A P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E I N T E R C O M M U N I T Y P E A C E & J U S T I C E C E N T E R • N O . 1 3 2 • FA L L 2 0 2 1
Sacred Pathways Pastoral Call and Prophetic Response p.2 | Women Ordained: a Dance of Resistance p.4 A Journey Toward God p.7 | Women Religious and LGBTQ Catholic Ministry p.8 To Change the Church, Have the Conversation p.10 | A Life-Long Dream p.13
From the Editor When I was studying for my Masters in Divinity (MDiv) at Loyola University Chicago, we were required to take a class called Liturgical Leadership. Our professor, a woman, said to all of us, “If this class was for seminarians, it would be called Preaching and Presiding, but since it is designed for laity, it is called Liturgical Leadership.” Looking around at the class of mostly women, it was evident that the reason the school couldn’t call it preaching and presiding is that most of the students enrolled in the MDiv program were women. In that class, I was given a gift many Catholic women are not given. We learned to preach and preside. Our professor explained that we were equipped with these essential skills because we would be called upon. We are called upon! Pope Francis writes in his post-synodal apostolic exhortation, Querida Amazonia: “Women make their contribution to the Church in a way that is properly theirs, by making present the tender strength of Mary, the Mother. As a result, we do not limit ourselves to a functional approach but enter instead into the inmost structure of the Church. In this way, we will fundamentally realize why, without women, the Church breaks down.” By virtue of our baptism, through the power of the Spirit, we have been called Priest, Prophet, and King and we all have been given the authority to be life-giving, to pray, to speak prophetic truths, and to nourish bodies and souls around the Eucharistic table. I often get asked if I felt the call to the diaconate and my response has been, “I don’t know, it’s never been an option.” All I can tell you is that women like myself have a unique set of skills. For myself, I was not called into religious life nor was I called to serve in campus ministry or to work in a hospital. I have a great love and understanding of sacred scripture, sacraments and ritual, and yet, without this space that I have found at IPJC, how would I, a Catholic woman with MDiv use her education, skills, and charisms? And I’m not alone. So many women like myself have asked the same question. Each of the articles in this issue of A Matter of Spirit, represent the unique pathways of women like myself, who have been called to live out a specific vocation—to preach, to pray, to serve, to mourn and laugh, and to live out the Gospel call to love one another. As you will see on each page of this issue, women all over the world are carving out new, prophetic pathways in ministry and it is up to the Church to decide if it will be moved by these Spirit-led pathways. Samantha Yanity, MDiv Cover art © Kelly Latimore This cover art shows us the various sacred pathways to God through women as presbyters since the early Church. 2
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Pastoral Call and Prophetic Response BY CHRIS MAYER
“Compassion” © Sister Mary Southard, CSJ, www.ministryofthearts.org
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God’s Calling used to work as a technical writer at The Chicago Tribune, but was laid off with about 700 others. At the time, I was also questioning my work, my role, and wondering how I could contribute. I was organizing some papers and found a small pamphlet from church about the corporal works of mercy, like feeding the hungry, visiting the sick, clothing the naked. My father was a Minister of Care at hospitals and nursing homes for years following his retirement, and I remember him asking, “Now that your Trib job is over, what will you do?” I said, “I want to do what you do.” At this time, many difficult emotional things were happening in my life. My husband (at the time) and I were struggling with infertility. We endured eight artificial inseminations, six in vitro fertilizations. Once I got a call that I might be pregnant; the blood test was inconclusive. The next day, the blood test showed that I was not pregnant; the nurse and I cried on the phone. It was a lonely time for me, since this was happening to my body. My husband tried to understand, but how could he, really? I remember self-isolating, turning down invitations to baby showers and baby birthday parties. I never wanted other women to use these ways of coping with their pain. I wanted to accompany women and men who were sad or going through their own versions of hell. I wanted people to know that they were not alone.
With all this happening in my heart and head, I did a Google search: “Women+ministry+career” or something similar to that. The National Association of Catholic Chaplains (NACC) site popped up. I thought to myself, “Wait…I can be a woman, ministering in the Catholic Church, and still earn some money? Really?” I applied to Loyola University Chicago to start my master’s degree in Pastoral Studies. Now I’m a Catholic chaplain, working at Chicago hospitals, accompanying patients, laughing with those who laugh, and weeping with those who weep. One of my most difficult shifts was a 24-hour shift. Three people died that night; two were twins, just born, a boy and a girl. I am not able to have children, and have done much grieving over this fact, so this hit home personally, as well. I was called up to baptize the twins. The Catholic parents were there, of course. The mother, having just given birth, was wheeled in her bed to the babies’ side. They were tiny, and I asked the nurse if I could even touch their little foreheads; sometimes the skin is very delicate. I reached into each bassinet and baptized both babies. I cried with the parents and prayed. A few hours later, the baby boy died, and I went back up to bless the baby and console the parents. A few hours after that, the baby girl died, and I went back up. By now, more family had arrived (this was pre-COVID-19), and we prayed and thanked God for these babies, for comfort, for the care of the staff, for the support from loving family members. This grieving couple taught me so much about faith, about family strength, about marital love. I’ll never forget this night. In a way, I think God helps us chaplains heal from our own sorrows, while ministering to God’s children. I’ve heard other chaplains experience healing, too. I am grateful for this and for my fellow ministers and for the hospital staff—we are a team.
“We all contribute in our own way. I know that through my own ministry, my own“yes” to God, and my own willingness to serve God’s children, that I, too, am being healed.” In some cases, patients might ask, “Why did God do this to me? Why did God give me this disease?” I’ve asked that question of God, too, at different times in my life. I think God loves when we ask questions, when we keep asking, when we try to understand and ponder and learn—from Scripture, from books, from each other, from counselors and ministers. We are here for each other, to help each other. Additionally, I am a big fan of “flipping” things and ideas. For instance, I heard a great homily once, where the priest said, “Instead of asking why, you can choose to ask, ‘What am I going to do about it?’” That’s a wonderful “flip.” Instead of turning inward and isolating, one can figure out how to help other people, how to turn intense,
personal sorrow into something that helps others or facilitates the release of pain for others. We can use each life experience to grow and heal and help others to grow and heal. Realizing this transformed my life.
