My friends, if you were looking for a place in Scripture where our brother, Jesus presented himself in less than his best way, this gospel passage would be it!  I think we all cringed a bit, especially we women, at the unkindness and down-right rudeness with which Jesus spoke to the Canaanite woman.  The apostles are no better telling Jesus “to get rid of her!”

Jesus of course, along with the apostles, is showing his true humanity here—his imperfect nature and this woman, in the best of her humanity challenges him to basically, “Stand up and fly right!” Probably a strong reason for our Church to share leadership and ministerial roles with women—providing a “check and balance” for each other. 

That having been said, we need to consider all that is back of Jesus words, to make sense of what he is saying and why.  The Canaanite people were looked down on by the Israelites because they wanted to keep their land holy and being that the Canaanites didn’t believe in the Jewish God, they thought they should have nothing to do with them. Reminds me of pre-Vatican II times when we Catholics were to have nothing to do with Protestants. (:

In addition, there were gender issues to deal with—a male didn’t speak to a woman in public.  Both of these issues were ones that Jesus would have grown up believing, as a “good” Jew.  Still, it doesn’t excuse his purely, less than perfect, human behavior.  Now, this might be disconcerting to some who have an image of Jesus always being perfect—showing us the way, as it were. 

Scripture scholar, Diane Bergant has this to say: “If we don’t accept Jesus’ at times, shortcomings—than that minimizes the extraordinariness of those of his actions that break through the limitations of his culture, his humanity.  Being completely human, Jesus became a man of his own limited time and culture—but at the same time, he was open enough to break out of that limitation.”

For my part, it gives me a great deal of hope to know that as I strive to walk in Jesus’ footsteps, I have someone who struggled with the same limitations as I do, but almost always rose above them to be his best self.  It is worth noting that each of us is also filled with the same divine nature as Jesus was, and it is all about “choosing” that, “better,” while often, “harder” part, to do in our Christian lives. 

So, let’s turn to the other Scriptures to get a unified sense of the full message for today.  In looking over all three, I see a “justice coupled with mercy” theme.  It’s evident in the already discussed passage from Matthew that a merciful heart will do justice in our world as portrayed through Jesus’ encounter with the Canaanite woman.  Isaiah the prophet, in the 1^st reading is basically telling those in his time, before Jesus, “to do what is right—[to] work for justice.”  Jesus of course, being a good Jew, would have most likely been aware of, and “written these words on his heart,” so to speak. 

Isaiah speaks about “foreigners” coming into the fold, about keeping the “God-given” covenant.  I would suspect that this command to be “inclusive” rose to the forefront for Jesus when the Canaanite woman challenged him to the same.

And finally, Paul’s letter to the Romans, berating the Jews for not following Jesus’ message of love, which includes seeing a bigger picture than the black and white rules that they were accustomed to following, to show mercy to those seeking a better way, not condemnation. 

So, my friends, in the end, following Jesus calls for more than small-minded responses.  As noted above, the apostles’ response to Jesus, “Get rid of her,” simply will not do!  All the “life” issues, birth to death, “the seamless garment” as spoken of 50 years ago by Joseph Cardinal Bernardin in Chicago, must be considered.

• Advocating alone for life-in-the-womb, simply will not do! 
•  Caring for babies once here through good housing, food, and education—support for families, social programs that assist and support parents to be good parents. 
• When life doesn’t go as individuals would hope and incarceration may be needed, assisting our sisters and brothers, so confined, to become their best selves through appropriate programming.  With Winona’s new jail planned to open in October, just this type of programming as opposed to the “warehousing” of people is being considered. 
• And for those considered, “the worst among us” 27 states within our country still use the death penalty. For me, it seems that no one is helped in this regard, besides the fact that many more people of color are on death-row with many, over the years, proven to be innocent. 

It would seem that for those of us serious about following Jesus, the less than good measures, simply will not do.  So, my friends, as today we celebrate 15 years as a parish, trying to respond to our world as our best selves, remembering those dear ones who have gone before us who have shown us the way, there are no easy answers to the multi-layered, complex questions that I have laid out here today, but we, like Jesus, have it in us, to be our best.  Amen? Amen!

My friends, I have always loved the 1^st reading today from Kings where Elijah goes looking to find God.  It is important for us to remember that people in Elijah’s time believed that God could and would be found on a mountain.  Even the gospel today shows Jesus, “going up on a mountain to pray.” 

