FutureChurch Weekend Bulletin


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Weekend Bulletin

April 27 & 28, 2024 | Fifth Sunday of Easter

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Blessing of the Week

On Thursday of this week, thirty-seven pilgrims will be joining FutureChurch on pilgrimage to follow in the footsteps of our Black Catholic foremothers in faith. Together, these women and men will travel through Atlanta, Birmingham, Montgomery, Selma, and New Orleans, all the while engaging in prayer, education, and reflection. As we send off our pilgrims in just a few short days, let us pray for their health, safety, and transformation through the journey:

God of All,

As these pilgrims prepare to depart, we ask that you may create space in them.

Open their minds to accept new ideas,

Open their hands to embrace what they experience,

Open their hearts to be transformed by all that they encounter.

Keep these pilgrims safe, O God, and may they return to their homes:

Overflowing with greater understanding,

Overflowing with greater empathy, and

Overflowing with a renewed resolve to work for racial and reparative justice

in our messy and beautiful world.

Amen.

Martha Ligas

martha@futurechurch.org

Just Word Commentary

Just Word

"The Role of Carceral Violence in Repression" with Dwayne David Paul

Today Dwayne David Paul invites us to explore the role of carceral violence in repression, through Jesus’s disciples in the Acts of the Apostles; engage the reality of the carceral state through the U.S. Bishops’ letter on reform, and the proliferation of “cop cities” and criminalizing laws; and embody the parallels between the disciples’ struggles and our own with a contemplation, and the resistance to Atlanta’s Cop City.

"How can people who take prison for granted begin to empathize with the disciples’ fear of Saul? I sometimes wonder if we can begin to appreciate just how fantastical and grave an act of violent imprisonment was in the imagination of the text’s earliest audience. So extraordinary, that the power of God is demonstrated in repeated acquittals and even a couple miraculous jailbreaks (5:18-42; 12:5-17)."

Dwayne David Paul is the cofounder of Religion in Revolt, a digital platform whose mission is to develop and promote the liberation work of faith communities.

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Catholic Women Preach

"Remaining in God's Love" with Lisa Mersereau

Preaching for the Fifth Sunday of Easter, Lisa Mersereau offers a reflection on remaining in God's love from her perspective as a hospice chaplain:

"The stories I hear about how a dying person has maintained a prayer life are as amazing as God is. Many reflect upon how God is with them and how they know God is with them in their final illness. There is an unwavering belief that there’s mutual love flowing between them and God. By Jesus saying, 'Remain in me, as I remain in you,' we can interpret that as, 'Know that love is present to you now and will be forever as I remain in you and you remain in me.' This is one of the many things I have learned at the bedside of my patients."

Lisa Mersereau, CT is a graduate of Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, IL, with a Master of Arts in Pastoral Studies degree. Recently, she became a Certified Thanatologist with the Association for Death Education and Counseling by being certified in Thanatology: Death, Dying, and Bereavement. Lisa is employed at Uni Care Hospice in Escondido, CA as a Chaplain and Bereavement Coordinator and is an active ministry volunteer at Mission Basilica San Diego de Alcala. She happily lives in the San Diego area.

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"Mary Magdalene Goes to the Synod" to Expand the Lectionary

As we head towards the 2024 Synod, help us spread the word that women’s history is Salvation History and should be included in our lectionary by becoming a Mary Magdalene Advocate!

There is a lot at stake for women and for the Church as a whole in the choice of scripture passages we proclaim on Sundays. The ways in which we understand and know God are formed within the liturgy. What we pray and sing, as well as the stories we re-tell in public worship form and shape what we believe about God, ourselves, and our relationship to God and to one another.

Many Catholics do not realize that important stories of our foremothers in faith are excluded from or diminished in our lectionary. Catholics are deprived of learning about the gifts, grace, courage, leadership and ministry of women like Mary Magdalene, Phoebe, Junia, and Shiprah and Puah. Lifting up and telling the stories these faithful women will help Synod participants and all Catholics understand that women were and, should now be, leaders and ministers in our Church.

Press Release

Project Home

Open Letter

Become an Advocate

Upcoming FutureChurch Events

April 30, 2024 | 7:00 PM ET

Mary Magdalene Advocacy- Part I

Become a Mary Magdalene Advocate and join us for our first or three advocacy trainings! Through these sessions, we will learn more ways to raise awareness that too many essential, inspirational stories of our foremothers in faith are not being proclaimed on Sunday or throughout our three-year lectionary cycle. In each session there will be time to ask questions and discuss what we are learning.

Become an Advocate!

May 28, 2024 | 7:00 PM EST

How do Roman Catholic Womenpriests Contribute to Our Understanding of Church?

In their compelling and carefully crafted ethnographic work, Women Called to Catholic Priesthood: From Ecclesial Challenge to Spiritual Renewal (Fortress Press, 2024), Sharon Callahan and Jeanette Rodriguez explore the contexts, calls, journeys, spirituality, and theology of women called to priesthood in the Roman Catholic Church. Join FutureChurch as we welcome Sharon Callahan and Jeanette Rodriguez, whose presentation will focus on how our understanding of Church and Eucharist are expanded and enhanced by the stories and voices of women called to the priesthood.

Our Friends Are Hiring!

Program Director, Mercy Center Burlingame

This role is responsible for the creation, development, and oversight of all program functions, and ensuring quality programming in the tradition of the Sisters of Mercy charism and Mercy Ministry Corporation values. The Program Director will further the mission of Mercy Center Burlingame through program design, implementation, and evaluation while collaborating with current staff to promote retreats and programs.

Learn More/Apply Here.

Executive Director, Centre for Biblical Formation in Jerusalem

CBF, affiliated with Notre Dame de Sion (NDS, Rome), promotes understanding of scripture and interfaith peace. It's focus is: the Bible, the People, and the Land. Responsibilities of the job include: Lead CBF, uphold its values, strategize, manage operations, ensure fundraising, and support staff/volunteers.

Learn more here.

To apply, email Sister Margaret Zdunich at director@biblical-program.com.

Other Opportunities

Teresa of Ávila and Peacemaking in a Nuclear Age: A Contemplative Conversation

July 15-18, 2024 |Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, IN, 46556

Keynote Speakers Include: Mary Frohlich, RSCJ; Mary Ann Hinsdale, IHM; Maria Teresa Morgan; Margie Pfeil; and Lori Stanley. For more information about the event, contact Dan Horan at dhoran@saintmarys.edu.

Young Adult Scholarships Available!
Register Here.

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