Women Take Up the Call I am seeing more and more women become chaplains. We are not allowed to be priests or deacons in the Catholic Church. We are, however, allowed to be Ministers of Care, Extraordinary Ministers at Mass, lectors, and volunteers of all kinds. I’ve ministered with older women for whom chaplaincy is a second or third career, or a way to minister to others after their own children are grown. Some of us are divorced; some of us are married; some have never married but are not religious sisters. I also find that perhaps women, and older women at that, are good at listening and are not threatening to others. So many people—men and women, young and old—confide in us. We have experience and knowledge about the world, about life, and about marriage and family. We have a different perspective from our male counterparts, and certainly a different perspective from priests. We have experienced our own joys and sorrows. So it seems that many patients confide in us. When I was going through my own divorce, I encountered male patients who were dying and told me about their affairs and their remorse. One said, “I’m a bad man.” We talked about the Prodigal Son and how God loves us, and we are God’s children. We talked about forgiveness and how God never turns away, but always stands open-armed, waiting for us. Sometimes, we sit in gentle silence. I once ministered to a female oncology patient who was still angry about her divorce from 20 years earlier. We cried. We talked about forgiveness and acceptance. She hugged me, and we cried some more. She was grateful to God for her children, who were gifts from her marriage. Three days later, she died. I waited in the hallway at 3:00am with her ex-husband, while her adult children and her parents went in the room to say goodbye. I prayed silently, “Really, Lord? You want ME to wait in the hallway with this man? Me? You gotta help me…” I could not have done this without God’s help; God’s grace always comes through—just in time! And through this experience, maybe my own wounds of divorce healed just a little more. A never-married minister might not have understood the difficulties of marriage and affairs like I have. A Catholic priest might not have understood this dying, divorced woman like I did. Women bring a whole new dimension and life experience to ministry: We may have given birth; experienced miscarriages or infertility; been cast aside by our husbands for younger women; been raped or abused. We understand life and experience life in ways that men cannot. That said, I have had wonderful ministerial encounters with Catholic priests who have helped me on my journey. We all contribute in our own way. I know that through my own ministry, my own “yes” to God, and my own willingness to serve God’s children, that I, too, am being healed. Chris Mayer is a board-certified chaplain in Chicago. A M AT T E R O F S P I R IT
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Women Ordained:
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BY SHARON HENDERSON CALLAHAN, EDD
have walked my dog along Alki Beach most days this summer. We’ve seen some very low tides and some special high tides as the ebb and flow of water reaches our shore. The tides remind me of a faith dance attributed to Slovakian celebrations of Holy Week. The movement is slow starting with three steps forward followed by two steps back. The increased number of forward steps symbolizes the inevitable movement toward something, in spite of the equally predictable setbacks. The words that accompany this dance, teach me and sustain me as I ponder the state of women in the United States, the world, and the Catholic Church. As we move forward, we progress in faith, hope, and love. Pain and suffering cause retreat. Note how the resurrection-related actions— faith, hope, and love—require our belief and practice, while the movement backwards is action imposed on us, often through no fault of our own. Just as ebb and flow of the tide relentlessly changes the topography of the earth, so does the dance slowly promise change toward the new life of resurrection. As a teacher and coach for organizational and ministerial change, I find these insights guide my ongoing practices of work, celebration and lament.
Faith
Photo © Dan Grinwis, unsplash
Faith Love Hope Pain Sufferng
a Dance of Resistance
The Christian Church lived this ebb and flow in relation to women in leadership for the 56 years since the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965). Theologians of several Christian ecclesial traditions consider Vatican II as the most important theological event of the 20th century. It gathered over 2,500 bishops from every part of the world and offered a visual sign of the expansiveness of the Christian tradition. Saint Pope John XXIII exhorted theologians, bishops, priests, observers, and laity to study the Christian tradition and to come together so they could live the Gospel in the post-world war era. In his own encyclical, Pacem in Terris (1963), he envisioned a world of peace and justice rooted in a renewed Catholic Christian tradition. He recognized that “women are becoming ever more conscious of their human dignity; they will not tolerate being treated as mere material instruments, but demand rights befitting a person both in domestic and public life.” Nevertheless, only twenty-five women participated as observers during the last two sessions. One woman from the United States, Sr. Mary Luke Tobin, SL assisted other women as together they strategized how to influence the bishops during coffee breaks, meals, and other times of potential relaxed interaction. Their influence testified that a new dawn was rising.
Hope Indeed, women religious reacted immediately to the call to revitalize their communities and their ministries. Fully embodying the two words Saint Pope John XXIII used to describe the moment, these women religious communities sought to open their orders to the work of the Spirit (aggiornamento) 1 and their people to the work of Tradition (ressourcement) . Within a few years, most vowed religious communities were sending sisters for theological education. The aggiornamento led to new ideas about how vowed religious might adapt to a changing world. Ressourcement grounded these women in deep theological reflection on scripture texts and sparked eventual expertise in interpreting ancient texts. Quickly, these leaders facilitated a lay movement that invited and supported lay ecclesial ministries throughout the parishes, schools, hospitals, and social justice organizations identified as Roman Catholic. Even the Pontifical Biblical Commission appointed scripture scholars such as Sandra Schneiders and Elizabeth Schussler-Fiorenza to examine the possibility of full ecclesial leadership for women in the Catholic Church.
Pain
A new hope for women joining in ordained ministry spread. By 1971 people across Western European and North American dioceses called for ordination of women (aggiornamento). They were encouraged by other Christian ecclesial communities who embraced the practice. The permanent diaconate was reintroduced and men flocked to answer the opportunity to serve. Their wives accompanied most of them as together they were educated, spiritually enriched, and assigned to diaconal service of the community. At the altar the women were denied the sacrament their husbands readily received.
Suffering Sr. Mary Luke Tobin, SL stated in 1992 that the concept of women’s full equality with men had still not been fully realized. At the time, the U.S. bishops attempted to write a document on women. After four attempts that were each critiqued for their lack of understanding, the bishops tabled the attempt and it has not returned to the forefront of conversation since. In Inter Insigniores (1974) Pope Paul VI left the window slightly open, so by 1980 over 800 articles, chapters and books appeared supporting women’s ordination. The hope for movement was so profound that by 1994, Saint Pope John Paul II attempted to permanently close the door on the discussion through his apostolic letter, Ordinatio Sacerdotalis.
Faith The years 1960 through 1990 also saw the second women’s rights movements, the progression of ordaining women to 1
Aggiornamento, meaning “bringing up to date,” and Ressourcement, referring to “renewal” and “revival” were two key terms of the Second Vatican Council of bishops and clergy in attendance.
leadership in other Christian traditions which culminated in the 1992 Beijing women’s convocation. From 1970, other ecclesial communities ordained women to both diaconate and presbyteral ministries. Since 1966, the Center for Applied Research in the Apostolate (CARA), a research service at Georgetown University, tracked the growth of ministries. Prior to 1966 no lay ministers appear on CARA-generated charts of people fulfilling roles of ecclesial leadership. By 2020, however, almost 40,000 lay ecclesial ministers served in almost every one of the 17,000 parishes and missions in the United States. Defined as paid lay people who work at least 20 hours a week in the parish, they do not include those who teach or administrate in schools, hospitals, or social justice organizations. From the beginning, women have overwhelmingly dominated these positions as lay ministers, comprising between 70–80 percent of the lay ministers recorded since 1966, and this number is more than double the number of active diocesan priests serving parish communities.
Love In the 1990s, Ludmila Javarova revealed she had been ordained a priest under the Communist oppression in former Czechoslovakia. She served for almost 20 years, celebrating daily Mass and ministering to other priests as well as women incarcerated by the Communists. Each day she risked her life in the face of death. Moreover, in 2002 seven women chanced excommunication by accepting ordination at the hands of three bishops on the Danube River. Shortly after, two were ordained bishops. Since then, over 350 women have entered ordained ministry with apostolic succession in the Roman Catholic Church. They serve communities throughout the world including Western Europe, South Africa, Colombia, Canada, Great Britain and the United States. They claim theological and biblical ressourcement through major recognized scholars such as Iris Müeller and Ida Raming who have influenced most contemporary theologies related to women and their equality to men as images of God (Gn 1:27).
