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| Weekend Bulletin |
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| March 25 & 26, 2023 |
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| Blessing of the Week |
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Happy Solemnity of the Annunciation!
FutureChurch hosted its first online/Zoom Liturgy of the Word and faith sharing on the Solemnity of the Annunciation - Wednesday, March 25, 2020. It was our first attempt – an experiment to see if it could work. And so, I served as host and prayer leader; Greece pilgrimage participant, Kay Furlani, was our lector; and board member, Rita Houlihan, was the psalmist. We heard the Scriptures proclaimed from the Inclusive Lectionary, listened to preaching from Catholic Women Preach, and broke into small groups to discuss the following questions:
- The angel Gabriel encourages Mary, “do not be afraid” and assures her that God will be with her through everything. How are you feeling today? What fears to you have? Are you able to see or feel God present to you even in the midst of this pandemic?
- After pondering God’s invitation, Mary responds with a courageous and faithful ‘yes.’ How are you being invited to bear God’s to the world today? To whom? What will be your response?
It’s hard to believe that was already three years ago!
Since then, we’ve added music and participatory prayers of the faithful. Volunteers from the community now sign up to lead the liturgy and serve as lectors. And I’ve been blessed to share hosting duties with Elise Dubravec, who worked with FutureChurch while she was a student at the School of Theology at Santa Clara; Vickey McBride, a board member; and now with Lucy Rieger and Tanya Hewitt, who are long-time participants. We’ve figured out how to do a “procession” of palms for Palm Sunday and we’ve even blessed pets and all creation on the Feast of St. Francis of Assisi. Many of the congregation members who joined us that first Wednesday continue to join regularly on Sunday nights and we’ve been blessed with many new community members along the way.
As I reflect on these three years and revisit the discussion questions, I give thanks for all the ways in which the members of this group bear God’s presence to one another each week. They say “yes” to showing up; “yes” to volunteering as leaders and lectors; “yes” to sharing their lives and supporting one another in the small group discussions; “yes” to giving voice to their deepest prayers and needs; and “yes” to my crazy experiments like palms and pet blessings. And we are so blessed that they do!
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| Co-Director |
| Russ Petrus |
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| Celebrating the Annunciation |
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The Just Word
"What Might Mary Really Have Been Like?" with Mary Kate Holman
For the Solemnity of the Annunciation, Mary Kate Holman invites us to explore historical details that bring us closer to understanding Mary as a real human being, with the help of feminist theologian Elizabeth Johnson; engage how Catholic Social Teaching has used Mary to perpetuate harmful gender stereotypes; and embody the radical, empowering story of Mary’s “yes” to God with lectio divina and the example of Annunciation House in El Paso, Texas.
"How would Catholic social teaching look differently if written by those of us on the margins of the church’s power? What deeper theological insights could emerge on pregnancy and motherhood, if official church teaching on these realities were written by people who had themselves experienced them? And even more importantly, how might other teachings on economic and social issues be enriched by the perspective of women, who are disproportionately under-compensated for the work they do? "
Mary Kate Holman is Assistant Professor of Theology at Benedictine University outside of Chicago. Her teaching and research incorporate questions of justice, spirituality, and what it means to be church.
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| Mary of Nazareth Resources from FutureChurch |
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Mary, with her varied images and titles, has long been used to uphold a patriarchal value system which has eclipsed women’s full expression and gifts in the Church.
Using art, prayer, poetry, story-telling, celebration and education these resources from FutureChurch retrieve Mary’s historical memory and artfully reconstruct a portrait of Miriam of Nazareth that restores her prophetic and liberating genius for all women and men.
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The Just Word
"A Chance at Redemption" with Nia Alvarez-Mapp
This week, Nia Alvarez-Mappinvites us to invite you to explore dialogue between Lakota worldviews and Catholicism, through Heȟáka Sápa, or Black Elk; engage Catholic Social Teaching on care for the Earth, and consider the Earth as one of G*d’s children; and embody these teachings through power mapping ourselves, and considering the examples of urban farming and the wisdom of the sunrise.
"The big question in regards to legacy is: how to seek redemption, and do better than your predecessors? Too often, when we think about legacy it becomes the struggle of maintaining it, and what G*d asks us to do. We also fail to see that the Earth as a whole is also one of G*d’s children..."
Nia Alvarez-Mapp is a writer and a recent graduate of Union Theological Seminary, with a Master’s degree in social ethics with a concentration on political theology. She focuses most of her time on common good policies, and is an advocate for creating social justice dialogue in any space she goes to, which includes – but is not limited to – civic engagement, voter suppression, food insecurity, and interfaith dialogue.
