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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Oh dear.  Another year.  Where and how to end the old?  Where and how to begin the new? What more can we possibly say?  What more can we possibly do? I know in my heart the answer is “Plenty!  So get moving!”  I ask, therefore, that the push/pull of Carlo Carretto’s “Letter” below resonate with…
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The feast of Mary, the Mother of God, tempts Pope Francis to begin the year talking about women, not just Mary. I am always fearful that gender stereotypes will take over, but Francis seems to get beyond that by condemning violence against women and then calling for women to be “fully included in decision-making processes.”…
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Charles Dickens’ Christmas Carol is the perfect vehicle in which to travel from Christmas to New Year’s. Past, present, and future haunt Scrooge. Redemption comes because he really sees a child who suffers after a life without charity and justice. Make the journey with me through our own past, present, and future. PAST: the death…
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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 week I wrote about the German synod and women. This week I want to write about synods more generally, inspired by Massimo Faggioli’s article in La Croix International, “Synodality and the abuse crisis: The Church is still stuck in Trent.” But he begins by writing about the First Vatican Council convened in 1869, which…
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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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