Hope The biblical commission appointed by Pope Francis submitted yet another document arguing that women had been ordained deacons in the early church, finding no obstacle to ordaining them now. This was held for almost two years until yet another commission was appointed to examine the theologies and traditions related to women deacons. Major scholars (Schneiders, Schussler-Fiorenza, Macy, Osiek, Zagano) offer scriptural, theological, and traditional evidence that demonstrates ordination in the early church through the 1200s. For instance, St. Thérèse of Lisieux revealed that she wanted to be a priest and thought she would die by the age of 24 because the Church forbade female priests. She did die at 24, and she is a Doctor of the Church. As shown so far, the story is one of ebb and flow. The dance of faith, hope, and love is troubled by pain and suffering. It is the story of our individual experiences as well as our organizational lives. While we move toward a goal of theological reflection A M AT T E R O F S P I R IT
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on the inclusion of all people as the “people of God,” we often celebrate those achievements that match our hope and faith while suffering disillusionment in the process of meeting resistance. As a leadership coach, I counsel people to note the level of resistance, as it often lets a movement know how successful the outcome might be. As Donna Markham, OP, wrote in Spiritlinking Leadership, great resistance to a change signals the inevitability of that change. Thus, the great resistance of the early 21st century signals major efforts to change are moving us toward a reworked landscape. The pain and suffering is quite overwhelming at times. A few examples demonstrate.
“Little is said or done to acknowledge the deep sin of pedophilia and sexual abuse of women, from individual acts of abuse to the abuse of the people of God by the organizational hierarchy of which all clergy are part.” In 2002, Boston exploded and the pedophilia scandal caused the replacement of Cardinal Law, closure of many churches, creation of a lay movement for reform, and new rules within the conference of bishops for handling the placement of accused priests. Even though this scandal has reached every continent and most countries, the universal church remains tone deaf to the depth of anguish the priests who committed these heinous crimes caused. It also ignores the immense anguish the hierarchy inflicts as it continues to hide, support, and defend accused priests. The lack of universal rituals of lament followed by sincere sacramental reconciliation liturgies exacerbates the agony. Moreover, theologians, politicians and women are readily excommunicated for beliefs, yet no priest has been excommunicated for the incalculable harm to children, their parents, grandparents, siblings and friends. Little is said or done to acknowledge the deep injustice of pedophilia and sexual abuse of women, from individual acts of abuse to the abuse of the people of God by the organizational hierarchy of which all clergy are part. As late as 2005, only 3 percent of all major Christian congregations in the United States were led by a female pastor. As late as 2020, doctoral studies demonstrated continual lag in employment, pay, health, and retirement for ordained women in most Christian ecclesial communities that allow women to be ordained. In 2010, Pope Benedict XVI listed the attempt to ordain women as one of the graver derelicts or offenses similar to pedophilia, apostasy, heresy, and schism. Ten years later, the bishops who met prior to the Amazonia conference in 2020 declared that they would consider every type of response to their priest shortage except that of ordaining women.
ordaining women to the diaconate in the early tradition of the church. Rather than move forward, that commission was disbanded and a new one appointed to study again. In the past, this movement has replaced the movement forward (1970s, birth control, women’s ordination) with rejection and return to misogynistic theologies that demonstrate misogyny as a theological principle (1970s, birth control, women’s ordination; 1994 women’s ordination; 2018-2022 women’s ordination).
Faith Still, voices call for reform (aggiornamento) and trust in the Spirit. Using feminine names for G-d scripture scholars and others pray to Ruah, Sophia, Wisdom, Spirit to renew the church. Organizations such as Called to Action, FutureChurch, Women’s Ordination Conference, Voice of the Faithful, and others educate people in the deepest traditions of our faith. Graduate students in ministry and theology at most Roman Catholic colleges and universities explore the scriptures and ancient texts of the early Christian mothers and fathers. A groundswell of podcasts, zoom presentations and websites educate the people of God in our pilgrim church.
Hope
Pain and Suffering
While all of this works its way out in the ongoing ebb and flow dance of aggiornamento and ressourcement followed by resistance to change, many allies move the dance forward in faith, hope, and love. Several bishops, male priests and married men support the research and the prophetic stance of women and men who urge the church to speak out about women taking their rightful place as images of God. Breaking with traditional theology that cast women (and people not Western European) as 75 percent of what it is to be male, Karl Rahner wrote, “Every human being is an event of the absolute, free, radical self-communication of God.” Working ecumenically, Saint Pope John XXIII envisioned a new church. He reinstated theologians who had been suppressed by his predecessors. He embraced theologians who would lead Catholics into conversation with the world as it exists. Under his leadership, scripture study blossomed and Catholic scholars emerged. These scholars supported and offered renewed understanding of ancient texts, thus undergirding the ressourcement John XXIII envisioned. Pope Francis recently reaffirmed Vatican II as the teaching of the church. He clarified that to be truly Catholic one must embrace the teachings of Vatican II. And Vatican II expressed the very tension the church found in our ebb and flow process. Recently in Fratelli Tutti, Pope Frances urges us to love each other and the universe we share. Jesus names God as love. As we keep faith and hope in the midst of pain and suffering, we look to each other and to God for love. Love is the antidote to pain and suffering. It is the response that moves us to resurrection.
And still a third commission submitted a report to Pope Francis three years ago categorically proving the precedents of
Sharon Henderson Callahan, EdD, is the Professor Emerita at Seattle University School of Theology and Ministry.
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BY GRETCHEN GUNDRUM
We’re all just walking each other home.