   The part that I love is that Elijah doesn’t find God in the powers of nature—wind, earthquake, or fire—but in, “a gentle whisper.”  It would seem that Jesus had this sense too, that he would find God, his Abba, not in noise, but in silence, sending the apostles away. 

   So, it would seem that “our finding God” too, will not be so much about a “place,” but perhaps, a “condition,” maybe even a “frame of mind.”  Let me explain:
   For all intents and purposes, those of us who lived prior to the Second Vatican Council were taught basically, that to “find” God, and perhaps be alone with God, we too needed to go to “a mountain.”  Our “mountain” of course was the church, “where Jesus lived.”  I can remember as a young girl, attending Cathedral Grade School in Winona, slipping into the church, during recess on the playground adjacent to the church, “to make a visit,” and at special times when the Eucharist was exposed, making a visit was of even more importance.  And I am sure that during those visits, that I and others made, we did encounter God (Jesus) in the silence.

   The Second Vatican Council called each of us to go deeper—encouraging us to not only look for Jesus in the bread of the altar, but in fact, in each other—both, and.  Now, in order to do this, we must necessarily reconsider why Jesus was incarnated among us. 

   If we hold onto the old theology of a vindictive God who needed to be appeased for the sinfulness of humanity and that Jesus became that appeasement, then our faith is simply about a human/God figure, “who took the fall for us!”  Additionally, we were never taught to use the intelligence that God gifted us with to truly think about what kind of God would ask such a sacrifice.  For my part, I would rather wrap my heart and mind around the God portrayed by Jesus in the stories of the Prodigal and the Good Shepherd.

   Pope John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council called us to “open some windows and let in some fresh air” –move out from Eucharistic Adoration to the much more tangible and understandable image of God in humanity, in all of creation—praising God there.  Or as Paul says today to the Romans— “Blessed forever be God who is over all,” and we might add, in all, as Paul connects Jesus, as Messiah to “human ancestry” and to his (Paul’s) people. 

   So friends, at face value, it might appear easier to praise and thank God in the Eucharist and in Adoration, but it simply doesn’t get the work done in our world that the psalmist points to today, “Adonai, justice will march before you” [!]

   I believe the Eucharist was always meant to be simply, the starting place, where we can hear, Elijah’s “gentle whisper[ing] God.”  It is the place where we can gain the strength, to not, “be afraid,” as was Peter in today’s gospel—to have, “more faith” than he had, and not “doubt,” but believe that we can do what we are called to by our brother, Jesus, to basically, get out of the boat! 

   Now, that having been said, I need to add that it is perfectly normal and human, to be afraid, and to doubt.  That is why we see many times in Jesus’ life, working with his apostles and disciples, that he gives them chance after chance to try again to get it right.  This is called “love” in its best sense.  Jesus, in his humanity knew fear and doubt too, asking his Abba, in the garden—if it was possible, could all that was coming next be taken from him. 

   Scripture tells us, in the end, he did find the strength needed to conquer death, and all evil by submitting to death and thereby bringing himself and us to a new life.  Do we fully understand this? No, but by his example, he showed us what we are capable of. 

   And with that, I offer us all an opportunity to share our good lives with others in our community.  Justin Green, deacon at St. Stanislaus Catholic church here in Winona, has invited any and all who may be interested to be part of a group of volunteers for the new jail intended for opening in October of this year.  Justin and others advocating over the years for a jail that would not just “warehouse” individuals, but indeed help them to grow and become productive members of our community after their release, have as well advocated for programs that would assist this endeavor. 

   If any of you would have an interest in helping in this way, I can supply you with a volunteer form. I can’t tell you what your volunteering would involve, but I would assume you would be able to help where you feel comfortable.

   I have been taking this request to my time with God, listening for Elijah’s “gentle, whisper[ing] God,” and I would invite you to do the same.  Amen? Amen!

P.S. If you answer “no” to the above request, you could respond as one man did in a report from Steve Hartman in his Friday night, “On the Road” series.  When asked why he helped out an old high school friend, realize a dream that was now out of his control due to a diagnosis of ALS at 56 years of age, simply said, and I paraphrase, it’s just about “doing good stuff.”  It would seem that is what each of us should be about—every day.

My friends, through this Sunday’s scriptures, in the words of the prophets, Isaiah, Jesus, and Paul, we are assured of God’s love for each of us. Let’s take a look.

