Blessing of the Week |
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This weekend I want to introduce you to Sue Fischer. Sue spent the last half of her 30-year career in ministry as associate campus minister and coordinator of retreats at Canisius College. While there were hundreds – if not thousands – of us, I consider myself to be lucky to have been one of the students who was forever shaped and inspired by Sue’s ministry at Canisius.
Sue was one of the very first people I met at Canisius when I visited during my senior year of high school. I remember quite vividly that she and her colleagues were in the middle of making final preparations for that year’s spring break immersion trip to Appalachia. There were charts and lists all over the walls and stacks of paper and maps all over the floor when the tour guide brought me into the campus ministry office. The staff was obviously very busy…and perhaps a little frazzled and overwhelmed by the enormity of their undertaking.
Still, Sue stepped away from what she was doing, took me into her office, and spent about a half an hour with me, telling me all about Canisius and campus ministry. Her passion for the gospel, her love for the students, and her belief in what Canisius was all about shone through in the excitement in her voice and the smile on her face. And for that half hour – and many days after - my heart burned within me. I knew Canisius was the place for me. I felt called to be there. I knew Canisius had something to offer me and I had something to offer it.
I would later walk the halls as a student and Sue’s door was always open – unless she was having a private conversation with one of the many students who sought her safe space out for a reprieve from the stresses of student life, for guidance or advice, for someone to listen. I was a regular beneficiary of Sue’s safe space of retreat and I always left her office better than when I entered. But one closed-door meeting holds most meaning for me.
At the beginning of the Fall 2003 semester – my junior year – I approached Sue with my dream of Canisius hosting a safe, affirming retreat for LGBTQ+ students. She listened with her trademark smile and excitement as I told her all about my idea. And when I was through, she looked me straight in the eye and promised that – whatever it took – we would make it happen together. After months of ushering it through the administration, planning talks and inviting speakers, and creating the rituals, that Spring, we were hosting a full retreat - the first of its kind at a Jesuit school, as far as we know - on the shores of Lake Erie. And in the years that followed - long after I had graduated - Sue continued the retreat, adapting and expanding it, making it one of the most popular offerings each year. It’s hard to believe so much time has passed, but Canisius has been hosting that retreat for almost 20 years now.
Sue and I have stayed in touch over the years and I’m proud to call her a friend. I also think of her as a “Mary Magdalene” in my life – a constant source of the Good News. She was the first to hand on the “good news” of Canisius College to me. And her example has always helped me navigate my life and calling as a minister. She’s been there to celebrate best of times, like when she and her husband Dick honored Daniel and me with their presence at our wedding. And she’s stood with me through times of pain and struggle – a long-time friend of Daniel’s family, she was there for all of us, even in her own grief, when Daniel’s dad died from cancer in 2015.
It may sound like a cliché, but I really don’t know where I’d be without Sue and her witness to the gospel in my life. She is a blessing that I will always be thankful for.
As we look forward to the July 22nd Feast Day of St. Mary Magdalene I invite you to reflect on the “Marys Magdalene” in your own life: those women - living or deceased - who shared Good News with you, who celebrated with you, who stood by you in times of struggle or pain, who seemed to understand you better than others, whose witness shaped you. May remembering them renew you, bring a smile to your face, or a grateful tear to your eye just as telling you about Sue did for me.
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Co-Director |
Russ Petrus |
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Honor the "Mary Magdalene" in Your Life |
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Celebrate Mary Magdalene's July 22nd Feast Day with Catholic Women Preach by making a donation in honor of the "Mary Magdalene" in your life. We invite you to honor those women who have shared the Good News with you: who have taught, raised, or inspired you on your faith journey. Honorees will be lifted up on the CWP website and in weekly emails (you also have the option of keeping your honoree anonymous).
No donation is too small! Most importantly we want to spread the good news about the witness of remarkable women like Mary Magdalene!
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The Just Word
Writing for the 12th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Stephanie Puen invites us to explore the centrality of economic justice and flourishing in Catholic thought and ethics; engage the responsibility of economic justice with the help of Pope Francis’s encyclical, Fratelli tutti; and embody economic justice with the help of the Our Father, the Economy of Communion, and the artwork of Joey Velasco:
Entailing both incremental changes, as well as deep shifts and reorientations of attitudes, cultures, and systems at work, a radically sufficient agenda that fosters economic justice is primarily concerned with the well-being of creation, people included. This means keeping principles and policies that align with the commitment of radical sufficiency, while also radically modifying or even rejecting those principles and policies that do not.
Stephanie Ann Puen, PhD is a faculty member in the Department of Theology at Ateneo de Manila University. She has taught and done research on economics and business ethics, Catholic social thought, gender and sexual ethics, and theology and popular culture at both the Ateneo de Manila University, and Fordham University in New York. Follow her on twitter @profspuen.
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Catholic Women Preach
Preaching for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Cameron Bellm offers a reflection on the "intimate, hair-counting love of God":
"My children are growing now, no longer newborns with golden threads of hair. They go to school each day while I wrestle with how to entrust them to a dangerous world, how to manage my own heartbreak when their little hearts are broken. I don’t have any easy answers for how to do that. But I do know that we are deeply, fiercely, tenderly loved, all of us, not just my family but the entire human family, by the God who is light and who calls us to be light ourselves—to the world, yes, but also to each other. "
Cameron Bellm is a Seattle-based writer, retreat leader, and contemplative in action. She is the author of “Prayer for a Pandemic,” which went viral in the early days of COVID-19. Cameron writes the Spirit & Verse column at Jesuits.org and is the author of A Consoling Embrace: Prayers for a Time of Pandemic (2020) and No Unlikely Saints: A Mental Health Pilgrimage with Sacred Company (2021). Her work has been published in America, National Catholic Reporter, Geez, Today’s American Catholic, and Bearings Online.