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love that quote from the Persian poet Rumi: “We’re all just walking each other home.” Home. Back to our origins. To the Great Mystery. To God. At the ripe old age of nine, I read a child’s version of St. Thérèse of Lisieux’s autobiography. Highly impressionable and full of hubris, I decided that because I wanted to be a saint, God was calling me to become a nun. Being a nun meant being perfect. Being perfect meant being a saint. That seed grew in me although I never confided in anyone about my certainty. During high school, my religion teacher, Fr. Dorenbusch, asked to meet with me. He thought maybe I had a religious vocation and wondered if I had ever thought about it. Indeed, Father, I had, and planned to enter the Sisters of St. Joseph of Bourg after graduation. “Well,” he said, “live a normal high school life, date, and then see if the desire is still there.” I thought, “Why bother to date if I’m going to the convent?” Besides, guys weren’t beating down my door to ask me out. I didn’t want the confusion of having to reconsider my path. God’s path for me. The day I left Cincinnati for the novitiate in New Orleans, I spent the morning at the cemetery and the afternoon at a funeral parlor—my last day with my family—honoring the deaths of an aunt and great uncle. The novitiate years were filled with study, prayer, chores, new friendships, and lots of doubt. One day, during spiritual reading, my novice mistress read these words from D’Arcy and Kennedy’s book The Genius of the Apostolate: “God’s will is not something static and fixed that lies outside us. It’s the truth that lies within us.” In that moment I faced the fact that my truth was that I didn’t want to be there. But it would take a couple more years before I dared to act
-Rumi
on it. My dad’s sudden death of a heart attack at 43 was a catalyst. He had not wanted me to enter the convent. He said, “You’re not giving marriage a fair chance as a way of life that brings people to holiness. Marriage is very difficult if you do it right.” And yet, he was proud of me and supportive. When he died, the floor fell beneath me. God felt absent. Why did I not feel consoled when I was supposedly one of God’s good friends? Why didn’t I have some sense that my dad was in heaven? My faith was shaken. When the time came to make first vows, I couldn’t say yes, so I had to say no. I went through a period of false guilt, wondering if I had let God down. When I’d start to get neurotic about it, I’d remember the words of my spiritual director Sr. Jane: “God does not will for us to be unhappy. If you’re unhappy, something needs to be looked at.” It took a whole lot more courage to leave than it did to stay. And leaving was a free decision. Entering was not. I finished college no longer as Sr. Gretchen, just Gretchen, and began my high school teaching career. I fell in love. Got dumped. Met a guy on the rebound and thought there were important signs: Our first date was on the feast of St. Joseph, which was my parents’ wedding anniversary; my confirmation name was Josephine; and his middle name was Anthony. I had been praying to St. Joseph and St. Anthony to meet someone. I married a man I knew three months and then repented at leisure what I did in haste. There was domestic abuse in that relationship. So much for unreflective, superstitious faith! It took a while in therapy for me to understand how my emotional vulnerability led me into such a mistake. For the second time in my life, I had a public failure to face. I felt betrayed by God. Hadn’t I been trying to do everything right? I wept long and hard. I pursued an annulment
after nineteen weeks of wedded un-bliss, nine of which were spent in marriage therapy. The annulment took two years, my documents languishing in some canon lawyer’s inbox. After that, I was gun-shy and moved to the West Coast where I got a big job at a health care corporation. I dated but was scared to death of making another mistake. Fell in love again and got dumped again. I was afraid of my own judgement. Back into therapy—for years. And what did I work on the most? My concept of God! The old God of my childhood, my pre-Vatican II, hypervigilant, play-it-safe, black-and-white, rule-enforcing, harsh, judgmental god. A false god. “He” had to die. I hadn’t yet learned to act on what I wanted. Didn’t St. Ignatius say somewhere that the desires of our hearts are God’s desires for us too? It took a while to sort out the confusion. I was learning that God was full of surprises. The things I thought I should do were not life-giving. The mistakes I made turned out to be gifts—liberating me from worn-out notions, replacing my hubris with humility and compassion. When I finally met my husband, a recovering alcoholic with eight years of solid sobriety and a deep spirituality, my mother was worried. This couldn’t be good. He wasn’t Catholic. He was nineteen years older than me. He was divorced. He had four grown children. It was going to be complicated. It was also going to be life-giving. How grateful I am now for the richness of our 28 years together. Sometimes it was a struggle—two strong-willed people had to learn to bend and become a team. It wasn’t perfect. But it was human. And holy. I got to help walk him home. It was a privilege. And a grace. Amen. Gretchen Gundrum is a psychologist and spiritual director in Seattle. She also serves on the editorial board for A Matter of Spirit. A M AT T E R O F S P I R IT
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Photo © Geordanna Cordero, unsplash
A Journey Toward God
Women Religious and LGBTQ Catholic Ministry
Photo © Seydisfjordur Kirkje,Naturfreund, pixabay
BY JEANNINE GRAMICK, SL
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esbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) ministry in the United States Catholic Church began, developed, endured, and flourishes today because of women religious. This is an unknown story that needs to be told. Countless sisters have embraced LGBTQ ministry in assorted ways. For more than 40 years, sisters have opened their motherhouses and retreat centers for LGBTQ programs. Many have signed petitions, demonstrated, or written letters of complaint when LGBTQ people are fired from Catholic institutions. Some have marched in solidarity in gay pride parades. The backbone of financial support for LGBTQ Catholic ministry has been women religious and their congregations. A number of communities are conducting educational programs for their own members about sexuality and 8
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gender issues. Sisters have long been part of the LGBTQ struggle as trusted allies. In the 1980s, women religious convinced Archbishop Weakland to support civil rights for lesbian and gay persons in Wisconsin, paving the way for it to become the first state with civil rights protections. In this same decade, a provincial leader of the School Sisters of Notre Dame sponsored a meeting for sisters who served as chaplains for Dignity, a Catholic lesbian/gay organization. In these early days, there was no public consciousness of transgender, intersex, or non-binary people. A number of sisters have healed the spirits and saved the lives of many transgender people. Members of the Eucharistic Missionaries of St. Dominic, Racine Dominicans, Dominican Sisters of Peace, and the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet have companioned transgender people and their families on their sacred journeys. Through a ministry of presence and accompaniment, women religious have welcomed transgender folks into their lives and been welcomed in return. The sisters’ basic message is that God loves them for who they are. Women religious are conscious that this ministry is also needed within their own communities. For the last 20 years, New Ways Ministry, the organization I co-founded with Fr. Robert Nugent, sponsored educational conferences for lesbian religious, their congregational leaders, and formation and vocation personnel. Last year, when the anthology, Love Tenderly: Sacred Stories of Lesbian and Queer Religious, was published, the authors received overwhelming support from their religious congregations. All of the above pastoral support on a private level has been accompanied by public backing. In 1974, the National Coalition of American Nuns became the first Catholic group to assert that it is
immoral, and should be illegal, to discriminate against any person because of their sexual orientation. Three years later, the Sisters Council of the diocese of Rochester, NY, affirmed the need for ministry of the lesbian and gay community. In 1993, the National Board of the Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR) publicly affirmed the rights of lesbian and gay persons to full and equal protection under law at every level in our nation. The year before, the General Assembly of the Sisters of Loretto publicly disagreed with the document from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith (CDF), which opposed civil rights legislation for gay and lesbian persons. In their employment policies, the Loretto Sisters include sexual orientation, gender identity, marital status, and personal support for marriage equality. At a high school they operate in San Francisco, the Sisters of Mercy publicly backed a teacher who came out as transgender in 2016. Shortly thereafter, the Sisters of St. Agnes in Fond du Lac, WI, organized a public prayer vigil after a rampant shooting of LGBTQ people at the Pulse nightclub. All of these activities, both private and public, are merely a bird’s-eye description of the countless ways women religious have long been in the forefront of LGBTQ ministry.
