Friends, this feast today, Corpus Christi, or the Body of Christ, is a wonderful one in that it calls us very clearly, to the heart of the message of our brother Jesus, that each of us, be “bread” for our world.  Our Scripture readings today are all about feeding those who are hungry, giving hospitality, which Joan Chittister says, “is the sacrament of the self—in it we give ourselves away to those who need to rest their burdens for a while”—those who come to our homes, to our shores; we must give the best wine and food, and it isn’t mere food for the body, but for the heart and soul—the food of understanding of what another walks with.

We see this plainly in the gospel today from John.  Jesus not only sees and understands their physical hunger, but knows they are looking for more—to be loved and cared about, to be understood from one perhaps who truly knows the plight of their everyday lives—of how hard they have to work from morning till night to keep food on the table for their families.

And we too think of our brothers and sisters at our southern boarders—no matter the rhetoric out of Washington, these “neighbors” only want what each of us wants; security, food, and a roof over their heads, for themselves and their families.

Many women in our world, many of you here understand the sense of hospitality and care that Joan Chittister speaks of, that sense of giving people a respite from the cares of life. We were trained, growing up, we women, that when family and friends came to visit, we would always give them, “a little something” to eat before they left.

For me, it was my Aunt Eleanor on my mother’s side—I always enjoyed visiting her, because before we could leave, we had to have some, LUNCH, and my Aunt Eleanor was the best at laying out a spread! Not just coffee and cookies, mind you, but sandwiches, and perhaps even a luscious piece of cake with ice cream.  She truly knew how to treat guests.  And it was not just the physical food, but the “food” of friendship and fun!  It was almost too much! This everyday example is really eucharist in our everyday lives.

In the gospel today, we see Jesus doing the same as my Aunt Eleanor.  In this story, as well as throughout the entirely of the gospels, Jesus brings out the best, and is most generous with the gifts—12 baskets left over!

Jesus invited the people of his day to eat his body and drink his blood and upon hearing his invitation, found it confusing. This was because they were looking at his message in a purely physical way—the way our Church hierarchy has for far too long.   How can I eat another’s flesh and drink their blood?  Yet, Jesus said, they and we must do this to have everlasting life.

Surely, Jesus’ words held a deeper meaning—taking the words and actions of Jesus and making them so much a part of us that in fact we “eat” and “drink” them, his body and blood, soul and divinity—all of himself.  When he said, “Eat my body, drink my blood,” which is all of me, my life, flowing through me, my very Spirit, given by my Abba God, he was really saying, “Become like me!”

So we, as his followers, strive for that—to become more like him every day—“eating and drinking” of his words and actions—making them our body and blood, or in the words of the song, “bread for our world!”

And when you think about it, isn’t this what each of us strives for in life? To know when our time here is coming to a close, that we have made a difference, that what we feel is most important in life, that we have cared for ourselves and our families and extended care as well to all those who come into our lives, that our care has indeed extended beyond ourselves and our immediate families—that basically, the world is a better place because we were here—our life, “our blood,” so to speak, our essence has flowed out among those in our world.  I think it is significant that both Sister Joan Chittister and Father Richard Rohr, both in their early 80’s have felt the need at this time in their lives to write, perhaps, “one last book” and in their words, and I paraphrase; they didn’t want to die feeling they had not said, these final, most important words, given them, for our world!

As a final example, let’s look at Jesus’ last supper, indeed a meal of love with his faithful followers and no doubt, men and women were present. What happens there? Jesus breaks bread and pours wine and tells them that whenever they do this, he is there with them.  Just prior to this sharing, Jesus prays a beautiful prayer of love to God asking that God would bless all those given to him (his apostles, disciples and friends) and all who would believe because of their words (that’s us friends!)—he prayed that God would bless us all and keep us safe.

He prayed that they and we would love others as he had loved us and does love us, and we know that within a very short time of this prayer, his body would physically be broken and his blood physically spilled, just as he had so often broken and spilled his body and blood emotionally and spiritually, during the years of his short life— all of it, out of love for us—so that we would get this one message right. When we think of heads of state, of corporations, even religious organizations and what they put into writing about what they feel most important for their members, followers, to be about, none is as simple or eloquent as Jesus’ final testament—“I want you to love, as you have seen me love.”

Think what it would be like in our world if our country extended diplomacy with a bit of love and understanding, trying to see both sides of “the deal” not striving “to be great again,” but for a more humane resolution! Think what our Church Universal would be like if more love and less law was extended!

