An Ordination Day Witness for a New Church for a New Day

We are there every year and will be again this Saturday, May 19 at 9:30 a.m. Twelve or more of us. Definitely a minyan.  Apostles in so many ways. Saying our Mass. Led by an ordained woman priest. Outside the Cathedral of Saints Peter & Paul while an “officially ordained” ordination takes place inside.

The Holy Door of Mercy at St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. (Fr. Lawrence Lew, OP)

One year a sign had been posted above one of the cathedral’s giant double doors. “Door of Mercy,” it proclaimed. As soon as we began, however, it slammed shut…and locked. Once again.

But we are undaunted. We want to be there to represent what the inclusion of the ordination of women might mean for creating a new, vibrant church for a new day. In words, and especially in images, we want to proclaim that newness and the possibilities it holds.

Images on so many windows and walls of our ancient, and even contemporary, cathedrals and churches portray women as temptresses or as servants, meek and weak, or as saints, fantastical in their holiness, or as sinners, humbled in their shame. No matter which image, all seem to be somehow figleafing their essential femaleness like Eve after the Fall. Even Mary herself, though definitely honored, is often shown as submissive, inert, silent, accepting. These are the stories we have been told over and over in words and in images throughout the ages.

We want a new church for a new day to have new images, art, and symbols as well as words and so we include some possibilities. Judith Heffernan, M.Div., who presides at our Ordination Day witness each year, for example, tells a different story through the images and art she brings to our outdoor “church.” On the folding table serving as altar are:

• Two crosses, one vibrantly multicolored from Guatamala; one, simple and wooden, donated by an aunt who had helped fund Judy’s ministry
• A simply wrought pottery chalice and plate with both bread and gluten-free rice cake and non-alcoholic juice so that all could feel included
• A purple stole on which was embroidered “Hallelujah” for the ordination of men and women
• A picture of the Last Supper with both men and women at the table
• A stone with “Peace” carved in it and one that just said “Yes”
• Colorful butterflies
• A yellow flowering plant
• A huggable globe ball we could all squeeze in hope for world peace
• A carved figure of the lion laying down with the lamb
• Two pictures, in memorial to beloved advocates for women and for justice
• Multi-colored ribbons expressing our solidarity with women’s ordination worldwide

This is the newness we want to express in our words and in our art of what a new church for a new day might become for all of us.