The Early Days My own story is a good case study that shows the tenacity and early embrace of LGBTQ ministry by women religious. In 1977, the School Sisters of Notre Dame (SSND) assigned me to full-time lesbian/gay ministry. Many gay Catholics felt alienated from a church they loved. Some experienced being thrown out of the confessional and being told by a priest that they were going to hell. Others were told by their parents never to come home
again. SSND sought to fill the gap by providing official pastoral care to accompany these ostracized persons and their families on life’s journey. From time to time, my religious leaders had to respond to argumentative letters or phone calls, and they did so admirably. The most serious objections came from United States bishops who protested directly to the Vatican’s Congregation for Religious. On three occasions, the Vatican requested the School Sisters to investigate the ministry and to recommend sanctions. Each time SSND leaders supported the continuation of the ministry and recommended no sanctions. One bishop complained that New Ways Ministry was sponsoring a retreat for lesbian sisters. The Vatican’s Congregation for Religious, deciding that the nuns were using the word ‘celibate’ as a ‘slogan,’ informed the SSND Superior General that New Ways Ministry should cancel the retreat. I remember that phone call well: “Now, Jeannine, Mother Georgianne told me to pass along this information to you. Listen carefully. I’m merely relaying the message.” The retreat was held quietly without any challenge to the Vatican. There was no public controversy, and the unreasonable request was circumvented. Women religious find “wiggle room” to go around a brick wall, instead of going through it. As in this case, there is no outright challenge or public confrontation of authority. Instructions are simply sidestepped or explained away. Women religious have used creative circumvention to achieve many transformations. And isn’t this the way that moves change? Without flourish or fanfare, people merely disregard rules or laws that simply make no sense.
Standing Up to the Vatican The most serious obstacle to this ministry began in the 1980s when Washington, D.C.’s James Cardinal Hickey requested my removal from the ministry. The
General Administrative Team of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Cleveland, who had known and worked with the cardinal personally, volunteered to effect some reconciliation, but the cardinal refused. The SSND superior general asked to meet with his theologian to discuss his objections. The cardinal, unwilling to do so, preferred to take his case to the CDF. During a formal Vatican investigation in the 1990s, the succeeding superior general challenged the process a number of times. For example, after objecting to the lack of input, SSND was allowed to submit a list of names to fill one position on the commission. When none of the suggested people were appointed, the Vatican responded that they merely agreed to accept a list of names, not necessarily to select anyone from the list. During the investigation, my provincial leader challenged the inclusion of nongay items on the inquisitional agenda. This same provincial had previously informed the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops that SSND approved this ministry, asking that her letter be sent to all United States bishops, but there is no evidence that her letter was communicated. Finally, in 1999, the Vatican issued a notification to prohibit me from any LGBTQ pastoral work. An overwhelming number of members of LCWR wrote to the CDF to object to their evaluation and penalty. LCWR encouraged their members to engage in conversations with local bishops about the issue of homosexuality and many leaders did so. For more than two decades, SSND was able to shield me in the ministry they had embraced. When this protection was no longer possible, the Sisters of Loretto offered shelter. For the next eight years, the Loretto presidents received a series of letters from the Congregation for Religious suggesting my voluntary or forced departure from religious life if I continued in LGBTQ ministry. But the
Loretto community stood firm. The letters ceased after 2009 when the Vatican launched its investigation of all United States women’s congregations. Since the election of Pope Francis, the atmosphere at the Vatican has dramatically shifted. In an exchange of letters with New Ways Ministry, Pope Francis said that his “shepherd’s heart” has “good feelings” about LGBTQ ministry.
Persistence from Women Religious Besides showing the tenacity of women religious, this case study reveals how shabbily women religious have been treated by the patriarchal church. Their pleas may be dismissed, but like the woman in the Gospel who persistently knocks on the door of the unjust judge, women religious continue to find ways to do the works of mercy. Without the support of visionary women religious, I would not have been able to continue my ministry for 50 years, and I would not be writing this article today. More importantly, the acceptance of LGBTQ people today by more than three-fourths of the Catholic faithful has largely been due to the efforts of United States women religious. While they clearly have less power than male priests and bishops, women religious have used their institutional standing to achieve enormous good. As representatives of the Catholic Church, albeit lowly ones, they have comforted innumerable LGBTQ Catholics, assuring them that they are loved by God just as they are. Women religious are the real unsung heroes of LGBTQ Catholic ministry. Jeannine Gramick, a Sister of Loretto, taught college mathematics before she co-founded New Ways Ministry, an LGBTQ+ Catholic ministry, in 1977. For more than a dozen years, she served as an Executive Coordinator of the National Coalition of American Nuns. A M AT T E R O F S P I R IT
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Photo © Sharon McCutcheon, unsplash
“Women religious have used creative circumvention to achieve many transformations. And isn’t this the way that moves change? Without flourish or fanfare, people merely disregard rules or laws that simply make no sense.”
To Change the Church, Have the Conversation
BY ELLIE HIDALGO AND CASEY STANTON
H
ow does the Church discern the movement of the Holy Spirit for our times? When you’re talking about a 2,000-yearold institution grounded in tradition, how does the Holy Spirit try to move the hearts of the faithful to do a new thing? Or an old thing once again? The possible restoration of women to the permanent ordained diaconate necessitates a global conversation that is complex and consequential. In discussing the pathway to such a change, Fr. Warren Sazama, pastor of St. Thomas More Parish in the Twin Cities, said off the cuff, “The way you change the Church is you have the conversation.” He may not have been intending to offer a blue-print for how the Holy Spirit works, but his words have stuck with women discerning a call to the diaconate who are wondering if they could ever be brave enough to initiate the conversation with their pastors, parishioners, even their bishops. Discerning Deacons launched in April 2021 to engage Catholics in the active discernment of our Church about restoring women to the permanent diaconate—including blessing women with the sacramental grace of diaconate ordination. Our work supports educational opportunities and conversations in parishes and communities so that everyone can participate in the discernment. 10
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Inspired by the synodal journey and dreams of the Church in the Amazonian territory of South America, our project seeks to create encounters between diaconal women and other Catholic leaders, where Spirit-inspired listening and dialogue can bear the fruits of conversion. Why the need to be brave?