   Isaiah speaks of God’s love this way: Come to me, all who are thirsty and poor basically, and I will care for you. Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans that, “Nothing [I repeat, nothing] can separate us from the love of God in Jesus,” [the Christ].  And Matthew tells us in today’s gospel that, “Jesus’ heart was moved” [with pity].  Even the psalmist reminds us that our God is gracious (kind) and merciful.

   Therefore my friends, there should be no doubt that we are loved and cared for by our God. And our God lets us know of this love through all the people who come into our personal lives who do us “good” by their mere presence in our lives.  When I pray with others, I often remind them of our God’s love for them, especially in times of trouble, when it is harder to believe that God is indeed near. I pray with hope that they will know of God’s love by all the good things—good people who show up, in their need.  We must remember that for the most part, none of us gets to see God in this life—but we do see each other and it is only there, again for the most part that we will experience God’s love. 

     Let’s turn then to our present day and see and be challenged by what we find there, applying today’s scriptures as we go. 

• I find myself being heart-broken once again as the daily news in Winona carries more of the incredibly sad story of Madeline Kingsbury and of how she, as so many other victims of domestic abuse and violence find it often impossible to get away from those who would hurt them.
• This week, the news recorded yet another death of a black brother by police here in Minnesota.  These events are incredibly sad because whether the taking of that life can be justified or not, it will always be looked at by the black community as unjust because of the racism that lies at the roots of our country that we want to think of, as “great.”  And I say that “racism lies at the roots” because of the statistics that show (as in COVID outbreaks and deaths), that there is more illness, more poverty, and more lack of opportunity in communities of color than anywhere else. 
• The news of this past week also lets us know that the shooter of 12 individuals in a Jewish synagogue several years back will probably suffer the death penalty for his crimes.  The trial uncovered many incredibly sad facts about this shooter who apparently had a horrendous upbringing, suffered from schizophrenia, and hated Jews.  Added to these horrible facts, he was able to purchase lethal weapons to end the lives of those he hated. 

   So, my friends, how do we apply the compassionate and over-the-top love of our God to the above? Our brother Jesus, in response to his apostles’ concern that he send the people away, “to find food,” said, “You give them something to eat.” 

   Now, we know that Jesus always meant more than he actually said—or, in other words, his intent was that hearers of his words do not take literally what he said, alone, but always go deeper, meaning that, “giving them something to eat, might not necessarily mean “physical” hunger alone. People are “hungry” for physical food, yes, but also emotional and spiritual food too—being accepted, listened to—loved.

   We have to imagine that someone who hates others to the point of taking their lives has to have been abused too along the way— “nothing comes from nothing,” a movie line says. 

   With regard to the physical feeding of many with very little, spoken of in the gospel today; there have been those writing about this event who have suggested that Jesus brought forth enough bread to feed the multitudes by encouraging everyone present to share with a neighbor, and thus having enough to feed everyone.

   And when you think about it, isn’t this what the Eucharist is really all about? –becoming the “Bread of Life” for others –meeting the physical, emotional, and spiritual hungers that we find in our world.  What we share at this table—we are challenged and encouraged to go out and share with others—this is just the beginning. 

   Another news item this week was a report from Cindy McCain, executive director of the World Food Program (WFP), stating that some areas of our world that depend on regular food assistance will have their allotments decreased because funds are running low.  It would seem that each of us who lives comfortably in our world should, likewise, as was said of our brother Jesus in today’s gospel, [be] “moved with pity.” 

   The problem, we all know, with physically feeding the hungry, is just meeting an emergency, without solving the need to feed oneself—on-going. WFP does sponsor programs to help people do just that—feed themselves and are therefore good to support.

   So my friends, when we hear the words of scripture that speak to the love of God for each of us and within each of us—freely given, with the expectation that we would, pay it forward to others, we must try to get at the root causes for pain and suffering in our world, doing all we can to support initiatives and people that make life better, healthier for all from birth to death. 

   No small challenge, but one we can bring about by keeping our eyes on Jesus and living accordingly. Amen? Amen!

My friends, our Christian lives, attempting to walk in our brother, Jesus’ footsteps, is all about walking in love.  In order to do that, we must start with our “hearts,” not our “heads.”  Each of us, for the most part, was born into, baptized, and raised within the Catholic church.  Along with that came a set of rules and regulations that we were expected to follow as a way to show that we were being “good” Catholics. 

   Now, most of us, through our growing years, were content to follow the rules, along with the help of parents—taking us to Sunday Mass, receiving the sacraments, (6 for girls, 7 for boys) and through teachers, and other significant people serving as role models for “good” behavior.  Much of this was about what we might call, “black and white” living—do this, don’t do that, and then we were assured of God’s pleasure with us, and a place at God’s side one day. 

