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Weekend Bulletin |
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March 4 & 5, 2023 |
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Blessing of the Week |
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I leaned over to my neighboring exhibitor, Elise, and said, “that one interaction makes the long days of preparation, the chaotic air travel, the jetlag, the hours of standing on these concrete floors all worth it.” As my eyes watered, Elise responded, “It changed something for her… her relationship with the Church, perhaps even her life…”
A young woman – still in high school – had been walking up and down the exhibition hall by herself when she came upon the booth I was staffing. I watched as she stopped - almost in disbelief - forming the words silently on her lips as she read “Catholic Women Preach,” and took in the images of diverse women… Soon her eyes lit up – no longer in disbelief, but in hope – and she stepped in closer to learn more. I delivered my opening pitch: “Our website features different Catholic women from all over the world preaching on the readings for every Sunday of the year.” We had a moving conversation during which she told me about her increasing frustration over the lack of women’s representation and leadership in the Catholic Church, how she longed to see herself reflected in our liturgy and leadership. I showed her the website, the biographies of the all the extraordinary women, and how to navigate the search tool. Catholic Women Preach, it seems, was just the kind of resource she longed for and her excitement was palpable she took out her phone, scanned the QR code to save the site to her home screen and subscribed to the podcast. I gave her a free copy of the Year A book as well as a CWP backpack and pen and she thanked me and continued on her journey – only to return later with family and friends to share her joy with them.
This past week I had the pleasure of teaming with Betty Anne Donnelly to exhibit Catholic Women Preach at the LA Religious Education Congress in Anaheim, California. Betty Anne helped to launch Catholic Women Preach back in 2016, serves as preacher coordinator, and is co-editor of the Orbis series with me. It was our first time there as exhibitors and to be honest I didn’t know what to expect – what kind of welcome we’d receive. But it turned out to be a weekend of blessed encounters just like the one I described above.
We were visited by long-time friends like Orbis Publisher, Robert Ellsberg; Women Deacons expert, Phyllis Zagano; Discerning Deacons Co-Director, Ellie Hidalgo; Catholic Mobilizing Network executive director Krisanne Vaillancourt-Murphy; and Loyola Marymount Professor, Cecilia González-Andrieu, to name a few.
We also made many new friends – teachers who told us about how they use Catholic Women Preach in their classrooms; committed women who lead their parish women’s groups and are looking for new ways to engage and gather; and one young adult minister who gathers a group in her parish to view the CWP video for the week and discuss before they go to Mass together. We also had the opportunity to introduce ourselves and CWP to hundreds of folks who had not yet heard of the project.
I also had the great blessing of meeting – for the first time in person – many FutureChurch members, supporters, and friends, whom I’ve only before seen on our various liturgies and zoom presentations.
Over the course of the weekend, we gave away hundreds of CWP backpacks, pens, and postcards. My heart was particularly filled with joy and hope each time a young girl came to the table to ask - some in English and some in Spanish - for a backpack and proceed to put it on with pride and continue to walk through the exhibit hall, sharing the good news that Catholic women – of all ages - DO preach!
These days, much of my work for FutureChurch and Catholic Women Preach – whether it’s editing video or hosting an online presentation - happens behind a computer screen with headphones on. While our Zoom presentations and liturgies offer great opportunities to be in communion and relationship with folks from all over the world, there’s nothing quite like sharing physical space with like-minded people and I am immensely grateful for and renewed by all these graced encounters this week.
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Co-Director |
Russ Petrus |
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The Just Word
"Awakening to God's Transfiguring Power" with Nia Alvarez-Mapp
With the help of St. Augustine, Nia Alvarez-Mapp invites us to explore God’s call to awaken and find God’s transfiguring power in ourselves; engage Catholic social teaching in Gustavo Gutiérrez’s message of solidarity with the poor and marginalized; and embody these teachings as we interrogate our own hearts and minds, and consider the author’s own art, “Black Boys Enjoy Tea.”
"A part of this work of finding God’s voice in ourselves, or transfiguration, is the art of elevating ourselves. That learning is hard, but we should trust that we can do it. Remember that the struggles for liberation are more freeing than remaining in the oppressive state that has fallen around us."
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
"The Rhythm of the Paschal Journey" with ung Eun Sophia Park, SNJM
Preaching for the Second Sunday of Lent, Jung Eun Sophia Park, SNJM offers a reflection on the "Rhythm of the Paschal Journey":
"We, the people of God, are also invited into the Rhythm of the Paschal journey, which first begins with our receiving blessings, to then become blessings ourselves. We experience these abundant blessings and then encounter the cry of the poor, the lonely, and the oppressed. In this Rhythm of the Paschal journey, we continue to walk into the land that God shows us, as eternally present pilgrims, as a gift to others."
Jung Eun Sophia Park, SNJM, is associate professor at Holy Names University in California. She loves to give retreats, spiritual directions, and workshops in US and other countries. Her academic interests are global justice and spirituality, shamanism, postcolonial feminism, and mysticism. She has written numerous articles and published several books.
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Wednesday, March 8th at 7pm ET |
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Screening and discussion of “The Women Fighting to Be Priests” with guest speaker Fr. Anne Tropeano
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Join us for a screening and discussion of the BBC Documentary, The Women Fighting to Be Priests, with one of the women featured in the film, Fr. Anne Tropeano. Fr. Anne Tropeano is one of over 200 women across the world who are part of the Roman Catholic woman priest movement. Fr. Anne will comment on her own experience and together we will explore wider roles for women in the church.