Conversation Closed If the way to conversion is through conversation and encounter, then the converse is also true; the way to keep things as they are is to silence the conversation. In 1994, Pope John Paul II taught in Ordinatio sacerdotalis that the Church “has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women,” and his successors have confirmed this teaching. Intended or not, the impact has often been to stifle the larger conversation about women’s leadership in the church, including what is within the bounds of the authority of the Church with regards to women. For example, the Second Vatican Council (Lumen gentium) teaches that deacons are ordained “not unto the priesthood, but unto a ministry of service...in the diaconia of the liturgy, of the word, and of charity to the people of God.” It is a vocation distinct from the priesthood which points to Jesus the Servant Leader. There is nothing in Catholic doctrine that would prevent the Church from restoring women to the diaconate, and yet it has
Photo © Poojan Desai, unsplash
“Inspired by the synodal journey and dreams of the Church in the Amazonian territory of South America, our project seeks to create encounters between diaconal women and other Catholic leaders, where Spirit-inspired listening and dialogue can bear the fruits of conversion.” been challenging for the faithful to fully embrace having the conversation. Pope Francis’s vision of a synodal, listening, and participatory Church has led to greater permission to engage in conversations, trusting that as we listen more deeply to one another and create spaces for discernment, the Holy Spirit reveals God’s will that allows us to walk together and build the kingdom of God. An opportunity to take up the issue of women and the diaconate opened up in 2016 when religious superiors from the International Union of Superiors General asked Pope Francis to create an official commission to study the possibility of including women among permanent deacons, as was the case in the early Church. Pope Francis responded positively to the sisters’ request and formally established his Commission for the Study of the Diaconate of Women, naming twelve scholars as members—six men and six women. In the two millennia of church history, this commission may be the first to include an equal representation of both men and women. In describing the work of the papal commission on women deacons, the Holy Father, in a March 2017 interview with the German newspaper Die Zeit, said, “We must not be afraid! Fear closes doors. Freedom opens them. And if freedom is small, it opens at least a little window.” However, the findings from this commission were never made public. The question emerged again at the Synod
of Bishops for the Pan-Amazon Region when the bishops asked to share the experiences of women engaged in diaconal ministry. In response, Pope Francis established a new commission in April 2020 which met for the first time in September 2021. How did this conversation bubble up in the peripheries of the Amazon region of Latin America? Numerous bishops in the Amazon already rely on women to engage in missionary diaconal work in remote communities. Among them Divine Providence 1 Sr. Catarina Mees who has directed the Rural Institute of the Vicariate of Pando in remote Bolivia since 2016. Under the direction of Bishop Eugenio Coter, Sr. Mees is responsible for the spiritual and pastoral care of some 150 rural communities. Her responsibilities include the formation of local leaders and working collaboratively with her pastoral team, local animators of faith communities, liturgical teams, and catechists. Sr. Mees represents the Church’s presence as she visits rural communities and brings them the Holy Eucharist, presides at baptisms, and witnesses marriages. She and her pastoral team have baptized more than 1,000 children, youth, and adults. “The rural communities accept me with ease to be their pastor, their deacon, the one who serves their community. Celebrating with them is always a joy!” shared Sr. Mees at a recent celebration of the Feast of St. Phoebe on September 3, 2021. “The acceptance of my ministry as a servant of the community is very peaceful, very normal in this Amazon region of the Apostolate of Pando.”
Making it Safe to Talk Is the issue of women’s diaconate only a concern for the Amazonian Church where reaching remote rural territories necessitates more laborers in the vineyard, including women pastoral ministers? Or did the Amazonian Church reveal something that could be prophetic for the whole of the Church? The scholarship of theologians like Phyllis Zagano, Serena Nocceti, Carolyn Osiek, and Isabel Corpas has begun to restore the memory of early Church women deacons. Hidden in plain sight, 1
https://discerningdeacons.org/witness/it-is-godwho-chooses-and-enables/
Timeline Provided By Ellie Hidalgo and Casey Stanton
Information drawn from Church documents, and “Women Deacons: Past, Present, and Future” William Ditewig’s timeline pp 43-45
1966
The U.S. Catholic bishops permitted women to serve as lectors, but only “when a qualified man is not available” and “while standing outside the sanctuary.”
1967
Pope Paul VI implemented this decree of the Council; re-established the permanent diaconate in the Latin Church. • Bishop León Bonaventura de Uriarte Begnoa, OFM of San Ramon, Peru, asked that “deaconesses be instituted.”
1970
Pope Paul VI gave general permission for women to serve as lectors, read the prayers of the faithful, cantor and, with a mandate, distribute communion. They still could not be altar servers, even in homes, convents and institutions for women!
1972
Pope Paul VI decreed that lay men (but not women) could be formally installed as lectors and acolytes.
1980 1983
Pope John Paul II repeated the ban on women serving at the altar.
1994
Ordinatio Sacerdotalis on the restriction of presbyteral ordination to men alone was promulgated by John Paul II.
1998
The Congregation for Clergy and the Congregation for Catholic Education jointly promulgated the Basic Norms for the Formation of Permanent Deacons and the Directory for the Ministry and Life of Permanent deacons. No mention was made in either document about the possibility of ordaining women.
2015
The president of the Canadian bishops’ conference asked the Synod of Bishops to open up a process for the ordination of women to the diaconate.
2016
Women who lead religious orders asked Pope Francis to establish a commission to study the topic. He agreed. Three years later, the pope received a report from the commission but never made it public.
2019
Synod of Bishops on the Pan-Amazon region requested that Pope Francis amend canon law so that women could be formally installed into the ministries of lector and acolyte.
2020
Pope Francis established a 2nd commission for the study of the women’s diaconate.
2021
Pope Francis orders a change to the Code of Canon Law. Women can now formally be installed as lectors and acolytes.
Revision to the Code of Canon Law appeared to open the door to women serving at the altar, but it wasn’t until 1994 that Pope Saint John Paul II made it official, though leaving the decision to individual bishops, if approved by their regional conference. At that point, it was already common practice in many US parishes.
Feb. Sr. Natalie Becquart appointed under-secretary at Synod of Bishops, the 1st time a woman has been appointed to this position. Apr. 29 Launch of Discerning Deacons
Oct.10
Opening of the global synod For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, and Mission to include a global consultation with the people of God, a back and forth between the people, the bishops, and the team in Rome to develop a dynamic working document leading towards an inperson Synod of Bishops in Rome, Oct 2023.
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1. Is there a pastoral need for women as deacons? 2. Do we know women whose ministry resembles the charism of Jesus the Servant Leader and who would discern a call to the diaconate if that path were available to them? 3. What is the sense of the faithful and how could people be prepared to receive women as deacons? 4. How does our Catholic tradition inform our discernment about women and the diaconate?