So, our brother Jesus, with a great deal of emotion—took the elements of the traditional Seder Meal, blessed and broke, poured and shared and raised them to a new level, saying, “When you do this, remember me—that I have loved you and so go out and love others!  If we stop at the single thought of eating his body and drinking his blood; we will be lost and confused like those first believers, hearing those words for the first time. We always need to go deeper where Jesus is concerned.

Many of us remember, as youngsters, learning that if the consecrated bread ever dropped while the priest was distributing it, everything must stop until it was reverently picked up.  Do we likewise stop everything in our world when Jesus’ body is “dropped and broken” through the trafficking of the young, through the sexual abuse of children by those who should be protecting them, through the concentration camps on our southern border, and through the ongoing violence of guns in our society—more guns than people in our United States of America, and we could go on!

I think Jesus used the simple language of eating and drinking to help the people, all of us,  see and understand the greater message he intended to share—simple eating and drinking was and is, the stuff of life, it was about keeping the body and mind, heart and soul together.  If people, all of us, could take in that simple concept of food and drink, giving us life and energy to live, and move it to a higher level, realizing that to begin to live as Jesus’ example to us, to take his actions, his words, his love, and eat of THAT “body” of truth and drink of THAT “life-blood” of goodness, then we would rise above our humanity, and in fact, be more like God.

Today, we are singing, “Let Us Be Bread” for a purpose! We are expected to be “bread” for our world and that “bread” is made up of goodness, mercy, caring, justice, understanding, and love.  And when did we ever live in a time that called for such “bread” more?  From the Vatican to the halls of Washington, calling each of us to let “our hearts break open with love,” as Melinda Gates speaks so well of in her new book, The Moment of Lift. 

When we can try and put ourselves in the shoes of those who don’t know justice in this world—having enough physical food for their families, a roof to cover their heads, being shown the respect that every human being deserves, then, and only then;  would all of this suffering cease! This is truly Jesus’ body and blood!  Amen? Amen!

Dear Friends, 

This weekend we are treated to a fine homily by my colleague and friend, Dick Dahl who subbed for me yesterday as I officiated at a wedding out of town.  Enjoy! Thank you, Dick! –Pastor Kathy

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“God for us, we call you Father. God alongside us, we call you Jesus. God within us, we call you Holy Spirit. You are the eternal mystery that enables, enfolds, and enlivens all things, Even us and even me.” This prayer of Father Richard Rohr’s is one way of being open to God as Trinity. Today’s homily is largely based on his recent two weeks of meditations about God as Trinity.

Although God revealed as Trinity is a central Christian belief, many of us were told we shouldn’t try to understand it because it’s a “mystery.” Fr. Rohr sees mystery not as something you cannot understand; rather, it is something that you can endlessly understand! There is no point at which you can say, “I’ve got it.” There is always more.

This homily’s message is simply this: Jesus revealed God as being all about relationship and connection. Jesus revealed that God is dynamic relationship itself. We hear this in today’s Gospel when at the Last Supper Jesus says, “Everything the Father has is mine…the Spirit will take from what is mine and declare it to you…(in fact) guide you to all truth.” Father, Son and Spirit is all about relationship and connection.

I find it striking that contemporary science, especially Quantum physics, affirms that the foundational nature of reality is relational; everything is in relationship with everything! The mystery of Trinity is embedded as the code in everything that exists. We are part of this dynamic relationship. Therefore this means we all belong. There are no outsiders.

The Trinity opens an amazingly expansive view of reality—all reality. In other words, all creation—galaxies, solar systems, black holes, and wonders beyond our imagining–all reflect the creative presence and signature, as it were, of the Divine relationship. Humans are not independent beings, nor is any part of creation; we all exist in radical relationship—ecosystems, orbits, cycles.

Beneath the ugly manifestations of our present evils–ecological devastation, brutality, indifference to the suffering and desperation of millions, hating each other for their race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, or nationality—beneath all this dis-ease facing humanity right now is a distorted and painful sense of disconnection.

Many feel disconnected from God, from our planet, from each other, and even from themselves. This sense of isolation is plunging our species into increasingly destructive behavior and much mental illness. A dominant feeling described by a growing number of people, especially young people, is loneliness.

Nevertheless, Thupten Jinpa, who was the Dalai Lama’s English interpreter for many years writes, “We are born to connect.” He goes on, “Real life connectedness is the cure for loneliness. Opening our heart to others, caring for others, and allowing our heart to be touched by others’ kindness, living our life in ways that express compassionate care creates strong connections.” In fact he adds, “Our longing for connection, not just with our fellow humans, but with animals, is so deep that it determines our level of happiness.”