Father Anne Tropeano was ordained on October 16, 2021 in Albuquerque, NM through the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests. She has a deep love of the Society of Jesus and Ignatian spirituality, which blossomed over twelve years of ministry with Jesuits. She earned a Master of Divinity from Jesuit School of Theology in Berkeley, CA, and has worked in several parishes in the JesuitsWest Province.
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Wednesday, March 15 at 8pm ET
Historian Paul Collins on a Post-Benedict & Post-Pell Church
Both Pope Benedict XVI and Cardinal George Pell exerted enormous influence on the Catholic Church. Will they be remembered for their efforts for reform; their lack of zeal for Vatican II; their treatment of those who dissented; or their efforts to keep women subordinated? How will history remember them? What will be their legacies?
Paul Collins: Born in Melbourne and now living in Canberra, Paul Collins is an historian, broadcaster, and writer. He has a Master’s degree in theology (Th.M.) from Harvard University, and a Doctorate in Philosophy (Ph.D) in history from the Australian National University (ANU), and is a Fellow of Trinity College of Music, London.
In March 2001 he resigned from the active priestly ministry of the Catholic Church after thirty-three years of service due to a doctrinal dispute with the Vatican’s Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith over his book Papal Power (1997).
While he is well known as a commentator on Catholicism and the papacy, he also has a strong interest in environmental and population issues. Nowadays he works as a freelance writer, speaker and broadcaster on environmental issues, social ethics, theology, history and media.
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Thursday, March 23 at 7pm ET
Dr. Nikki Taylor Discusses Her Book, “Driven Toward Madness: The Fugitive Slave Margaret Garner and Tragedy on the Ohio”(2016)
As part of our Women Witnesses for Racial Justice series, please join us as we welcome Dr. Nikki M. Taylor, Professor of History and Chair of the Department as she discusses her book Driven Toward Madness: The Fugitive Slave Margaret Garner and Tragedy on the Ohio (2016).
The focus of her story is Margaret Garner, an enslaved wife and mother who, along with her entire family, escaped from slavery in northern Kentucky in 1856. When their owners 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 book 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.
Dr. Nikki M. Taylor, Ph.D., specializes in 19th century African American History. Her sub-specialties are in Urban, African American Women, and Intellectual History. Educated at the University of Pennsylvania (BA) and Duke University (MA, PhD, Certificate in Women’s Studies), Dr. Taylor has won several fellowships including Fulbright, Social Science Research Council, and Woodrow Wilson. She is also the Principal Investigator of two institutional grants, including the $5 million Mellon Just Futures grant (2021) and the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program Grant (2017). She is currently completing her fourth monograph, “‘Brooding Over Bloody Revenge:’ Enslaved Women, ‘Wild Justice’ and Lethal Resistance to Slavery.” The manuscript examines enslaved women who used lethal violence to resist slavery from the colonial to antebllum eras, challenging all previous interpretations about the nature of their resistance.
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Catholic Church Involvement in Native American Boarding Schools: Learning to Walk the Good Road Toward Healing |
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Presented by the Listening, Learning and Education (LLE) Subcommittee of Catholic Native Boarding School Accountability and Healing Project (AHP).
Monday March 6 | 2:00pm to 3:30pm ET
"Native Boarding Schools: Learning from History to Promote Healing" with Fr. Mike Carson, Assistant Director for Native American Affairs Committee on Multicultural Diversity in the Church, USCCB. Details/Register
Monday March 20 | 2:00pm to 3:30pm ET
"Intergenerational Transmission of Trauma and Resilience in First Nations Communities" with Dr. Amy Bombay, Anishinaabe from Rainy River First Nations. Details/Register
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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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DignityUSA Lenten Reflection Series |
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Wednesdays in Lent at 8pm ET
Join DignityUSA each Wednesday night in Lent starting on February 22, Ash Wednesday, through April 5 to discuss the scripture readings for the upcoming Sunday. Free, but registration is required. Register once to get a reminder each week, and join for a single session or the entire series!
Details/Register
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Lucile Murray Durkin Scholarship For Women Discerning Priestly Ordination |
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This unique scholarship awards $2,200 to women and non-binary persons on their academic and spiritual paths, discerning ordination.
Endowed by Sheila Durkin Dierks and her family, Women's Ordination Conference is honored to celebrate the pioneering legacy of Lucile Murray Durkin.
Learn more and apply at https://www.womensordination.org
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Grant Offered to Small Intentional Eucharistic Communities |
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The John and Roberta Hydar Small Faith Community Award is a financial grant offered to small intentional eucharistic communities who propose an initiative/project which celebrates the lives of John and Roberta and reflects the mission and ministry of CORPUS. Small intentional eucharistic communities have become the oasis for Catholics rooted in the Vatican II principles of justice, equality, and consensus.
Find details and full qualifications as well as an application form at https://www.corpus.org/. Please contact Linda Pinto at corpususa@gmail.com (or 570-491-7306) if you have questions or need clarification.
The deadline for electronic submission of the application is Friday, March 24, 2023
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Scholarship Opportunities for Future Latinx Theologians |
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The University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas, has received a major grant through the Lilly Endowment to empower future Latinx theologians. Scholarships for Masters degrees in Pastoral Ministry are available. Learn more about UIW and this exciting grant, “Haciendo Caminos”(“creating pathways”), providing scholarships and more. For information, write Dr. Javier Clavere clavere@uiwtx.edu College of Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences.
The Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, the founders of the University have deep roots in Mexico and in the Hispanic community in the U.S. Learn about the Sisters and see their recent exhibit INCARNATE WORD SISTERS IN THE BORDERLANDS: ACCOMPANYING OUR TEXAS MEXICAN COMMUNITIES, 1871 – PRESENT.
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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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