“Guardian Angel” © Laura James
St. Phoebe is named as a deacon by St. 2 Paul in his letter to the Romans, the woman he entrusted to deliver and interpret his letter to the faith community in Rome. Among women deacon saints in the Church’s history are St. Domnika of Alexandra, St. Theosebia of Nyssa, St. Junia of Rome, St. Priscilla of Corinth, St. Susanna of Palestine and many others. The recovery of their names is slowly stirring the modern Catholic imagination about the present and future of women’s leadership in the church. When Discerning Deacons launched in the spring it was with Bishop Randolph Calvo of Reno as an advisor, along with priests, deacons, religious women and recognized lay pastoral leaders endorsing the conversation and thereby giving more Catholics in the pews permission to consider the issue. It has been important to share widely and often that the church is actively engaging in this particular discussion about women and the diaconate. During the summer, Discerning Deacons galvanized more than 1,500 Catholics in twenty-two cities throughout the United States, Canada and India to gather for parish dialogues and house meetings to pray, learn and discern about women and the diaconate. Among the central questions guiding the conversations were: 2
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These conversations revealed the quiet hope many Catholics have, that women ordained as deacons could help to renew the church in the third millennium and provide much needed visible leadership role models for Catholic girls and young women to stay engaged in the faith. Female preachers would provide vital perspectives on the Gospel from their lived experiences as daughters, mothers, grandmothers, aunts and godmothers. In places like the Amazon and elsewhere, women already are committed to diaconal ministry and the church would benefit from recognizing the work they already do: “As the church prays, so she believes.” It would recognize the fruitful leadership collaboration between Catholic men and women that has existed since the beginning of early Christianity, including the witness of St. Paul and St. Phoebe. Discerning Deacons is also helping to disseminate the findings of an indepth interview study of United States Catholic women and the diaconate which 3 was published this fall. Lead researcher and University of Notre Dame sociologist Tricia Bruce, PhD, found that Catholic women feel called into service, constrained by barriers to ordination and service reserved for men in the church, they must adapt creatively to do “de facto deacon” ministry anyway, and contribute in ways that uphold the very foundations of the local and global Catholicism. The study was conducted confidentially to make it safe for women currently working in and for the church to speak honestly about their experiences without fear of reprisal. 3
https://www.calledtocontribute.org/
An invitation to Go On a Synodal Journey It is our hope that recent conversations are helping to give courage to women and men to speak authentically about the pastoral needs of faith communities today. The current synod that is underway, “For a Synodal Church: Communion, Participation, Mission,” is the next phase in Pope Francis’ remarkable vision for a church unafraid to be open to the Holy Spirit as she renews and refreshes the whole Body of Christ. Pope Francis invites bishops and clergy to reimagine governances as beginning from the ground. The guiding documents for this ambitious synod begin with listening processes, which place incredible trust in the people of God to witness God’s will for moving in communion and mission in the world. The Pope is asking bishops and clergy of the world to prioritize engaging with those who are excluded, marginalized, on the peripheries of society and of church structures. With this synod, the church has an opportunity to keep creating safe spaces and to hear directly from the Catholic faithful about their hopes and dreams, as well as concerns for how best to heal from the wounds of clergy abuse, and to correct the imbalance of power that is born of clericalism. Might restoring women to the permanent diaconate play an important role in opening up new pathways of healing and the sharing of authority for the church? The Synod on Synodality invites all of our participation on this pilgrim journey to pray for the grace to listen broadly and widely, to build bridges to those who are excluded, and to move out of fear and into prophetic action. Pope Francis lays out a prayer in Episcopalis Communio for the Synod of Bishops to become the privileged instrument for listening to God’s people. May it be our prayer too. “For the Synod Fathers we ask the Holy Spirit first of all for the gift of listening: to listen to God, that with him we may hear the cry of the people; to listen to the people until breathing in the desire to which God calls us.” Ellie Hidalgo and Casey Stanton are co-directors of Discerning Deacons. discerningdeacons.org
A Life-Long Dream BY REV. MARY KAREN BROWN
“ I believe that the denominations that ordain women have been enriched by the unique perspectives that women can bring to churches through their callings into ministry.”
A
t 86 years of age and as a retired United Methodist minister, looking back over my life I realize that my desire to become a minister emerged in my young childhood. My parents, sister, and I attended the Beverly Vista Presbyterian Church in Los Angeles where Dr. James Stewart had been a beloved pastor for many years. Dr. Stewart had three grown children, two sons, one of whom was a minister, and a daughter with two children. Although I enjoyed Sunday school, I liked being in the church service even better. I enjoyed singing the hymns, listening to the choir sing its anthem, but most of all listening to the sermon. I thought to myself, “What a joy it would be to tell people about God’s love.” One Easter Sunday, Dr. Stewart revealed in his sermon that his daughter had died the night before from cancer. I don’t remember what he said in that sermon, but I just remember feeling that he had such a powerful faith that God would comfort him in this time of great loss. It was this experience that solidified my desire to become a minister. Each week we repeated the Nicene Creed during the service. As I grew older, I wasn’t sure I believed every part of this creed, but I didn’t express my doubts to anyone. However, in high school, one of my best friends invited me to attend a United Methodist camp with her that summer. I had a great time! As I learned more about John Wesley’s theology, I learned about the Wesleyan Quadrilateral, which simply means that there are four aspects to Christian faith: the Bible, tradition, reason and experience. In other words, one’s faith is a combination of the Bible stories we learn from the Old
Rev. Mary Karen Brown, Easter Service
and New Testament, the traditions of the church we are attending, our own personal experience, and finally, our acceptance of this faith as reasonable. Wesley also believed that there was no exact creed that one had to accept to become a member of a given denomination because the mystery of Christ was not reducible to a given set of words. Creeds were attempts to express the essence of the Christ mystery in words, but no set of words could definitely express this mystery. So though I was excited to learn about the Wesleyan quadrilateral, I sort of put my desire to be a minister in my back pocket, so to speak. After high school, I attended Stanford University majoring in drama with a minor in Humanities. After college, I worked for three years in the Department of Nuclear Medicine at UCLA. Next I went to San Francisco State College to work towards a master’s degree in Radio, TV, & Film. Then, one weekend, I met William Brown on a Sierra Club hike. He was working towards a PhD in Anthropology at the
University of Utah. Once William and I were married, we started attending the Wallingford United Methodist Church, which had a pastor just out of seminary, Becky Parker. Becky was an inspirational preacher and resurrected my desire to become a minister. Becky was my mentor for three years, when I considered applying to the Claremont School of Theology. I listed the pros and cons of this decision and finally decided that whether I succeeded or failed in my aspirations to become a minister, God would journey with me. So I applied to seminary in 1986, was accepted, graduated in 1989, went through the ordination process and was appointed pastor of the Snoqualmie United Methodist Church (SUMC) in the Pacific Northwest Conference of the United Methodist Church in July 1990. I was pastor at this church until I retired in July of 2000. Despite all the vicissitudes of this world, joys and sorrows, nothing in life is more wonderful than being part of a community of hope and journeying with God. It is more wonderful than feeling that you don’t need anything more than your own wit, skills or tenacity. There were many wonderful people of hope at the SUMC who strengthened my faith! I was the first woman pastor at this church. After a period of the congregation getting used to having a woman as pastor, I was accepted. At least the parishioners didn’t ask the bishop to move me, and I stayed until I retired! Each woman pastor brings a different personality and set of skills to her ministry, just as men do to theirs. But I believe that the denominations that ordain women have been enriched by the unique perspectives that women can bring to churches through their callings into ministry. Both male and female pastors can enrich the ministry of a congregation. Therefore, I am so thankful that God finally led me through all the twists and turns of my life to achieve my childhood desire to become a minister! Rev. Mary Karen Brown served as pastor of the Snoqualmie United Methodist Church from 1990-2000. A M AT T E R O F S P I R IT