So, a sense of disconnection is based on an illusion. Nothing can stop the flow of divine love; we cannot undo this eternal pattern even by our worst sin. Nothing humans can do can stop the relentless outpouring force that Fr. Rohr calls the divine dance. Love does not lose, God does not lose. That’s what it means to be God!

As Trinity, God can be thought of better as a verb than a noun, God is a flow more than a substance, God is an experience more than a deity sitting on a throne. And we live naturally inside that flow of love—if we do not resist it. Infinite love is planted within humans and all of creation.

I repeat, whatever is going on in God is a flow, a radical relatedness, a perfect active communion between Three—a circle dance of love. God is Absolute Friendship. God is not just a dancer; God is the dance itself. This pattern is mirrored in the perpetual orbit of electron, proton, and neutron that creates every atom, which is the substratum of the entire physical universe. Everything is indeed like “the image and likeness of God” (Genesis 1:26-27).

We are intrinsically like the Trinity, living in absolute relatedness. To choose to stand outside of this Flow is the deepest and most obvious meaning of sin. We call the Flow love. We really were made for love, and outside of it we die very quickly.

Father Rohr, writes, “Once we allow the entire universe to become alive for us, we are living in an enchanted world. Nothing is meaningless; nothing can be dismissed. It’s all whirling with the same beauty, the same radiance. In fact, he says, “If I could name the Big Bang in my own language, I’d call it the Great Radiance. The inner radiance of God started radiating at least 13.8 billion years ago. We must realize that we are the continuation of that radiance in our small segment of time on Earth.”

Father Rohr says, “This is nothing I can prove to you. This is nothing I can make logical or rational. It can only be known experientially in the mystery of love when you surrender yourself to it, when you grant a blessed I-Thou relationship to every other thing—a plant, an animal, a single tree, the big blue sky—as Francis of Assisi put it, “Brother Sun, Sister Moon.”

The essence of the Trinity undercuts all dualistic thinking. The contemplative mind sees similarity, connection, and meaning everywhere. We know the Trinity through experiencing the flow itself, which dissolves our sense of disconnection.

With this vision you will live in a fully alive and congenial universe where you can never be lonely again.”

Dear Friends,

Today All Are One Roman Catholic church celebrated our first-ever, First Communion! With the challenge of Pentecost–being filled with Jesus’ Spirit, it seemed appropriate to also be accepting one of our members into fuller participation with us. Being a smaller parish, we were able to individualize this special day for one young man. It was a joy to celebrate with you Liam!  Below, find today’s homily–Pastor Kathy

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Today friends, is a very special day! Our Church remembers it as Pentecost—“pente” from the Greek meaning, “fiftieth.”  Now, I think we can be quite sure that the “coming of the Spirit” didn’t happen exactly fifty days after Easter and when it comes right down to it, whether it was five or fifty days, is not as important as the fact that Jesus did, indeed send his Spirit, a person, a force, his life-blood—to be with those first apostles and disciples and ultimately, us, in a special way, in his physical absence, so that he could indeed say, “I will not leave you alone!”

Today is also special because of the fact that our friend, Liam Darst will receive his first communion in the presence of his family and friends and by doing so, become ever more a part of this community. Liam has prepared for a long time to be ready for today and we are all so happy that this day has finally come!

He and I have been preparing for at least 17 weeks as there are 17 chapters in the book of preparation and it has been even longer as several weeks we had to cancel because of snow storms!–we all remember those days, not so long ago when we could barely find our front doors amid the snow piles!

But alas, spring has come, we are on the cusp of summer and new and abundant life seems to be all around!  Pentecost is really all about new life, beginning back there 50 days ago with Easter and the new life of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead.  Pentecost represents the new life that is possible in each of us through our connection to our brother, Jesus, first in our baptisms and then through our more adult response in our own confirmations, our own reception, or coming of the Spirit into our lives.

The reading today from Acts says that those in the room “were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak as the Spirit enabled them.”  Those of us here who have experienced our own “coming of the Spirit” into our lives have that same power of that first Pentecost which the Spirit gives, to enable us to be our best selves—to speak, to act, to do that which is needed in our world, even when we might have to stand alone to get it done.

We marvel at what we hear in the Scriptures today about what that first Pentecost was like—what these first “receivers” of the Spirit were able to do, but we, my friends, have that same power to do good, if we but choose to use it!

