Silhouette of pine trees against a purple evening sky

December 3rd, 2019

So Close And Yet…

SO CLOSE AND YET… I guess, the more we read it, we can all be encouraged by Laudato Si. We could even go a step further and be proud. For a change, the Vatican is actually acting like a positive role model. I came across this briefing by Carol Glatz in the Catholic News Service:…
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November 26th, 2019

Grace, Blessing, Thanks and Giving

This Thanksgiving I am especially thankful for all of you, and I am grateful for having a day of gratitude, a day of rest from the challenges, a day to remember and say thank you. Each year, as a mealtime grace, I read a passage from an article by Anne Lamott (Traveling Mercies, Grace Eventually,…
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November 23rd, 2019

Changing the Subject

I am writing this on Thursday, as the focus of the impeachment hearings seems to have shifted from the Ukraine to Russia. La Croix International is shifting the focus, too. Instead of continuing the media frenzy about married priests after the Amazon synod, they are publishing two series: “Female figures in religions” and “Women, the…
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Person in a crowd holding protest sign that says "Wake Up" with an image of the Earth on fire

November 19th, 2019

Prioritizing Our Priorities

The headline in the November 14, 2019 National Catholic Reporter flashed the latest news: Abortion preeminent issue, global warming not urgent, say bishops. Despite so very much to choose from, the declaration that climate change is not urgent and that abortion must take priority particularly fired my outrage. I have to say what young environmental…
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November 16th, 2019

Engaging Allies and Adversaries

I confess that I was more than a little thrilled to grasp the bright blue United Nations ID badge in my hands, for this official recognition of Women’s Ordination Conference into the “Economic and Social Council” (ECOSOC) of the international organization has been a long time coming.  Although WOC has been present at the United…
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November 12th, 2019

“Explosions of Utopian Imagination”

Did you notice the witnesses representing Women’s Ordination Worldwide outside the Amazon Synod last week wore not only purple for gender justice but green for environmental justice?  In fact, to emphasize how connected these two issues are, their banners and chants proclaimed: “Empowered Women will Save the Earth. Empowered Women will Save the Church.”  …
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November 9th, 2019

Canceling

A retreat is an odd mental space. The Core Committee of Southeastern Pennsylvania WOC met all day on September 24 and decided it would be a good idea to attend a presentation by the Director of the Office for the New Evangelization for Archdiocese of Philadelphia, Meghan Cokeley. “What Can We Do? The Role of…
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November 5th, 2019

LEAN… OUT!

Women!  Be more like men. Men, as you were.”  I love this quote from an October 13, 2019 New York Times article by Ruth Whippman titled “Why ‘Lean In’? It’s Time for Men to ‘Lean Out’.”  Not only does it show us what we’re up against, but it shows us an alternate way to proceed…
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November 2nd, 2019

The Perils of Predictions

On October 26, the day of the vote, I posted a blog predicting what the final document that the Synod on the Amazon would say. Ellie Harty, my fellow blogger and editor of SEPA WOC’s Equal wRites, suggested that I write what actually was done “in the room where it happens.” Sorry. That’s my trite…
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October 29th, 2019

Tell Me a New Story

Imagine having this staring at you: Plastered on a huge rear tire on the car in front of you, a huge Tweetie Bird, hands on hips, looking right at you and… scowling! Not too sweet – or “tweet” as Tweetie would say. He was definitely not about to utter his signature “I tought I thaw…
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