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Thursday, May 2, 2013

Homily: "Jesus Sets Women Free to Live Gospel Equality" by Bridget Mary Meehan / Ordination of Rosemarie Smead in Louisville, KY/April 27,2013



         Today we rejoice because Rosemarie Smead will be ordained as a Roman Catholic Woman Priest in the first ordination of a woman priest in Louisville, Kentucky, in St. Andrew United Church of Christ. We are gathering at a new moment of historical possibilities and challenges in our church.
    
                     We pray that Francis, the first Latin American and first Jesuit pope, who washed the feet of young women and men in a juvenile detention center, will usher in a new era of justice for all, especially for those on the margins including women in our church. The news report that Pope Francis plans to appoint more women to top positions in the Vatican is welcome, indeed! There is certainly a long list of qualified women, including many nuns and women priests, who are ready to serve in the renewal and reform of our church.
 
                     The Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement is a justice movement. we claim equal rites to achieve equal rights in our church. We live prophetic obedience to the spirit, who is calling women today to a renewed priestly ministry in a community of equals. as a woman priest, Rosemarie is leading, not leaving the catholic church into a new era of inclusivity, where all are invited to feast at the banquet table of god’s boundless, abundant love. As the Irish writer, James Joyce, reminded us, the word catholic means, “here comes everybody!”
 
                     In Luke 13:10-13, Jesus encounters a woman in the synagogue on the Sabbath who, for 18 years, has been crippled with a condition that causes her to be bent over, incapable of standing up straight. When Jesus saw her, he called her over and said, “woman, you are free of your infirmity.” he laid his hands on her, and immediately, she stood up straight and began thanking God.
 
                     When the synagogue leader expressed outrage that Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, Jesus called the religious leaders hypocrites, and pointed out that this healing was for a daughter of Abraham and Sarah, who had suffered for 18 years.  So, there are several take home messages here:
         1) Jesus treated women as equals,
         2) People have priority over rules and regulations.
         3) Sexism in church and society is sinful and should always be challenged.
         4) Our compassionate god lifts up all women bent over by the burden of patriarchy.
 
                     The good news is that the Spirit of God continues to set us free today to live gospel equality and partnership.
 
                     The institutional church has tried to keep women bent over when it refuses to recognize their call to the priesthood.  No longer will we tolerate the Vatican’s practice of sexism, which is rooted in the misogynist attitude of church fathers like Tertullian who once said that women are the “gateway to the devil” and Thomas Acquinas who defined woman as a “defective male.”   
 
                     Now, in the 21st century, women are silent and invisible and subordinate no more!  If women priests were partners in decision-making in our church, there would be some mighty big changes in church teachings like birth control!
 
                     According to a 2012 Newsweek interview with catholic Melinda Gates, 100,000 women annually die in childbirth after unintended pregnancies and six hundred thousand babies die in the first month of life. A prolife church must value women’s health and well-being.
 
                     During her long professional life, Rosemarie has worked tirelessly to model Jesus’ healing presence in the lives of women and girls, and to teach the value of standing up for justice no matter what challenges they encountered.
 
                     Maryknoll Roy Bourgeois, Franciscan Jerry Zawada, jesuit Bill Brennan, Redemptorist Tony Flannery, the Irish Priests Association, and the Austrian Priests’ Initiative have endured condemnation and punishment by the Vatican for their solidarity with the women priests’ movement.  but the hierarchy of the Catholic Church cannot stop justice from rising up in the people of God!  In a recent poll in the U.S. 70% of Catholics support women’s ordination.
 
                     In her own words, Rosemarie shared this inspiring testimony explaining why she chose today’s reading for her ordination:   “this gospel reflects Jesus telling us to take heart from this woman, ignored and persecuted by the religious leaders of her time. Be persistent, courageous, and keep your mind open to the spirit of God, blowing the winds of change in our church.  Be part of the movement forward in the eternal dance of love, toward the kin-dom of the unity of us all.”
 
                     Our women priests start a new inclusive catholic community in their home areas, that honors the gifts of God in the people of God, bringing a renewal and reforming presence to enliven our beloved church.  our women priests from Lexington, Janice Sevre-Duszynska and Donna Rougeux, are assisting Rosemarie with this new church community started here in Louisville.  it is called “Christ-Sophia Inclusive Catholic Community.”  You are all warmly welcome to celebrate the sacraments as God’s embracing extravagant love for all in our midst.
 
                     The bible uses feminine imagery to describe God who is beyond all names and images. This is one of the church’s best-kept secrets!  The books of Wisdom and Proverbs use feminine imagery to describe divine wisdom. the Greek word for wisdom is Sophia and is always personified as a woman. Our first reading is from the book of wisdom and refers to the holy one as she.  The New Testatment identifies Christ with the wisdom of god.  “…to those who are called… Christ is the power and the wisdom of God.” (1 cor. 1:24)  The connection in scripture is made between the crucified Jesus of Nazareth and the Cosmic Risen Christ in Christ-Sophia.  In this liturgy today we integrate this powerful image of Christ Sophia in our prayer and song.  Thanks to our music director, Kathleen Rosenberg, for the beautiful musical mass of Christ Sophia which she composed.
 
                     And now, i would like to share a brief overview of the Roman Catholic Women Priests Movement. Roman Catholic Women Priests are ordained in apostolic succession because a male bishop with apostolic succession and in communion with the pope ordained our first bishops!
 
                     In 2002, 7 women were ordained on the Danube.  In 2006, 12 women were ordained in the first U.S. ordination in Pittsburgh.  Now there are approximately 150 in our movement in Europe, U.S. Canada, and Latin America. As part of an international initiative of the Roman Catholic Women Priests movement, the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests claims equality as a human right.  Our vision is justice for all, justice for the poor, justice for women, and justice for women in the church including ordination.
 
                     I believe that on a deep spiritual, mystical level women priests are beginning a healing process of centuries-old deep misogyny in which spiritual power was invested exclusively in men.  For some, like the Catholic hierarchy, women priests are a spiritual uprising.  For millions of people, the time has come for a holy shakeup that will bring new life, creativity and justice to the church and beyond.  Let us pray that Pope Francis will join this holy shakeup!
 
                     Amen, Rosemarie, to rocking the boat of Peter and walking on water with Christ! i guarantee that you are in for quite a spiritual adventure! Like the woman who was healed in the gospel, we are set free to work for justice and to live gospel equality and partnership now!
 
 
 
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Bridget Mary Meehan, D.Min., a Sister for Christian Community, was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on july 31, 2006. She was ordained a bishop on April 19, 2009. Dr. Meehan is currently dean of the Doctor of Ministry program for Global Ministries University, and is the author of 20 books, including Living Gospel Equality Now: Loving in the Heart of God, the Healing Power of Prayer, and Praying with Women of the Bible.  She presides at liturgies in Mary, Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community in Sarasota, Florida, and celebrates liturgies with groups in Northern Virginia.  Dr. Meehan can be reached at sofiabmm@aol.com and www.arcwp.org  

 

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