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On this Fourth Sunday of Advent, we are invited to reflect on love. And not just any love – but the very love that God has for us. How do we receive this love? How do we share this love?
As I was scrolling through social media this week, I came across a post that read, “The greatest thing you can do is let people know that they are loved.” At another time, perhaps, I might have just kept scrolling. But something about receiving this seemingly simple message at this moment prompted me to stop and reflect on how I can let people know that they are loved - and not just by me, but by God.
God’s love is the kind of love that tells everyone they are good, beautiful, and worthy. God’s love is the kind of love that draws close to the most vulnerable in world. The kind of love that seeks the liberation of all humanity of course, but especially those who are most oppressed. The kind of love that is willing to stand up for what is right no matter the cost. God’s love is the kind of love that has the power to birth new life where once there was death.
What an awesome call and gift to share that kind of love, to let people know that they are loved in that kind of way! Especially now.
Loving as God loves means embracing the person in front of us and letting them know with our words and actions that they are good, beautiful, and worthy. It means countering messages of hate and intolerance with a robust defense of each person’s value and dignity. It means leaving our comfort and privilege behind to draw close to the vulnerable when they come under attack. It means standing up to forces that seek to put down, to silence, or trample others even when – and perhaps especially when – we’re not threatened personally. And it means trusting that when we do these things, when we love like God loves, God will be with us, seeing us through.
To be sure, loving like God loves is no easy task. It takes bravery. And boldness. And all the help we can get from the Holy Spirit. But it is the call of Christmas.
One resource I often turn to when I’m seeking some bravery, boldness, and inspiration from the Holy Spirit is Catholic Women Preach. There are, of course, challenging, insightful and life-giving messages on the pages of CWP that accompany us on our path of discipleship each week. But one of the gifts of CWP for me is the preacher biography. To date, 412 women from around the globe have participated in CWP – each one of them sharing God’s love in their own way in their own part of the world. They are teachers, ministers, activists, all working to build the Reign of God and to “let people know they are loved.” These women – these witnesses - are a constant reminder to me that to love like God is not just to “talk to the talk” but to “walk the walk.” In fact, this Christmas, we will hear from Sr. Laura Vicuña Pereira Manso who is an Indigenous activist working to protect the Amazon rainforest and serve and defend its people.
As we stand at the threshold of Advent and Christmas and this new year with all of the challenges and opportunities it will surely present, may we all be inspired and emboldened to “let people know they are loved.”
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This Advent, please consider supporting Catholic Women Preach, and all other FutureChurch programs, through our Advent Appeal. Help us create the church we long to see.
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This Advent, our Just Word authors are exploring communities of resistance and preparation as we lean into Advent in uncertain times: The Zapatista Movement, The Poor People's Campaign/ Unión de Vecinos, The Young Lords, and Black Reconstruction communities in the South. Please join us for an Advent of learning and preparation!
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December 22, 2024 | Fourth Sunday of Advent
Today Toivo Asheeke invites us to explore Black Catholics’ leadership and participation in Black emancipation and autonomy in the early Americas; engage the history of Black Catholic militant resistance to slavery; and embody a renewed look at Catholic praxis with the help of Francisco Mendez and the Stono Rebellion.
"In today’s first reading we hear a prophecy fighting for a future of peace and security for people under the throes of empire and oppression. They gain this peace and security through liberation, faith, family, community, armed struggle and self-determination. This same push for liberation and autonomy has been tried time and again throughout history, including by Black Catholics, specifically in the southern United States in the 17th and 18th centuries leading into the Civil War and the abolition of slavery."
Toivo Asheeke is a scholar-activist whose research interests intersect the disciplines of Historical-Sociology, History, and Africana Studies. He focuses on Southern African Liberation struggle history, Black Power Studies, African American Resistance to Enslavement, Haitian Revolution Studies, and Political Economy. His recent book entitled Arming Black Consciousness focuses on exploring hidden fronts of South Africa’s liberation movement through a focus on the Black Consciousness Movement and its return to armed struggle from 1967-1993. His new research project, hinted at here, seeks to trace the contours of a new history and geography of Black struggle in North America through the lens of the Gullah-Geechee Wars (1715-1899). Asheeke comes from a Black Catholic background, his grandmother, Jacqueline Wilson, recently called to glory, was influential to his life path in so many ways. She was the main influence behind him blending academic investigation with committed social justice activism.
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December 25, 2024 | The Nativity of the Lord
Today Elizabeth Gross invites us to explore the tempo of the season with the rejection of a commercialized Christmas; engage the spark of life and creativity in ourselves and reject capitalism with the example of Mary; and embody the ever-present renewal of life with a contemplative exercise.