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Catholic Women Preach
"Journey to the Tomb" with JoAnn Melina Lopez
Preaching for the Fifth Sunday of Lent, JoAnn Melina Lopez offers a reflection on our call to journey to the tomb and co-create, with God, new life:
"It is not enough for us to shake our heads at injustice, tweet out thoughts and prayers, and then change the channel and keep our peace, hoping that someday Jesus will work it all out. Our faith demands our transformation, and our courageous and prayerful action. As Christians we have to disrupt the whole system of unnatural death which is bearing down upon the most marginalized, poor, and vulnerable. We have to act prophetically against the forces of death in our families, workplaces, community."
JoAnn Melina Lopez, M.Div. has been immersed in Catholic formation, education, and action for fifteen years. After completing her undergraduate degree at Saint Joseph’s University, she served as a Jesuit Volunteer in Houston, working with asylum seekers and refugees. She received her Master of Divinity (M.Div.) from the Boston College School of Theology and Ministry and spent seven years as Campus Minister for Liturgy at Seattle University. JoAnn currently serves as Director of Faith Formation at St. Basil's Catholic Parish in Toronto, and is pursuing a diploma focused on social justice and community empowerment.
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| Thursday, April 6 at 12 Noon |
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| Women Remembered: Jesus' Female Disciples |
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Authors Professor Joan Taylor and Professor Helen Bond will offer a look into the lives of Jesus’ female disciples based on their exciting new book, Women Remembered: Jesus’ Female Disciples (2022). While many of the women in Christian Scriptures have been dismissed, stereotyped, or misrepresented, Professor Taylor and Professor Bond present some of the latest findings and recover the stories of the women who have helped shape our faith.
Joan Taylor is Professor of Christian Origins and Second Temple Judaism at King’s College London. She has authored numerous books and articles about Jesus and his world, notably The Immerser: John the Baptist within Second Temple Judaism (1997), Jesus and Brian: Studying the Historical Jesus via Monty Python’s Life of Brian(2015) and What did Jesus look like? (2018). She has studied questions of women and gender for many years, and has edited, with Ilaria Ramelli, Patterns of Women’s Leadership in Early Christianity (2021). She also works in radio, television and film, and co-presented, with Helen Bond, Jesus Female Disciples: The New Evidence (2018) for Channel Four. Together they have recently authored Women Remembered: Jesus’ Female Disciples (2022).
Helen K. Bond is Professor of Christian Origins and Head of the School of Divinity at the University of Edinburgh. Her research focuses on the social and political history of Judaea under Roman rule, the historical Jesus, and the canonical gospels. She is the author of Pontius Pilate in History and Interpretation (CUP, 1998), Caiaphas: High Priest and Friend of Rome? (Westminster John Knox, 2004), The Historical Jesus: A Guide for the Perplexed(Bloomsbury, 2012), Jesus: A Very Brief History (SPCK, 2017), The First Biography of Jesus: Genre and Meaning in Mark’s Gospel (Eerdmans, 2020), Women Remembered: Jesus’ Female Disciples (Hodder, 2022), and a number of shorter studies and articles. She has contributed to over 50 TV and radio documentaries, including acting as historical consultant to The Nativity (BBC, 2010) and co-presenter (with Joan Taylor) of Jesus’ Female Disciples(C4, 2018).
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| Video of the Week: Driven Toward Madness with Professor Nikki M. Taylor, Ph.D. |
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Dr. Nikki M. Taylor, Ph.D. joins FutureChurch for this Women Witnesses for Racial Justice presentation on her book Driven Toward Madness: The Fugitive Slave Margaret Garner and Tragedy on the Ohio, a biography of Margaret Garner, an enslaved wife and mother who, along with her entire family, escaped from slavery in northern Kentucky in 1856. When their enslavers caught up with the Garner family, Margaret tried to kill all four of her children–and succeeded in killing one–rather than see them return to slavery. Using black feminist and interdisciplinary methodologies, this Professor Taylor retells this harrowing story from the perspective of Margaret Garner–a woman who could not read or write and left little of her own voice in the historical record. Ultimately, Driven Toward Madness examines why this fated act was the last best option for her as an enslaved mother.
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| "Our Lady of the Way" Prayer Service for Equality |
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Saturday, March 25, 2023 at 11 a.m. ET (US) / 4 p.m. CEST
Join Women's Ordination Conference for this virtual prayer service (via Zoom) on World Day of Prayer for Women's Ordination.
Register
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| CTA Metro NY Annual Meeting |
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Sunday, March 26, 2023 | 2-4 pm
Please join us to learn about RECONNECT-a project that gives young people the tools to build a life for themselves and be a positive part of their community. We will meet a few people who are currently training and working at the Thomas Berry Place Retreat Center in Queens, NY. There will be a video tour of the training site featuring the culinary and print shop skills programs. We will also talk with Fr. Jim O’Shea, the founder of the RECONNECT PROJECT. Time for questions and comments will be at the presentation’s end.
Details/Register
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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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