February 6th, 2018
I know everywhere we look there is something wearying. I’m not even going to mention any examples. You know what they are and where they are. In spring, summer, and fall, we can bury the discontent and weariness we feel in all the bursts of life and color and activity around us. In winter, we’re…
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February 3rd, 2018
What am I reading this week? Of course, the great novel by Leo Tolstoy. How do I relate it to the data collected about Catholic women that I wrote about two weeks ago? Marriage, Love, and Children, three topics I did not cover then. The 96-page study published by the Center for Applied Research in…
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January 23rd, 2018
Many of my favorite signs at Saturday’s Women’s March had arrows pointing outwards in all directions proclaiming, “I’m with her!” (My only wish was that at least one arrow would have said, “And him!” since I went with my 13 year old grandson and had many men and boys surrounding both of us, too.) A…
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January 20th, 2018
The why: Is it “propitious” or pure chance that this week the National Catholic Reporter and America both feature the results of major surveys about American Catholic women? Are you reading this before or after the march in your community? Are you going as a Catholic feminist? I hope you do. The who: The surveys…
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January 16th, 2018
This may betray my age, but I have to admit, I hated those pussy hats that people wore to the Women’s March last January and probably will wear to the protest this January 20 as well. It’s not, however, as if the organizers did not have good intentions and a powerful message in advocating for…
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January 12th, 2018
It is not my habit to read New York Times obituaries, but my friend Marjorie Jones sent me a link to one with the message, “It seems Mormon women face similar issues.” In what was as much an update on Mormonism than the story of a life, the Times reported that during the approximately ten years…
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January 9th, 2018
I so want to think and write about new birth right now. We’ve just gone through that most glorious season of celebrating it in all its possible meanings. I’m fired up to start anew in envisioning a mesmerizing version of Church, embracing all genders in leadership, in ministry, in priesthood. I want to dream about…
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January 6th, 2018
I woke up on Thursday morning to a white curtain outside my window – swirling snow. After two weeks of unusually cold weather and at least one more to come, we are having a real winter after a rather warm fall. “What is Carmela Apolonio Hernandez and her family thinking today?” I wondered. Carmela went…
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December 30th, 2017
I received the following email in response to my last post (Breaking News: Feminism!!!) from Luis Gutierrez, long-time supporter of women’s ordination: Feminism is a sign of the times. For your consideration: Consubstantial Complementarity of Man and Woman Religious Patriarchy in the Judeo-Christian Tradition It is about making visible the divine feminine in the Incarnate…
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December 26th, 2017
The idea behind “Boxing Day” hit me especially hard this year as I thought of us struggling to gain and keep women’s sacred and secular leadership in our Church. A bit of history about the day may strike you, too, with a certain uneasiness. According to Elaine Lemm writing on a website called The Spruce:…
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