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2023 Mary Magdalene Celebration Guide |
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This year's theme is synodality: The voices of Catholics around the world calling for greater equality for women in the Church will guide us through our prayer service as we highlight women’s synodal encounters with Jesus, then, and the synodal encounters in the heartfelt sharing of the People of God, now. Through this prayer service, as we recover Mary Magdalene's witness, we gather our prayers together for all women who continue to be ignored, discredited, and disbelieved.
FutureChurch has an extensive library for planning your own celebration – including this year’s celebration guide, which provides everything you need – prayers, readings, and music suggestions – to plan your own celebration.
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Celebrating the Witness of Martha Jane Chisley Tolton |
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Many Catholics are rightly learning about the pioneering life of Fr. Augustus Tolton who is on track to be recognized as a saint in the Catholic Church. But few know about the courage and bravery of his mother, a freedom fighter, who in 1862 gathered her three small children and escaped the ravages of slavery braving Confederate guns, slavers, and others who used violence to keep slaves in check. On the journey toward freedom, she faced many dangers. And when her son, a free man, decided to take the path of priesthood, she fought for his right to choose service to God up and against the racism that was present within the Catholic Church.
To learn more about and celebrate the witness of Mother Martha Jane Chisley Tolton, download our free resource!
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Wednesdays, June 28th, July 5th, and July 12th at 7pm ET |
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SynodWatch: Exploring the Working Document |
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On June 20, 2023 the Instrumentum Laboris (or working document) for the October 2023 General Assembly of the Synod on Communion, Participation and Mission was released. FutureChurch is hopeful that the document lays a strong foundation for achieving real progress on much needed reforms in the Church.
Join FutureChurch on Wednesdays, June 28th, July 5th, and July 12th at 7pm ET as we welcome guest experts and activists who will help us gain a better understanding of the working document for the Synod on Synodality
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July 11, 2023 | 7pm ET |
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Gender and the Role of Women in Our Liturgical Life |
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Where are the women when it comes to the liturgical life of the Catholic Church? What role does gender play? How did our liturgical traditions develop? Our liturgical history has been shaped substantially by the invisibility and exclusion of women. How credible can this historical narrative be with so much of the Body of Christ missing?
Yale Divinity School Professor Teresa Berger has spent a lifetime examining both past and present liturgical developments from the perspective of women’s lives. In this presentation she will offer insights into the roles women played in Early Christianity, the history of women’s liturgical ministries, and the development of the calendar of saints and the uneven ways we have come to formally venerate women within the tradition.
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July 18, 2023 | 7pm ET
Portraying Mary Magdalene Today: The Movie Version(s)
Mary Magdalene has been a figure of religious and artistic inspiration for Christians for over 2000 years. In the Bible, she is a disciple of Jesus and a key witness at his crucifixion and resurrection. In the Western Church her role and character changed and she became known as a penitent prostitute. In medieval art, she is often portrayed naked, covered only with her long hair. In more modern versions, she has been portrayed as the romantic partner and wife of Jesus. What is the truth?
Professor Joan Taylor of King's College is an expert in the field and shares her insights into some of the images of Mary Magdalene that we receive today.
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July 20, 2023 | 7pm ET
FutureChurch's Annual Mary Magdalene Celebration
Join FutureChurch and women from around the world as Kelly Meraw leads us in a Celebration of Mary Magdalene: "Rethinking Women’s Participation - Stories of Synodality Then and Now."
We'll honor Mary Magdalene's witness and its lessons for us today as we seek to become a more synodal Church. The voices of Catholics around the world calling for greater equality for women in the Church in “Enlarge the Space of Our Tent” will guide us through our prayer service as we highlight women’s synodal encounters with Jesus, then, and the synodal encounters in the heartfelt sharing of the People of God, now.
Join us for this beautiful prayer experience and one of FutureChurch's biggest events of the year!
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Transgender Inclusion: What It Means, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do
June 27, 2023 at 8pm ET | Online
Join DignityUSA and noted transgender educator and activist Ben Greene to learn about what transgender and nonbinary people hope for from supportive allies. Known for his engaging style and use of humor, Ben has worked with communities, workplaces, government agencies, and more to support them in becoming more inclusive and welcoming. This is a special Pride Month event!
Registration is required.
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Women of the Church: 2023 National Conference
July 19-21 | Collegeville, MA
Sponsored by Saint John’s School of Theology and Seminary. The conference will do as St. Paul urged the early Roman Church: to Welcome Her and all her extraordinary gifts. Everyday, through diverse vocations, women share their leadership skills, liturgical and ministerial talents, theological insight, and prophetic imagination. Come celebrate these gifts and, in community with others, imagine a Church even more welcoming of women.
Details/Registration
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Boston College 14th Annual Mary Magdalene Celebration: Rereading Biblical Women
July 20, 12n-3pm | Hybrid In-person/Online
Inspired by diverse traditions and misinterpretations of Mary of Magdala, this presentation embarks on a rereading of select women in the Bible. Several biblical women, such as Hagar, Jezebel, and the Samaritan woman at the well, have been interpreted unfavorably and have been associated with negative attributes. In her presentation, Dr. Jaime L. Waters, associate professor of Old Testament, Boston College School of Theology and Ministry, rereads women to offer avenues of interpretation that honor women of the past and inspire readers today.
Details/Registration
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We seek changes that will provide all Roman Catholics the opportunity to participate fully in Church life and leadership. |
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FutureChurch is a national 501(c)(3) organization and your contribution is tax-deductible to the extent allowed by law.
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