   Then, along came the Second Vatican Council—probably the most significant, religious, and Christian happening in any of our Catholic lives, whether we knew it or not!  Why do I say this?  Well, for the first time in nearly the entirety of Christianity , we were being asked, once again, to truly live out what, in fact, we said we believed! 

   It was no longer enough to simply follow the rules of the Catholic church, to be a good Christian.  Following John XXIII’s lead, we were encouraged, “to open some windows, and let in some fresh air.”  We quickly began to see that, “this opening” –breathing fresh air, would no longer allow us as Catholics, to set ourselves on top of the religious pile, so to speak, deny other faith traditions access, because they weren’t like us, nor refuse to talk with, or listen to others that we thought might contaminate us. 

   John the XXIII always encouraged talking, and listening to others who thought differently, to find God’s Spirit within the words.  And we know there was significant push-back to these revolutionary ideas, as the 28-year pontificate of John Paul II was all about, “closing down the windows,” stifling the “fresh air.”

   Ever since Vatican II, there has been the push and pull between Catholics wanting us to be more inclusive, as Jesus taught, and mostly, hierarchical folks, “leading” –pulling us backward.  The United States Catholic Conference of Bishops (USCCB) is doing, or trying to do, this at present, with our own bishop, Robert Barron, one of its main leaders. At the same time, our pope, Francis is attempting to lead our Church to more inclusivity through a Synod on Synodality coming up in 2024.

   When our church, All Are One, formed 15 years ago, we advertised our Spirit-led desire to be a Vatican II parish where everyone would be welcome at our table of celebration.  Earlier I spoke of the “push and pull” within our Church over time, to be a nice, neat, religious entity, through established rules and regulations that make parishes easier to control, and an entity that is ever-changing, as needed, through a Spirit that is “continually renewing the face of the earth.”  Scripture says this, by the way! -Psalm 104

   Such an entity will, and must, be open to all who are called, women and men, to serve as priestly leaders, must be open to all the beautiful ways that God created humankind, and in as many as 7 distinct genders and maybe more, and all the ways each is called to love in our world. 

   Let’s look to our Scriptures for today to see if we can come to a clearer focus on all of this. The Old Testament reading from 1^st Kings shows us a good and just man, Solomon, who is concerned about ruling a people well, “that he can’t even count.”  Now, from his position of power, he might, in prayer, ask God for just about anything, for himself, for his betterment, but we see, instead, that he asks God “for an understanding heart to judge [God’s] people and discern between right and wrong.” 

   We should notice that Solomon doesn’t claim “the people” to be “his own,” but God’s.  I believe we could say, in this light, that Solomon sees himself as God’s “servant.”  Scripture tells us that, “God was pleased with Solomon’s request,” because it was other-centered. 

   This bit of Scripture reminds me of our sister, Mary Paszkiewicz and who she has been through the years, but especially now, as she was being asked to make a move—from her hometown here in Winona to Madison, WI where family will be closer to give her more regular care.  Mary’s response has always been, “to see whatever happens as what God is asking of her now.” Being able to see things in this light has truly made Mary the happy and delightful person that so many know and love. 

   Paul, in his letter to the Romans says, “We know that God makes all things work together for those who love God…”  In Matthew’s gospel, Jesus talks about the “kin-dom of heaven,” and what that might be like, “a pearl of great price, a treasure in a field, a dragnet thrown into the sea.”  We are asked to consider what are “the pearls, and the treasures” we seek after in life—how much are we willing to give to have these treasures? Are our “pearls” about family, material goods, power, prestige, or something else?  Maybe we are at a point in our life that we can let go of “some” of what we have been clinging to. 

   We saw that Solomon was at a point in life where he could do this, in a position of power, with the welfare of a whole people, able to ask that he could have the strength and wisdom “to lead them well, and this was who he then became. 

   I think of so many in our Congress and our United States vying for power and control at present, and it seems that they, and all of us would be better off if their prayers too, were about serving our country well.  Also, I think about so many in our Congress today who claim to be Christian, yet seldom seem to show it through their actions.  The simple, yet seemingly hard action for many, of, working across the aisle, so that while not getting everything you want, you and they might all get something. 

