________________________
Breaking bread and sharing life—that’s family.
So where did I “have” Christmas this year?
Everywhere I went,
wherever people gathered in friendship and peace,
whether it was over a grilled cheese and fries at the Big Boy
or stuffed grape leaves and feta salad at Tony’s,
or here in our Holy Spirit Community Chapel.
So let’s prepare once again to break bread together,
our one family,
this holy people of God.

--
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

"Winners and losers in the Visitation of American Nuns" by Patricia Miller

http://religiondispatches.org/winners-and-losers-in-the-visitation-of-american-nuns/

Spoiler alert, the winners, were nuns, of course, and  Pope Franicis, The losers were the  rich conservative Catholics who bankrolled the Vatican inquisition into the U.S. nuns.  hope they learned their lesson. Nuns are well- connected too- but to a higher spiritual power!
Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP, www.arcwp.org

Roman Catholic Womenpriests Are Following Jesus' Path/ Pittsburgh Post-Gazette

http://www.post-gazette.com/opinion/letters/2014/12/22/Roman-Catholic-Womenpriests-are-following-Jesus-path/stories/201412220078

Pope Francis Issues Scathing Critique of Vatican Curia, in Pre-Christmas Meeting by Joshua McElwee/National Catholic Reporter

http://ncronline.org/news/vatican/pope-issues-scathing-critique-vatican-bureaucracy-pre-christmas-meeting

..."Many of the 15 diseases given by Francis were frank and blunt: a feeling of indispensability like a "rich fool"; of having a "spiritual Alzheimer's" that makes a person dependent on the present; of living an "existential schizophrenia" of double lives that create "parallel worlds"; and a "terrorism of gossip" that sows discord and that amounts to "cold-blooded murder" of friends and colleagues...
Don't lose that joyful spirit, full of humor, even self-deprecating, that makes us amiable people," said Francis, who said he says a prayer attributed to British St. Thomas More every day for this purpose. Identifying "closed circles" in the Vatican, Francis said some create groups "where membership in the little group becomes stronger than that of the body and, in some situations, to Christ himself. Although this disease always begins with good intentions," said the pope, over time it "enslaves members becoming 'a cancer' that threatens the harmony of the body and causes so much harm -- scandals -- especially to our smallest brothers. The self-destruction or 'friendly fire' of fellow soldiers is the sneakiest danger," Francis said. "It is the evil that strikes from within, and as Christ says: 'Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation...' "

[Joshua J. McElwee is NCR Vatican correspondent. His email address is jmcelwee@ncronline.org. Follow him on Twitter: @joshjmac.]

Homily at Holy Spirit Catholic Community, Christmas Day, Dec. 25th by Beverly Bingle, RCWP

Many families are traveling—
one by one they let me know,
by phone or e-mail or in person—
that they couldn’t make it to this Christmas Mass in Toledo
because they’ll be in Seattle or Tampa or Nashville or Atlanta,
where they’ll go with their parents or children or cousins
to a Catholic or Episcopalian or Lutheran or Presbyterian
or nondenominational service
where their grandchild or sister or brother or lifelong friend
is serving the Mass or reading the scriptures
or giving the sermon or distributing communion.
Remember last Christmas—
we had as we do tonight/today guests from far and wide
celebrating here with their families—
the biggest turnout of the year for our little community!
____________________________________
So we celebrate the birth of Jesus of Nazareth,
the baby who grew in age and wisdom and grace
to speak truth to power
and who calls us to follow his Way.
____________________________________
We know that the infancy narratives in Matthew and Luke
were written to show truths about the Way that Jesus taught,
not to reflect historic occurrences.
So we watch the young couple travel
from their isolated village to the big city,
where they can’t find a room to stay in,
and we know the need to reach out
to the homeless, the refugees, and the immigrants in our day.
We see the baby in the manger
and know the potential of ordinary people
and the strength and wisdom of people
who lack material goods.
We see Mary and Joseph in the stable
and know the age-old love of parents for their children
and the reflection in them of God’s love for us.
We see the joy of shepherds and angels
and know that the highest and the lowest
are called to the same truth—
the truth that God is with us and in us.
____________________________________
Last year we heard Matthew’s story of Jesus’ birth,
and next year we’ll hear Luke’s.
This year, though, we hear the beginning of John’s Gospel,
not an infancy story
but a story of God creating all that we know in a “big bang,”
a cosmic hatch of universes and all that is in them.
When John wrote his Gospel, he would not have known
of the cosmic hatch 13.8 billion years ago,
or the stardust of our expanding universe
that comes forth as us humans on this great green planet.
Yet his mystical awareness of the power of God from all eternity
gives us the true story that still works
in light of all the scientific discoveries of our time.
In the beginning was the word—God’s word—
and that word spoken by God lives in everything and everyone,
becoming alive in plants and animals and human beings,
in Jesus of Nazareth
and all of us.
All is of God.
All is holy.
And so we celebrate!
____________________________________
John will go on
to tell the story of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection,
the story of God’s loving care for all,
the story of God’s special concern for the poor and oppressed.
____________________________________
The story is not over.
Each time we reach out to help someone;
each time we gather with family and friends,
each time we tend the poor and downtrodden among us,
we write another chapter of John’s story of God-with-us.
____________________________________
So let us celebrate with great joy
that perfectly wonderful expression of God-with-us—
the one who reveals God to us,
who shows us the Way.
Knit into the rhythm of our lives from all eternity,
Christ is born again in us.

