Blessing of the Week |
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During the month of July, we invited FutureChurch and Catholic Women Preach supporters to honor the “Mary Magdalene” in their life by making a donation in their name to support the ministry of Catholic Women Preach. And over the course of the month, I was deeply touched and inspired by the emails I received from people who wanted to tell us a little more about their own Mary Magdalene.
One person was inspired to reach out to and reconnect with one of their elementary school teachers, now in the sunset of her life. Another person celebrated the life of a treasured colleague and friend. Still another lifted up someone who modeled love for the Church while also calling it out for its failings and injustices.
People honored their mothers and grandmothers, their aunts and sisters, their daughters and sons, their teachers and mentors, communities of women religious, colleagues and friends. And it was a blessing to learn the names of these women and to pray with them, whether more of their story was shared or not.
For me, these women are the Church - out in the world, spreading the Good News, working for justice and peace, reaching out to the marginalized, and embodying the love of God in a world in desperate need of it.
July was filled with many wonderful celebrations of Mary Magdalene. But there’s no need for the celebration to end just because it's August. Let us continue celebrating all year long by sharing the stories and witnesses of the women in our own lives and histories who have been stood by us, believed in us, shared the Good News with us, embodied God’s love for us.
And perhaps - along the way - we too can be someone's Mary Magdalene.
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Co-Director |
Russ Petrus |
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The Just Word
Writing for the Feast of the Transfiguration, Allison Connelly-Vetter invites us to explore transformation and transfiguration through theological reflection on transgender experiences; engage and combat Catholic Social Teaching that is harmful to trans people; and embody the openness to transformation in all people.
Jesus’s transfiguration is, in a meaningful sense, his “coming out” moment, when he is revealed as the child of God and the possibilities for his future are entirely transformed. Just as trans people experience a variety of responses to their “coming out,” so did Jesus. His disciples and friends were quick to offer hospitality, even respite, after his transformation, just as networks of queer and trans mutual aid offer one another care during and after medical procedures, experiences of harm, gender-based discrimination, internal revelations, and more. At the same time, Jesus’s coming out exposed him to even greater violence from the state, as the ways he trans-gressed the boundaries between human and divine threatened the power of the Empire.
Allison Connelly-Vetter (she/her) holds a Master of Divinity from Union Theological Seminary with an interdisciplinary concentration in disability theology. She is currently working in church communications, faith-based racial justice organizing, and children, youth, & families ministry. She also preaches and teaches on disability theology for religious congregations and institutions around the country. Denominationally, Allison is both Catholic and United Church of Christ. She lives in Minneapolis, MN with her wife, Brooklyn.
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Catholic Women Preach
Preaching for the Feast of the Transfiguration, Julie Vieira, IHM offers a reflection on our own "transfiguration" encounters with God:
"Today on this feast of the Transfiguration, we, the disciples and seekers of today, are likewise called not just to celebrate the revelation of Jesus as Messiah. But we are called to perform our own gut check and to draw courage, energy, and determination from our experience with God. This is no simple “what would Jesus do?” gut check. It means to enter into the sacred presence of God. To walk with God. To engage with God in the unfolding of our lives and in the current realities of our time. And then to let that experience with God inform, encourage, energize – and perhaps even 'transfigure”'our lives."
Julie Vieira, IHM (she/her) is a writer, presenter, and thinker in spirituality with particular attentiveness to living the darkness and light — the poetry and rough prose — of everyday life. She holds a Master of Arts in Theology from St. Michael’s College at the University of Toronto. She currently serves as the director of the Margaret Brennan Institute and as a volunteer crisis counselor for LGBTQ+ youth
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Video of the Week: Synodality |
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Vatican II and Synodality |
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As we journey closer toward the October Assembly of the Synod, we reflect back on previous FutureChurch programs on synodality.
In this four-part series, presented in 2022, Sr. Maureen Sullivan, OP, Ph.D. joins FutureChurch to explore Vatican II documents as the foundation for the 2023 Synod. As we get more familiar with the documents of Vatican II and engage in the synod process, we make the Second Vatican Council a greater reality today.
Dr. Maureen Sullivan is a Dominican Sister of Hope from New York and Professor Emerita of Theology at St. Anselm College in New Hampshire. She received her master of arts in Theology from Manhattan College in the Bronx and her PhD in Theology from Fordham University, also in the Bronx. The Second Vatican Council, along with its impact on our Church, is at the center of her theological research. She has written two books on this topic: 101 Questions and Answers on Vatican II (2002) and The Road to Vatican II: Key Changes in Theology (2007), both published by Paulist Press.
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Tuesday, September 26th at 7pm ET |
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Feminist Prayers for My Daughter with Author, Shannon K. Evans |
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Spiritual language is often male-focused, overlooking the uniquely female experience. Author Shannon K. Evans believes our daughters deserve better.
Join FutureChurch as we welcome Shanon K. Evans, spirituality and culture editor at the National Catholic Reporter, who will present on her newest book.
Evans wrote Feminist Prayers for My Daughter as a gift to mothers and women everywhere. It offers short prayers that affirm the unique challenges and embrace the natural abilities embodied by our daughters, young and old alike. Categories of prayers include embodiment, relationships, wholeness, justice, equality, and milestones. This book encompasses all of life from birth to death while imagining God in ways that resonate with the feminine experience.
For mothers, grandmothers, mentors, and beyond, this prayer book provides a poignant and powerful path to both encounter God personally and seek the well-being of the daughters in our lives. It gives words to a mother's desires for her daughter in the modern world and breathes hope for a church that will give her equal power.
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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WATERmeditation: “Truth and Reconciliation: Religion, Racism, and the Legacy of Sister Thea Bowman” with Cheryl Nichols
September 11, 2023 at 7:30pm ET | Online
Join WATER as Cheryl Nichols offers reflections on racism in religion, especially Roman Catholicism. She will highlight Sr. Thea Bowman’s life and work engage in the ministry of dismantling racist structures, attitudes, and relationships. This will be a springboard for our shared silence followed by conversation. All are welcome. No previous experience in meditation is expected.
Details/Registration
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Sharing Experiences and Building Community: A Retreat for Lesbian/Queer Members of Women’s Religious Congregations
September 14 -17, 2023 | Siena Retreat Center, Racine, WI
Womanjourney Weavings, a project of New Ways Ministry, is setting apart this four-day retreat for lesbian/queer members of women’s religious communities. There will be opportunities for prayer, storytelling, and celebrating the gift of one’s sexual and gender identity. Retreatants will have safe space to share their experiences, concerns, and gifts.
Details/Registration
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Spirit Unbounded
October 8 -14 | Online
‘Human Rights in the Catholic Church’ 8-14 October will tackle those human rights denied to Catholics and the underlying reasons. The hierarchical model is broken. The Spirit is unbounded. Join 'Spirit Unbounded' for an educational opportunity of a life-time and a festival of hope with activists, thinkers, poets, musicians and ordinary Christians from all around the world.
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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