Category: Women’s Ordination

Remember the very first episode of Friends? It’s the origin story of Rachel, who storms out of her near-miss wedding and into a random Manhattan coffeeshop where Monica, Phoebe, Ross, Joey, and Chandler welcome this stranger who’s having second thoughts about getting married. It’s the beginning of a beautiful friendship that goes on for ten…
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The recent papal letter “Querida Amazonia” has left many of us puzzled, disappointed and frustrated in varying degrees as we try to understand what this response – or lack of response – means in both the short and long term. Much has already been written about this and I don’t want to belabor the issue: …
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You have probably heard of Brian D. McLaren, especially if you follow Richard Rohr’s postings.  I had not. But as I started to read more of his writings and consider his ideas as a resource for envisioning a renewed, inclusive, vibrant Church, I found many (although not all) of his overall concepts intriguing and invigorating.…
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Today is the Feast of the Conversion of Saint Paul. Paul is a conflicting figure for many feminist women of faith because his letters have often been used to reinforce gender roles and stereotypes. Be that as it may, today I want to consider what Paul’s conversion story has to offer women fighting for ordination. …
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In his comment about last Saturday’s blog, Luis Gutierrez provided the perfect segue to my discussion of the second La Croix International series – and a new term for me: “equivalence.” He quotes Kari Elisabeth Borrensen: “In fact, no actualisation of gender equivalence is documented in any society before the twentieth-century European welfare states.” There’s…
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As Catholics, we might think that we know all there is to know about Mary. We wouldn’t have Christmas without her, after all. Mary’s backstory is sprinkled throughout the liturgical calendar, from the Immaculate Conception to the Annunciation to the Visitation, culminating on the day when she brings God into the world. Upon reflection, though,…
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Pope Francis’ gift to Catholics this Christmas is his new apostolic letter on the Nativity scene, Admirabile Signum. It is quite moving. Francis says the crèche “never ceases to arouse amazement and wonder” and is “like a living Gospel,” and dives into reflections on the varied elements of these scenes. Among these elements, Francis acknowledges,…
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Today, December 17, we begin the O Antiphons that lead us for the next seven days to the brink of the nativity.  Seven days contemplating different aspects of the Redeemer soon to be celebrated.  Seven different titles, beginning with perhaps the most ancient of all:  Wisdom, Sophia, Sapientia. The traditional Advent hymn, O Come O…
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Last Saturday I wrote about Anglican women and I said they get noticed. The second half of that blog was supposed to be about Roman Catholic women who get noticed, but it was too long. We decided to split it and continue today. I did note that WOC and The Grail, among others, are represented…
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Anglican women get noticed. Is it because they are ordained? La Croix International reports that eight women will represent the Anglican Communion at the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women in New York in March 2020. I am surmising, based on official titles, there are five laywomen, two “reverends,” and one bishop selected…
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