Liam and I spent time talking about what it would be like to receive Jesus in a special way in communion and how this “receiving” would help him to live a better life.  We talked about how God, in Jesus is, with us in a special way, always, living in us, through our parents, our sisters and brothers, our friends and then, in holy communion, in a special way.

We talked about it, trying to understand “how” this can be that Jesus is present to us in this special way, when the bread, we are told, “is his body” and the wine or grape juice, we are told, “is his blood,” yet it still tastes like bread and wine or juice.  So, he thought about it for a while and being inspired by the Spirit, said, “It’s a miracle!”  And Liam, indeed, it is! Where Jesus and his Spirit are concerned, speaking of “miracles” is always the truth!

In the first reading from Acts today; we learned that there were many different nationalities present in Jerusalem on that first Pentecost, speaking in many different languages and each one understood what the apostles had to say about their friend, Jesus, in their own tongue!

Liam and I spent time talking about as he grows and matures; he will understand even more fully how much God loves him—loves us all, and that is why we receive communion when we come to Mass, when we are ready, to have that sense that Jesus is always with us, helping us to be our best selves.

And one day, you Liam, will be old enough to take that next step—to be confirmed in your faith as so many here have already done.  But for now, your first holy communion is enough!

In the reading from Corinthians today, we hear that the Spirit of God gives each one a special gift that we are intended to use for the good of all—the gifts of the Spirit are never intended just for us.

We have probably all been aware of times in our lives when we “spoke” words either orally or in written form for the “good of all” that were profound and we wondered, “where did that come from?” It was the Spirit, my friends, speaking, writing, teaching through us for the good of all.

So Liam that is what you have to look forward to from this day onward, first through your first reception of communion today and later, as you grow, through Jesus’ Spirit.

And in conclusion, I say to you and to each of us, God’s love through Jesus is always there for us, especially through his Spirit.  Remember Liam, we talked about a way to understand “spirit” is to think about all that makes up who each of us is—all that makes us unique.  There is no one like you Liam, in this entire world,  and who you are is what our God wants you to share with this world, in whatever ways you choose to do that.  The same is true for all of us!  And Jesus gives us our “marching” words, so to speak in today’s gospel, “Peace be with you!”—and in case, we didn’t get it the first time, Jesus says it again, “Peace be with you!”

Liam, my friend, and to each of us today, we will always know if we are doing the right thing if the overall feeling we are experiencing is, peace.  Blessings on you especially today, Liam and on all of us!  Amen? Amen!

My friends, we are coming to the end of the Easter Season with today and concluding next Sunday with Pentecost—the coming of the Spirit among us! This past Thursday, the Church remembered the day that Jesus was with the apostles one moment and then suddenly wasn’t with them, at least physically.

He told them and us that he would never leave us, so we knew that he certainly meant more than physical presence.  A close look at Jesus’ life and words tells us that his message to those first apostles, disciples and ultimately to us, was always “loaded,” so to speak, with more than meets the eye.  The above example of his being with them and then physically leaving them along with his additional message that, in fact, he would be with them always, is a case in point—many layers and ways to understand what he has said.  The parables are other examples of this.

I believe our Church would be stronger and more meaningful to more people if the hierarchy remembered this—Jesus’ ultimate message, the one he truly wants us to get, isn’t on the surface, alone, but goes much deeper.

In deference to Ascension Thursday, celebrated this past week; I looked up the list of holy days within the Catholic church that are still considered, “days of obligatory Mass attendance,” being that we don’t usually meet for Mass on these days and I found an interesting thing.

Most years the Church considers, besides each Sunday, six days that are days of obligation to attend Mass.  Those days are: January 1, the Solemnity of Mary—this is a feast to Mary, our mother and sister that apparently is about “being serious and dignified.”  I think we might do better to say, this is a feast to remember that Mary was one of us and did a wonderful job of it! “Solemnity” seems to speak of putting someone on a pedestal, out of sight and mind.

Moving on, we have the Ascension of Jesus, usually celebrated 40 days after Easter—which the Church remembered this last Thursday. This one too should have its name changed—where is Jesus ascending to? For a long time now the “three tiers” idea of our universe; heaven, earth and hell has been dispelled with—probably since astronauts have gone further and further into space and haven’t run into heaven yet! Although, on a larger plane, what these same astronauts have discovered out beyond the earth could be said to be quite “heavenly.”

