Category: Preaching Equality

We are closing in on the end of Lent. This weekend we will commemorate Palm Sunday. Standing in that crowd, waving my branch, I see firsthand how fickle I am. Just as those who went from Hosana to Crucify Him! And there’s Jesus. Forgive her. She does know what she is doing. Thank you for…
Read more

Thursday, my writing day, I celebrated my eightieth birthday. Without any alcohol but after the presence of dear friends and colleagues, I am feeling very mellow and so will write only briefly. Southeastern Pennsylvania Women’s Ordination Conference has celebrated Ordination Day outside the Cathedral for forty-three years, which is an odd referent to the year…
Read more

[This post was co-written by Matthew Casey-Pariseault and Bernadette Raspante. Incidentally, no artificial intelligence technology was used in the creation of this post.] Father Tavárez sits staring into the bluish glow of his Macbook Pro. It is half-past midnight and the fact that it is now technically Sunday, April 30 adds to the pressure building…
Read more

Holy Week readings in the Catholic Lectionary leave out the story of Mary Magdalene at the empty tomb. Here at WOC, we embrace Mary’s role as the Apostle to the Apostles, the First Evangelist, the first to interact with the Resurrected Christ, the one without whom we’d have no news of the resurrection.  Before the…
Read more

We are gathered in front of my childhood church. The sky is bright blue and the big Sun shines radiantly on us. The yellow building is freshly painted and red flower baskets adorn its corners. The stone-paved courtyard is bustling as people dressed in bright colors of blue, green, purple, and gold, pour in from…
Read more

It seems almost surgical, the excision of women’s ordination from the conversation. This week, when I watched the BBC documentary “The Women Fighting to be Priests” on YouTube, I was thrilled with the stories of two Roman Catholic Women Priests, Fr. Anne and Olga Lucia Alvarez. Then Kate McElwee of WOC calmly presents the Vatican situation,…
Read more

My family’s tabletop nativity set is a hodgepodge of figurines. Some were gifts to my parents for their wedding, others are from both of my grandmothers’ sets, the angel is an ornament that has sentimental value. I have always loved that these pieces don’t match. They are made of different materials and their sizing is…
Read more

As we prepare to get an extra hour’s sleep, let’s rest easy and think about what might happen because of the amazing summary reports of the national and universal synod process. We the laity suddenly have our concerns revealed to all the world. We can whip out these documents as things come up – and…
Read more

It is around this time every year that this question comes, usually from a female or queer student. Some days it is easier to answer that question than others, but the day this question comes is my favorite day. It means that I get to lay the groundwork to tell my students about all of…
Read more

Often, when I prepare dinner for friends or for the family gathered for a special occasion, I become conscious of the sacredness of the meal, especially when it is attentively prepared and genially shared. I also become aware that the spaces in which it is prepared and in which it is served have become sacred.…
Read more