Standing With, For, and As the Beloved

[Editor’s Note: This blog post is originally about a Philadelphia-specific action for women’s ordination. To read how you can participate in our worldwide Day of Prayer for Women’s Ordination, no matter your geographic location, scroll to the end!]

On the Sunday of the Baptism of Jesus in which he is told he is God’s beloved, our priest asked all of us: “How do you know you are beloved? What is it in your life that tells you so?”

As we, once again, turn out in prayerful force to Southeastern Pennsylvania WOC’s annual Holy Thursday witness for the ordination of women in the Catholic Church, we turn to these very questions and propose, perhaps, the most significant answer: We know we are beloved because people tell us that we are and they tell us by showing up for us.

Someone called to priesthood, to ministry and denied the fulfillment of that call, may feel at the same time both beloved (because of the call from God) and bereft (because of the reaction of the Church). This year, in our invitation for you to join us in a witness we have been conducting for nearly 40 years, we focus, once again, on what it means to all those excluded just to have us show up for them, and, as importantly, what it might mean – to the future of reform of the church – if, this year, no one came. 

We will persist no matter how long it takes. That is what loving and beloved people do. 

HOLY THURSDAY WITNESS

11 AM on APRIL 1, 2021

Across from the Basilica of Sts. Peter & Paul

18^th Street and Benjamin Franklin Parkway Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

(In consideration of each other during the

pandemic, the witness will be silent.

Please wear a mask and maintain

social distancing but DO JOIN US!)

The upcoming feast of the Annunciation, March 25, is also the 27th anniversary of the World Day of Prayer for Women’s Ordination. This year, our prayer and our message to the hierarchy is inspired by the words of the angel who appears to Mary: “Women Priests? Nothing will be impossible for God” (cf Luke 1:37). 

To mark the day, we commit to communal prayer and collective action. We invite you to:

Pray with us for women’s ordination on March 25 on Facebook live starting at 12pm (ET). RSVP here.

Join a cadre of Twitter activists to send timed “digital greetings” to a select group of bishops throughout the day. Email Kate to receive the schedule and materials to participate. Even if you don’t have a ton of Twitter followers, our collective voice will be heard! #OrdainWomen 

Write to the USCCB Office of Clergy, Consecrated Life and Vocations to express your support for women’s ordination and the urgency of reforming the priesthood to be inclusive, justice-rooted, and accountable. Download our stationery template and instructions, and fill in the rest!

Women continue to receive the call to bear Christ into the world, echoing Mary’s original priestly role. We will pray, and act, until the hierarchy hears with new ears that nothing is impossible for God. 

You can also enjoy our prayer card for the day below!