Next, we have the Assumption of Mary, body and soul into heaven—again we have the notion that she is going up somewhere. This feast day grew out of the notion that because she carried the Christ Child in her womb, we couldn’t just let that precious body rot in the ground. Here again, the Church misses the point of our loving God choosing to be one with us, in our humanity. Humanity thus, is a good thing, not something we need to belittle and thus, the gift our God has given us.

Then, comes November 1, All Saints Day, which is a good one in that it remembers that all of us, are of God.

Next, we have the Immaculate Conception celebrated on December 8 and in my opinion, this is a feast that the Church really needs to lose because of the wrong-headed theology it demonstrates. If Mary was truly conceived without sin—or in other words, perfect, then she wasn’t human, which by definition means, “imperfect,” thus, there goes Jesus’ humanity.

We conclude with Christmas, December 25—God with us!  But, and this seems to be important, if January 1, August 15 and November 1 fall in any calendar year, on a Saturday or a Monday, there is no obligation to attend Mass because, I guess, the Sunday obligation “spills over” in either direction and “covers us.”  Certainly, folks are encouraged to attend Mass, but no penalty of “sin” if you don’t! Sounds kind of anal to me!

Now, you might be wondering why Christmas, the Ascension and December 8 aren’t included here.  Well, the Ascension always falls on a Thursday, and the Sunday obligation can’t stretch that far, I guess, so it has to be a holy day, Christmas is always a holy day no matter what day if falls on as well as December 8. Now, why December 8 is always a holy day, I can’t tell and besides; I have already said that we should lose this one!

And why then, if Christmas is a holy day, is not Easter? Well, Easter is always on a Sunday, so that is covered too! Double anal!!

This all makes me think of Jesus railing at the Pharisees for “tying people up in knots” with over 600 rules and regulations for daily living, as he tried instead to get them back to the “heart” of the law, instead of the “letter” of the law.

So, why am I picking on the hierarchy here?! Precisely for the same reason that Jesus picked on the Pharisees and the other hierarchy of his time—he wanted them to get beyond rules, which are merely meant to control people and get to the heart of the law, meant to set people free to be their very best selves.  Love God, and love your neighbor as you would want to be loved and appreciated—that’s it and if you do that, there is no need for days of obligation. Completing days of obligation is really the easier thing to do, rather than being about, “loving God and others.”  I have known people in my life who have kept all the rules, except the one to show love and mercy.

This whole Easter Season, in its readings, set up by people more gifted than the “rule makers,” is intended to help us see the glory of God made visible to us through the life, death and resurrection of the human and divine, Jesus of Nazareth.

We know that his life, death and resurrection singled him out from among humans because people were drawn to him through his words, his actions and something very special they saw within him.  Even those who had never seen him in the flesh, or heard his words, like Stephen in the Acts’ reading today, and was stoned to death rather than be silent about this man who had so captivated his life.  The apostle to the Gentiles, Paul, once known as Saul holding the garments of those who persecuted Stephen, became the greatest evangelizer of Jesus, sight unseen, that the world has ever known—granted he did have the “throwing off the horse” experience!

The message from Revelation today is a simple one too, “I am coming soon” and again we know that this has many layers of meaning.  The reading from John is from the beautiful 17^th chapter that speaks so intimately of our God’s desire to be “one with us”—the very chapter where the name of our parish is taken from.  The Incarnation, in its very best sense was all about this—to be one with us as Jesus was and is one with the Creator.  Nothing here about keeping laws, rules, obligations—6 or 600!

Just love, love God, love each other. That was what was missing in Jesus’ time—the hierarchy of his time was into pressing the people with obligations and they, as my dear mother, through marriage, always used to say, “had forgotten the love.”

So, my friends, that is why I pick on the hierarchy as Jesus did in his time—to challenge them and us to remember the love—that is the only obligation we must ever keep—to remember the parables, the teachings and the wisdom of our brother Jesus—all about love.   Amen? Amen!

Friends, it would seem that in the reading today from Acts; we have one of the first tests of “law over love,” and actually, quite a narrow view of what Jesus had in mind for his fledgling community of followers.  A close read of the Scriptures will show us that our brother, Jesus, always checked his responses against what was the most loving thing to do and ignored any law that was absent of love.  No wonder he got into trouble!

Proceeding to the second reading from Revelation, we see a vision of a new heaven and a new earth that speaks distinctly to this broader “law”—love first!  I had to marvel on the imagery of “wall” and “temple,” “sun” and “moon” and the expansiveness of these images—walls with doors, 12 of them and names on the doors!—a true sense of welcome!