"We meet today’s liturgy in a reading from the book of Isaiah, promising the coming of the savior. We are told that great rewards will come with him, and that in his coming all of his people shall be redeemed. 'Rewards' and 'redeem' often stir images of wealth, money, and material results. But as we read this passage with fresh eyes we might reflect on a new meaning of these words, given the fact that the savior we contemplate serves the poor of humanity first and foremost. Within the context of our fiat, we are invited to ponder rewards that are not monetary, but are the kind where love and service flourish above all else."
Elizabeth Gross is a cradle Catholic from Flushing, Queens who found her way back to Catholicism as an adult by centering the mystical and contemplative teachings, practices and experiences steeped within the tradition. Her background in yoga and Buddhism also greatly influences her spiritual praxis. Elizabeth teaches and writes about ecofeminism, herbalism, holistic reproductive and sexual healthcare, end of life care, and contemplative spirituality. Her BA is in both Women, Gender and Sexuality Studies and Italian Cultural Studies from SUNY New Paltz. You can learn more about her work at www.selkiemedicinals.com.
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December 22, 2024
Preaching for the Fourth Sunday of Advent, Sarah Simmons, CSJ offers a reflection on stubborn, sustaining hope:
"Mary and Elizabeth’s meeting is the prophetic defiant joy that God is not only among these women, but within these women. They create a space beyond the boxes and are filled with wonder at the miracle of God, the miracle of their bodies that carry stubborn and sustaining hope. Their defiant hope is happening now, among us, within us, if only we are vulnerable and aware enough to notice it. For we are a people of the incarnation, we believe that Christ is within all of us, including you. How do you long to express it?"
Sarah Simmons is a member of the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph and has lived in Chicago for five years. She currently spends her time as a student, chaplain and spiritual director. She is deeply passionate about embodied and creative practices that serve to co-create spaces of belonging and transformation.
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December 25, 2024
Preaching for Christmas, Laura Vicuña Pereira Manso offers a reflection on contemplating the mystery of the Incarnation:
"I invite all of us to be builders of peace, of justice, of respect for diversity and to look at and contemplate the poor and fragile Christ, wrapped in swaddling clothes, in a manger. Let us contemplate the mystery of the Word, fulfilled humanly. God became human so that we could experience God's divinity in our lives."
Laura Vicuña Pereira Manso is a Franciscan Catechist Sisters and Indigenous activist working to protect the Amazon rainforest and serve its people. Born in Porto Velho / Rondônia, on the banks of the Madeira River, Amazon basin, she belongs to the Kariri people and is the daughter of migrant parents. She was an auditor at the 2019 Synod for the Pan-Amazon Region and serves as president of the Ecclesial Conference of the Amazon region (known as CEAMA).
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| Video of the Week: Celebrating Gaudete Sunday & Remembering Lucy Rieger |
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On December 15, 2024, the FutureChurch community gathered online to celebrate Gaudete Sunday – the Third Sunday of Advent – and to remember our friend, Lucy Rieger.
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| January 8, 2025 | 7:00pm ET |
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“The Mystics Would Like a Word” with Shannon Evans
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Is there a Christian spirituality that embraces the entire reality of womanhood? In her new book, The Mystics Would Like a Word, Shannon K. Evans suggests the answer is an emphatic 'yes.'
There is a spirituality that meets us in every part of our lives, developed by the women who came before us. Six mystics—Teresa of Ávila, Margery Kempe, Hildegard of Bingen, Julian of Norwich, Catherine of Siena, and Thérèse of Lisieux—revealed a faith big enough to hold the female experiences of sex and desire, the yearning for bodily autonomy, the challenges of motherhood and identity, as well as life with male authority and—sometimes—violence. These women, self-determining, stubborn, and unapologetically themselves, asked questions in their time that are startlingly prescient today, and fought for women’s experiences to be heard, understood, respected, and recognized as holy.
This event will be followed by a month-long weekly book club where participants can register to participate in discussion and reflection in community with one another. More information coming soon!
Shannon K. Evans is the spirituality and culture editor at the National Catholic Reporter and the author of the books Feminist Prayers for My Daughter: Powerful Petitions for Every Stage of Her Life and Rewilding Motherhood: Your Path to an Empowered Feminine Spirituality.
With interest in ecofeminism, social change and contemplative practice, Shannon leads workshops and retreats across the country that spark curiosity and compassion. She has partnered with the Jesuits of Canada and the U.S. and is a frequent contributor to Franciscan Media.
Having previously lived in Indonesia for two years, Shannon loves to travel, but is happiest at home on the Iowa prairie with her family and beloved chickens.
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| February 12, 2025 | 7:00pm ET |
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“Catholics for the Common Good” with Daryl Grigsby
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Join FutureChurch as we welcome Daryl Grigsby for a conversation on living for the Common Good.