   This kind of living and working in our diverse world truly calls for the hard work of listening to one another—attempting to love in others what our God finds lovable in them, even if at present, we can’t see it—praying Solomon’s prayer to be a strong, discerning, and wise person.  This kind of living, and hopefully, loving, at some point, calls us to start from our hearts, not our heads. Our heads alone, tend to lead us to black and white answers, whereas our hearts allow us to “open up” a bit, to new ideas, perhaps not before considered.

   Starting with our hearts allows us to recognize that our God sees each of us as a “great pearl,” capable of so much good in our world.  When we can see through our hearts, we can recognize that the Incarnation of God in Jesus was not, not, about rescuing us, but about giving us the model and the strength to become all that each of us is meant to be. 

Amen?  Amen!

  

Below find the homily shared today at our Mary Magdala celebration at the Redig Farm–23 of us joined today for this annual get-together–Mother Nature treated us to a lovely day! We also all enjoyed a great selection of food! Thank you to all who made this possible by your attendance and preparation beforehand. With gratitude–Pastor Kathy

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My friends, this is our 12^th celebration here on the farm uplifting Mary Magdala along with all women—Mary, Jesus’ mother for which the opening hymn, The Canticle of the Turning (a modern-day Magnificat) is primarily dedicated—but to all women as well, to encourage us to strive to answer our baptismal and God-given calls, even when we may have to go against the powers-that-exist to do so. As I said in my opening remarks, The Canticle is a marching song, a song of strength that really shows Jesus’ mother to be a woman of strength, not one to be placed on a pedestal, and ignored.  She was and is a witness to God calling women to say our “yeses” to all that God asks of us!

   And to my brothers here today, this resurrection of Mary Magdala is a day for you as well—it is a day for you to celebrate the women in your lives, to uplift them, and to encourage them to be all that they are called to be, because in all reality, when you do that, you uplift yourselves too, becoming all that you are meant to be. 

   So, back then to Mary Magdala, who women theologians, primarily, and some male historians and authors, have uncovered the truth about over the many years since the Second Vatican Council.  In previous years here, we have established that she was not a prostitute that Jesus saved, but in actuality, a prophet and a priest, in the sense that any man was prophet and priest at the time she lived! But probably the most enduring character trait of this “Mary” was that she was a most loyal friend and follower of Jesus of Nazareth. 

  Also, over the years, I have shared some of our sorry Church history that let us know that a certain pope, Gregory, in the 6^th century, took it upon himself to, “throw,” for lack of a better word, all the “Marys” mentioned in Scripture, except for Jesus’ mother into a composite that reflected one character trait, and one alone, that of “a sinful woman,” –a prostitute. This naming of all the “Marys” incorrectly is a great sin within our Church as it took from them their integrity, their honor, and any reason to take them, or any woman, seriously.  And for us in present times, this is most important in making the case for women being ordained in our Church. And sadly, this type of thinking spills over into the society in general where women have to prove that they are even worthy before ever being considered for jobs, positions, etc.

   For those of you with us last year, you will recall that I shared some new and very exciting news about “our” Mary, that I will repeat today, because unfortunately, it will probably never be heard in the hierarchical church from any of the men. Credit for this news must go to Christian author, Diane Butler Bass and Elizabeth Schroeder, who as a New Testament master’s student in 2017, discovered it.

   The Church has always named “our” Mary as being from “Magdala,” but it seems that in early maps in the time of Jesus, a town or city of “Magdala” cannot be located—the place that our “Mary” is said to be from.  New study done in the last several years by Elizabeth Schrader, studying the Greek, Aramaic, and Coptic languages, made a most interesting discovery!

   In her study, she received access to the earliest texts available and in one such text, Papyrus 66, from approximately 200 A.D., she discovered evidence that in the gospel of John, chapter 11, in the story of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, that “Martha” may have been an addition to the story.  The gospel of Luke, chapter 10: 38-42 has a similar story.  Now, we have always assumed that the two stories are the same and about Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.  Evidence now shows that this is not the case. 

   The first line from the Luke selection says it all: “Jesus entered a village where a woman named Martha welcomed him to her home.”  Now, what should have jumped out for all of us was the fact that Martha would not have had a home as women did not own property if they had a father, brother, or husband.  The reading goes on— “she had a sister named Mary.”  No mention is made of a brother Lazarus in this selection. 