Compare that to the wall that the U.S. president wants to construct—an edifice to keep people out.  Perhaps if there was more of the “light of the Spirit,” which truly is the life of all of us in God’s creation, this proposed “wall” could become a “door” of welcome.

This past couple of weeks; there has been much written on the question of opening the diaconate to women within our official Catholic church.  First there was Pope Francis’ conclusion, after listening to his commission looking at the issue for the past three years, that it can’t be done because the research is “indefinite,” when in all truth, there is more than ample proof that women served in this role, the same as men did, in the earlier days of the Church.

Paul, in his letter to the Romans mentions “Deacon Phoebe” as well as catacomb images of women serving as “table ministers.” In St. Paul’s Outside the Walls, a lineup of women ministers is depicted, some with the title of “presbytera,” meaning “priest,” and another with the title of “Episcopa,” meaning, “bishop.”

In a recent response to Francis’ conclusion that women cannot serve as deacons now, Jaimie Mason, National Catholic Reporter (NCR) columnist penned an article entitled, “Why Does Francis’ Passion for Justice and Unity Stop Short of Women?” I would like to share several of her key ideas here as I think she has said well the truth of our institutional church at present.

As she points out, this latest episode is yet another example of the Catholic church’s perpetuating and justifying notions of gender inequality that are the root of women’s suffering globally.”  Wow, that is quite a mouthful!

Let’s be clear on what she is saying here.  Because the Church hierarchy is treating women as non-equals to themselves and all other men, not worthy or acceptable for table or any other sort of priestly ministry; they do, in effect give the rest of the world (globally) permission, whether in Church of State, to do the same!

In reality, this looks like, no real positions of power or influence to change policy, no real consideration of their true needs, and we see that played out in all the current discussion around abortion, unequal pay for equal work and we could go on.

Jaimie Mason continues, “It is incomprehensible that Pope Francis and the hierarchy continue to blame God for [their] long history of sinful misogyny into the 21^st Century. Francis’ boundless energy and dedication to peace and justice stands in stark contrast to the dithering way he is handling the question of women deacons in his own Church,” she says.

“His passionate cause for unity among churches and with people of other faiths, it seems, stops short of the women of his own church who are asking simply for more inclusive ways to serve.

Another writer for the NCR, Joshua McElwee, recently said, “Sadly, patriarchs still seem to dominate Francis’ religious imagination—it is interesting to note that in the same news conference on women deacons, the pope also reflected on the richness of his meeting with the Bulgarian Orthodox Patriarch.”

Francis seems in every other instance where “women” are not the issue, to be open-minded.  In a response to people who don’t agree with his stance on women deacons, Mason has given us his response, “If you don’t like it, you are welcome to leave the Church!”   Think of this, reflecting on our brother Jesus, responding to the fact that all, (women, the poor, the sick) weren’t welcome at the temple. Jesus took the meal and the worship to the hillsides where everyone was welcome!

This apparently close-minded view of Francis, Mason says, comes from a papacy “not known” for “splitting theological hairs” except where women are concerned.  In 2013, she continues, he acknowledged that many people see the Church as a “relic of the past” and a “prisoner of its own rigid formulas.” Additionally, in 2015 the pope told the bishops at the Synod on the Family, “the Church should not be a stuffy “museum of memories; but have the courage to change if that was what God wants.”  Indeed Francis!

And last year, the final document of the Synod on Youth called the inclusion of women in the Church’s decision-making structures a “duty of justice” that requires a “courageous cultural conversion.”

Instead, Francis has communicated like so many popes before him that women’s legacy of leadership requires further questioning and their participation in ministry alongside men could be a dangerous step and therefore must be indefinitely stalled.  Jaimie Mason says, [it is] “becoming clearer and clearer that the pope is afraid of women in his church having even the modicum of sacramental participation that the diaconate would give them.”

She concludes, “in his six years of papacy Francis has been celebrated for his constant calls for courage, encounter, dialogue and risk-taking.  How long, Mason asks before he offers the same regarding women?”

I began this homily speaking about love versus law—this is a notion that we must all keep in mind when grappling with these tough issues—is love being served and if not, our action is not of God.  Jesus in John’s gospel selection for today lets us know how we can be sure that we are making the best choice—we should have and know “peace” in our hearts.  Granted, this will not be an easy peace, but beneath the possible ridicule that doing the loving thing might bring, peace will be there—that sense that we have done the right thing.  Amen? Amen!