“Why am I still Catholic in light of the clergy abuse crisis, the Church’s teachings about and practices toward women and members of the LGTBQ+ community, the Church’s own complicity in and inadequate response to societal racism, and other scandals and issues?”
Author and commentator Daryl Grigsby set out to answer this question for himself by writing his newest book, Catholics for the Common Good: An Eternal Offering (Paulist Press, 2024). In it, he profiles 36 contemporary Catholics who have worked for justice and human dignity. He features Catholics from diverse national and racial backgrounds; religious, lay, and ordained.
Daryl Grigsby is an author and commentator on contemporary Catholic issues. A retired public works director, he also holds a Master’s Degree in Theology and Pastoral Studies from Seattle University and is a graduate of the Sabbatical Renewal Program at the Jesuit School of Theology of Santa Clara University. He is a board member for Leadership Foundations, which resolves critical urban challenges around the world, and for FutureChurch. Grigsby is the author of In Their Footsteps: Inspirational Reflections on Black History for Every Day of the Year and is a frequent contributor to National Catholic Reporter and Black Catholic Messenger.
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| Other Opportunities and Resources |
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| Resources for Ecumenical Spirituality | January 11-February 1 |10:30am- 12:00pm CT |
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| Weekly Mindfulness Meditation Class (free to FutureChurch members!) |
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Resources for Ecumenical Spirituality will offer a free mindfulness meditation class to FutureChurch members. The class will be led by Mary Jo Meadow, Ph.D. who has taught mindfulness in the USA, Canada, Europe, and Australia since 1987. Mindfulness is a wonderful spiritual practice bringing the deep self-knowledge and self-emptying that mystics say is necessary to know God. It is also widely use to manage pain, stress, and problem emotions. The class will meet weekly from 10:30 to noon central time USA on January 11 through February 1 and can take up to 24 people. Interested people can reply to resecum@msn.com to register or ask questions.
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| Benedictine Sisters of Erie | Erie, PA | June 2025-June 2026 |
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| Benedictine Peacemakers Monastic Immersion- Applications Open! |
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The Benedictine Sisters of Erie invite applicants to the 2025 – 2026 cohort of the Benedictine Peacemakers Monastic Immersion. As an evolution of monastic life, the Benedictine Peacemaker program is a model for approaching personal formation, spiritual community, and good work in the Benedictine spiritual and monastic tradition, with a particular focus on the practice of peacemaking. The monastic immersion year will be filled with spiritual exploration, growth in community, experiential learning, classes, and action within the Erie community. The program is open to women in their early 20s through early 30s. Housing, food, and a stipend are provided, as well as transportation and health insurance if needed. More information can be found at eriebenedictines.org/benedictine-peacemakers. contact Michelle Scully (mscully@eriebenedictines.org) with any questions.
Apply Here.
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| A New Publication by Nancy Sylvester, IHM |
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| Journey-Faith in an Entangled World |
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Do you desire to express your experience of God in ways that reflect your evolving understanding of self, others, and the world? Do you feel that the world is at an impasse yet desire to do something about our future? Journey-Faith in an Entangled World is a good place to start. Using the metaphor of an Art Exhibit, where your words are paint and paper is your canvas, Nancy Sylvester, IHM, invites you to become an active participant with her as she grapples with integrating her faith experience with contemporary insights from theology, philosophy, science, and psychology. Critical to this synthesis is contemplation and its capacity for transformation both of self and of one’s engagement with the world.
Nancy Sylvester, IHM, founded the Institute for Communal Contemplation and Dialogue in 2002. Prior to that she served in elected leadership positions both within her religious congregation, the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) of Monroe, MI., and in the Presidency of the national Leadership Conference of Women Religious (LCWR). She served on the staff of Network, a D.C. based Catholic Social Justice Lobby, for fifteen years, ten years as Executive Director. Nancy is a well-known speaker, writer and process facilitator.
Order Here.
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| A Study on Priestly Callings of Catholic Cisgender and Transgender Women and Gender Non-Conforming Individuals |
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Sullivan Oakley, a doctoral student in clinical psychology at The Wright Institute in Berkeley, California, is currently recruiting participants for a qualitative study exploring experiences of cisgender and transgender women and gender non-conforming individuals who have experienced a calling to Roman Catholic Priesthood. The study aims to amplify the voices of individuals who experience this calling and promote wider visibility, understanding, and dialogue about this experience.
Eligible participants will: Identify as a cisgender or transgender woman or a gender non-conforming (gender queer, non-binary, agender, gender fluid) individual who has experienced a personal call to the Roman Catholic priesthood which they are not eligible to pursue in the institutional Church, be 18 years of age or older, live in the United States, and have fluency in English.
Interviews will last ~90 minutes and participants will receive a $40 gift certificate. If you or anyone you know might be interested, please contact Sullivan at soakley@wi.edu.
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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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