--
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

__._,_.___

Barbara Beadles, RCWP: Similarities and Differences between Deborah- Prophet and Judge and Rosa Parks- Civil Rights Leader

Publication of Paper by Barbara Beadles, RCWP

For Global Ministries University Course: DM640 Women of the Bible

Compare a woman of the Bible with a contemporary heroine.  What are the similarities?  What are the differences?

            Stories have helped people throughout history understand the past.  Good stories help us understand ourselves. Great stories do both and help point to the future as well.

In cultures where male dominance and male superiority (or notions of superiority) exist, women’s stories remain silent. However, through modern scholarship and research some stories of the past have been revealed.  Hopefully, as the scholarship continues, many more stories will come to light. Women of the past may have been queens, prophets, government leaders, movers and shakers of culture, religion or even commerce. Their stories, once brought to our attention can serve as inspiration and guides for the women yet to be born.

            This essay will focus on two women: Deborah and Rosa Parks. Deborah was a prophet and judge chosen by YHWEH to lead the Israelites. Rosa Parks was a twentieth century American woman and descendant of former slaves who was caught up in the injustice of the Jim Crow segregation of the South in the mid-1950’s.  I briefly will examine their early lives.  Then, establish some common threads in their missions and lives. Next I will recount their differences.  Finally, I will suggest ways these two women can speak to people of the 21^st century.

            Deborah was a faith-filled woman whom YHWH called to be a judge to the people of Israel.  A brief word about judges is necessary for us to understand Deborah’s powerful leadership role.  After exile from Egypt, Israel went for periods of time not following the commands of YHWH.  Each of those time periods is known as an apostasy.  There were seven apostasies.  Deborah was a judge during the third apostasy.¹ Deborah was a married woman, and her husband Lappidoth, was her best supporter. ² As judge, Deborah would hold court outside under a palm tree in the hill country called Ephraim.³

            At this time, the Israelites were in exile in the land of Canaan. The Canaanites engaged in guerrilla warfare for twenty years, giving the Israelites no peace.  Deborah devised a plan for going to war against King Jabin of Canaan and his cruel commander, Sisera.  Debora called up ten thousand soldiers of Israel from the tribes of Naphtali and Zebulon.⁴ Israel’s leader in battle was a man named Barak.  He had a reputation for bravery, but was not at all enthusiastic about following the orders of a woman. He promised he would obey only if she went to battle with him.⁵ Deborah accompanied him.  The hand of YHWH sent an over-whelming storm to flood the 900 chariots of Canaan and the Israelites were victorious. Deborah had prophesied to Barak that he would not be the victor over his enemy Sisera because of his doubt in obeying YHWH.  Sisera was killed by a woman named Jael rather than by the hand of Barak. She killed Sisera using a hammer and tent peg. Barak was robbed of the victory for his doubt. Deborah, like King David, was also a poet and song-writer.  Her song and dance giving praise to YHWH, who delivered his people, was a way for the women of Israel to worship together.  Because of Deborah’s bravery and faithfulness, Israel enjoyed forty years of peace.⁶

            Rosa McCauley Parks was born on February 4, 1913 in Tuskegee, Alabama.  Her mother, Leona Edwards (McCauley) was a teacher who had attended school at Payne University.⁷ Her father, James McCauley was a skilled carpenter and stonemason.  He abandoned the family when Mrs. Parks was a young girl in search of work.  Leona McCauley lived first with her in-laws and later moved back to the home of her parents.

            Mrs. Parks learned early in life that “white” and “colored” were worlds apart.  In her town of Pine Level, Alabama, a new school was built for the white children.  The colored children attended “a one room shack with wooden shutters and no windows.”⁸ Her education was supplemented by reading.  Her mother had taught Rosa to read well before she started school.  Rosa was a voracious reader⁹

            Mrs. Parks and her family were faithful members of their church, the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME), known as the “Freedom church.”¹⁰ She was baptized into that faith community at the age of two.¹¹ Her strong faith guided her throughout her adult life.  She learned from her mother and grandparents the importance of relying on God and standing up for what was right and just.¹²  The segregation of the South was a constant reminder that “right and just” were not for people of color.

            As a young adult, Mrs. Parks became a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and served as secretary of her local chapter.  One of her most important tasks was to get people registered to vote.  Poll taxes and intimidation were two successful methods used to keep black voters from exercising their right to vote guaranteed by the 15^th Amendment to the Constitution. Mrs. Parks also worked with the youth group of the NAACP.