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Reflection Process
Righteous Old Testament Women icon detail, St. Paul Orthodox Church
Readers are invited to use the following reflection BY SAMANTHA YANITY AND THERESA SHEPHERD-LUKASIK
From the earliest days of the Church and still today, women have been the faithful, prophetic servants, and heralders of the Gospel in both word and deed. Women in the Gospel were the first called to the faith, the first to proclaim the Good News, they had the strength to remain faithful at the foot of the cross and were the first to witness the resurrection. Yet, throughout much of Church history, women have been silenced, many have been nameless figures, and their contributions have gone mostly unnoticed. But, if you asked the people of God, “Who has healed your wounds? Who tended to your community?” the answer w0uld most likely be a woman religious or non-religious laywoman who came to their service. Jesus, then and now calls all women forth, “talitha koum” (Mark 5:21–43), to rise out of death and despair and into new life with authority as heralders of the Gospel. Scripture tradition gives us several examples of bold, prophetic women—here are five. Throughout the Gospel, women like Mary, Elizabeth, Phoebe, Mary Magdalene, and the Samaritan Woman have been the image-bearers of Christ, modeling for the world the servant nature of Christ. In the sacred scriptures, the word ‘servant’ appears throughout the Gospel and again in Paul’s letter to the Romans. ‘Servant’ in the Greek translation of the sacred scriptures, is diákonos, the root of deacon. Heralders of the Gospel, women have served as deacons to the world in service to those on the margins. Mary, the Mother of Jesus, faithful woman, servant of the Lord, and bearer of the Word teach me to serve like you: “Then Mary said, “Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word.” Luke 1:38 How is God calling you to be like Mary, bringing Christ’s love to the world? How are you being life-giving? How is God calling you to bring Christ to the world? Elizabeth, cousin of Mary, prophetic voice, teach me to sing praise and speak truth: “When Elizabeth heard Mary’s greeting, the infant leaped in her womb, and Elizabeth, filled with the Holy Spirit, cried out in a loud voice and said, “Most blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb. And how does this happen to me, that the mother of my Lord should come to me?” Luke 1: 41-43 14
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Is there a woman in your life who affirmed your gifts like Elizabeth? How can you affirm others? Phoebe, sister in Christ, anointed woman, teach us how to lead with grace and charity: “I commend to you Phoebe our sister, who is [also] a deacon of the church at Cenchreae, that you may receive her in the Lord in a manner worthy of the holy ones, and help her in whatever she may need from you, for she has been a benefactor to many and me as well.” Romans 16:1-2 What gifts has God given you that need to be shared? Have you or someone you know felt the call to the diaconate or ordained ministry? If so, how do you or they live that out? Mary Magdalene, a disciple of Jesus and apostle to the apostles, gives us the courage to proclaim the Gospel with our lives: “Mary of Magdala went and announced to the disciples, ‘I have seen the Lord,’ and what [Jesus] told her.” John 20:18 How are you proclaiming the Good News of liberation to others like Mary Magdalene? Samaritan Woman, outcast raised to be the missionary to her community, teach us our worth to stand in God’s presence and serve God: “Many of the Samaritans of that town began to believe in him because of the word of the woman who testified, ‘He told me everything I have done.’ When the Samaritans came to him, they invited him to stay with them; and he stayed there two days. Many more began to believe in him because of his word, and they said to the woman, ‘We no longer believe because of your word; for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is truly the savior of the world.” John 4: 39-41 How has God used your story to bring Good News to others? Samantha Yanity is the Editor of A Matter of Spirit and Justice Educator for the Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center. She holds a Masters of Divinity and Masters of Arts in Social Justice from Loyola University Chicago. Theresa Shepherd-Lukasik is the Director of Adult Faith Formation at St. Joseph Parish and provides spiritual direction through the Ignatian Spirituality Center in Seattle, WA. She received a Masters of Arts in Ignatian Spirituality at Loyola University Chicago.
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End‑Title 42 Campaign Stand with our migrant brothers and sisters seeking asylum and tell the Biden administration to stop using Covid-19 as a justification for blocking asylum. In partnership with Kino Border Initiative and the #saveasylum movement, IPJC is advocating with the Biden administration to restore protections for Holy Families. Take action at ipjc.org/restore-asylum
Justice for Women
NWCRI Addresses Gun Safety
Five new Circles begin this fall in the cities of SeaTac, Tukwila, Burien, Port Townsend and Marysville! We are excited and honored to walk with these communities and look forward to supporting their actions in the coming months.
44% of Smith & Wesson shareholders voted in favor of a resolution requesting the adoption of a Human Rights policy to de-escalate gun violence. This is an 8% increase in support as compared to 2019. Sr. Judy Byron, OP was featured in an article by the Global Sisters Report about the effort. As we move into the 2022 shareholder season, Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility members held their annual meeting to strategize for the coming year.
Season of Creation
Creation Care Network IPJC had a busy and generative Season of Creation through its participation in the Creation Care Network! Member communities hosted prayer services, novenas, and blessed animals to celebrate the season. IPJC coorganized an event, “Restoring Our Relationship with God’s Creation: From Stewardship to Kinship,” that focused on grounding participants in prayer and on the indigenous history of Seattle. Participants identified ways to support our Duwamish brothers and sisters. Look for more events from CCN this winter and spring.
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IPJC Joins ICHRP We are excited to join the International Coalition for Human Rights in the Philippines (ICHRP) as we stand in solidarity with our Filipino brothers and sisters. Check out our work to pass the Philippine Human Rights Act tinyurl.com/3y5mh73n and join us for events and actions! Migrants march September 25, 2021 in the streets of Nogales, Sonora to restore asylum. Photo © Christoper Kerr
Jeannie & Erv DeSmet 50th Wedding Anniversary Lorene Heck, OP Graduates Aurora Kreyche, Jacob Clements, Elizabeth Ford, Maura Switzer, Alex Battle IN MEMORY OF
Brad Anderson Gael O’Reilly Joan Trunk
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Gretchen Gundrum Vince Herberholt Kelly Hickman Tricia Hoyt Nick Mele Catherine Punsalan-Manlimos Will Rutt Editor: Samantha Yanity Copy Editors: Gretchen Gundrum, Erica Eberhart Design: Sheila Edwards A Matter of Spirit is a quarterly publication of the Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center, a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, Federal Tax ID# 94-3083964. All donations are tax-deductible within the guidelines of U.S. law. To make a matching corporate gift, a gift of stocks, bonds, or other securities please call (206) 223-1138. Printed on FSC ® certified paper made from 30% postconsumer waste.
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Prayer for Vocational Direction Dear God, You call us each by name. You called me to… To do what exactly? To preach, preside, serve, and share To lead, witness, laugh, and cry To accompany your people On their spiritual journey. Yet, God along the way At times your voice is Loud and clear And at times, your voice Hardly whispers. This labyrinth of life That begins and ends with you Which winds in the shadow of death And beside still waters, The path is mysterious and convoluted. And yet our internal compass orients us So we place our trust in you, Our creator, our sibling, our inspiration The Holy Trinity, one being. Seen and unseen, we call on you. And you call each of us by name, To be ministers of your word and sacrament And proclaimers of your name, Abba, YHWH, Sophia, Christ, Ruach We, like Mary, are God-Bearers. The priests of the church The deacons of the church We who share the good news of the Resurrection We whom you have called by name. Amen
The Rev. Kimberly A. Reinholz has served at Grace and Holy Trinity Church since 2015. Ordained in The Diocese of Bethlehem (PA), Kim graduated from The General Theological Seminary. She holds a Masters in Literature, Religion and Philosophy from the University of Sussex (UK) and two bachelor’s degrees in Political Science and Asian Studies from Temple University. When not at church, she lives with her husband The Rev. Andrew Reinholz who is also a priest in the Episcopal Church.
Photo © Yayan Sopian, unsplash
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