            Montgomery, Alabama, where she lived with her husband, Raymond Parks, was a segregated city.  The law was “separate but equal.”¹³ In reality that meant if you were white, things were fine; if you were not white, things were either poor quality or non-existent.

            Mrs. Parks was a well-respected leader in the black community and her community work was her primary focus.  Her employment as a seamstress in a large department store took second place.¹⁴

            In 1954, a traveling Federal exhibition came to Montgomery.  The train car, part of the Freedom Train, carried documents from Washington, DC.  Included were the Emancipation Proclamation and a copy of the U.S. Constitution.  Since this was a Federal project, segregation laws of the state could not be enforced.  Mrs. Parks led a group of students into the exhibit using the same entrance as the white people.  Moreover, the black students were in the exhibit at the same time as the white people. 

            Before Mrs. Parks’ arrest December 1, 1955 for not moving from the seat she had taken aboard a city bus, at least three other people had been arrested for the same offense.  Their arrests had no affect on the larger community.  Rosa Parks, a respected woman of her community, known for her good works and kindness, became the spark which ignited the beginning of what came to be known as the Civil Rights Movement.¹⁶ The bus driver first yelled for her and three other passengers to get out of their seats because a white man had boarded the bus and there was nowhere for him to sit.  The other three moved, but Mrs. Parks stayed where she sat. The frustrated driver called the police.  Mrs. Parks didn’t move or speak.  The police carted her off the bus and to jail.  She was in jail for two hours. ¹⁷

             By the time she had been released from jail, the beginning of the Montgomery, Alabama Bus Boycott of 1955 was taking shape. The strike lasted 381 days. People walked or car-pooled to work every day.  This caused a direct financial impact to the bus company.  By December 20, 1956, anyone who boarded a city bus could sit anywhere they chose.  Mrs. Parks had effected that change.  A young charismatic minister named Martin Luther King had taken over leadership of the movement and the local NAACP.  Mrs. Parks was no longer the focus of the press, but she   continued her work in the Civil Rights Movement until her death on October 24, 2005.¹⁸ President Clinton presented Mrs. Parks with the Congressional Gold Medal of Honor before her death.¹⁹

            There are several common threads revealed in the study of Deborah, judge of the Old Testament, and twentieth century Rosa Parks. Both are women, who have earned the respect of their communities.  Each of them had a leadership role. They both inspired others by their actions and their actions led others to create social change. 

            After years of oppression, Deborah leads soldiers in a plan to overcome the enemies of the Israelites.  Rosa Parks also suffers the oppression of unjust laws of segregation.  Each woman relies on her unwavering faith in God.  Deborah seeks justice for her people by acting as a judge who makes fair decisions.  Rosa Parks seeks justice for her people by joining the NAACP, by educating young people and by registering people to vote.

            While there are many similarities in their lives, there are significant elements of difference. Perhaps the most obvious is the time in which each woman lived.  Several centuries have passed between the time Deborah sat under her palm tree and when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a city bus.

            Deborah’s missions involved overcoming an enemy of Israel through warfare and bloodshed, and were unlike traditional roles for women.  She exercised leadership, master-minded the battle strategy and lead soldiers into battle.²⁰ Rosa Parks, on the other hand, overcame the injustice of racism and segregation by using non-violent methods.  She used passive actions and education as weapons.

            Not much of Deborah’s early life is known.  Her story begins with her appointment as a judge in Israel.  Her reign is during the third apostasy after Israel fled Egypt.  Twentieth Century archaeologist William F. Albright proposes 1250-1200 BCE as the time of the Exodus event.²¹ Deborah would have been a judge sometime after that.

            More is known of Rosa Parks’ early life.  She was born in 1913, refused to give up her place on the city bus December 1, 1955, and died in 2005.  Historian Douglas Brinkley states “no reliable documentation exists on the early years of Rosa Louise Parks.”²²

            And so, looking back over the lives of these two amazing women, we may ask, “What do their lives have to say to people of the 21^st century?”

            In some ways the same problems that existed in Deborah’s time exist today.  Wars, political oppression of people and injustice are in evidence all over our globe.  Religious fundamentalism inspires fanatics to genocide and the murder of innocent people in the name of religion.  Countries trying to control the natural resources of others are at war.  People and nations who have military might want power and control and take over those less powerful nations.

            Racial relations in the United States still need improvement.  The Ku Klux Klan of the 1950’s and 1960’s causing terror and death has gone underground.  There is still evidence of inequality, particularly in poor cities, towns and rural America.  Economics and lack of education continue to be ways of segregation.

            The example of the lives of Deborah and Rosa Parks can still speak to women and men today.  Their courage and bravery stand as witness.  We are called to work for justice, to judge justly, to educate and to work for peace.  Deborah and Rosa Parks gave witness to the building of the Kingdom of God.  It is our turn, in this time and place to continue to bring the Kingdom to fulfillment.