   Let’s go back to Chapter 11 of the gospel of John. What Elizabeth Schrader discovered in the earliest text of John, Papyrus 66, is that it had been changed by someone in the 4^th Century.  “Mary” in the Greek appears like “Maria” in English.  The “i” in Maria is the Greek letter, “iota.”  Upon close inspection, Elizabeth discovered that the “i” was changed to “th” or “theda” in the Greek, giving us “Martha” instead of “Mary.”  Thus, this text was changed from Lazarus having one sister, “Mary,” to two sisters, Mary, and Martha.  Why was this done?

     Elizabeth Schrader makes the case that this was a way to solve an early Church “problem” of leadership—was it Peter or Mary, or perhaps both, who were called by Jesus to lead?  Think what this would mean if the men involved had recognized,  as did Jesus, Mary’s ability to lead! Just as Pope Gregory had found it advantageous to “throw” all the Marys into a composite that was “unflattering,” basically, silencing them, and their valuable work in the Church, someone in the 4^th Century tried to do the same. 

   Further study by Elizabeth Schrader demonstrated clearly that the John text, in its earliest form had Lazarus having one sister, Mary and that she, and not Martha was the one who proclaimed that, “Jesus was the Christ, come into the world” –a text similar to the account in the gospel of Matthew where Peter proclaims the same belief.  You will recall that Jesus then called Peter, “the Rock.” 

   Even Tertullian, Church father from the 2^nd century, labeled by Diane Butler Bass as one of the most misogynist of his time, stated that Lazarus had one sister and that was, Mary.  So what are we to make of this? 

   We get some help if we go back to our key figure, “Mary of Magdala.” Earlier I stated that in Jesus’ time, there was no town or city of “Magdala.”  So why do we assume that the two words written together mean that “Magdala” was where our Mary was from? 

   The women wanting to understand this have dug deeper and found that, “magdala” in the Greek, rather than a “place” was in fact, “a title.”  In the Greek, “magdala” means, “tower,” thus, Mary the Tower, and she was most likely given this title, it is thought, because of her faith— “her tower of faith.”  That is why we now say Mary Magdala, instead of Mary of Magdala.

    It is thought now by many trying to unearth the truth, a few things:  1) The Luke story and the John story are about two different groups of people—John’s story is about Lazarus and his sister Mary who proclaims just like Peter in the gospel of Matthew that, “Jesus is the Christ.”  2) It is thought that this “Mary” is the Mary we celebrate today—not Mary from Magdala, but Mary, the Tower (of faith) by which we can all stand!  3) It is this same Mary, formerly “Mary of Magdala,” now reclaimed as “Mary the Tower of Faith,” who was faithful to the end, at the cross, and who was the first to witness the Resurrection, and proclaim it to the men, which we read in the gospel today.

   Now, I think you can see that if Mary was lifted up as a “Tower of Faith” –given this title because of her actions following Jesus, this will be a problem for the men in the years after Jesus lived who wanted to control the narrative and uplift Peter’s confession over Mary’s –which again, we must remember, was the same! 

   And uplifting Peter and downplaying Mary was accomplished by blending the John and Luke texts to be a nice story about one family, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus and can more easily recede into history.  If “Martha” confesses that Jesus is the Christ and Mary is seen as an impressionable, starry-eyed, young woman who merely sits at Jesus’ feet, we cannot easily “connect the dots” to see Mary instead as a strong, prophetic, and courageous woman who assisted Jesus throughout his ministry, followed him to the cross and witnessed the Resurrection. Nor can we clearly see Mary, or any woman called by our brother, Jesus, the Christ, as natural-born leaders, called to serve at our altars, because they too image God every bit as clearly as any man does!

  Thinking about the changing of Scripture to accommodate men makes me believe even more firmly in Scripture scholar, Sandra Schneider’s statement that, “Scripture was written by men, about men and for men!”

   Now if you are still skeptical about this news, I would want you to know that Elizabeth Schrader wrote her master’s dissertation on her research of the true Mary, and it was picked up by Harvard Divinity School and a professional article followed.  Additionally, Nestle Aland Theology Group in Germany, known for being very “stuffy” read Schrader’s work and simply said, “We might need to change something here.”

   And friends, I too believe this new exegesis to be so, whether the Scripture texts are ever changed or not, as it has been my experience and that of many other women called to ordination within our Church that our God, shown so beautifully to the world in the person of Jesus of Nazareth, one who was constantly turning things on their heads, had no problem seeing women as the image of the divine, nor should we!

   Finally, think what our Church could be if, rather than, “built on Peter the Rock,” which seems to be more about him and others following him, doing their bidding, it was built upon Mary, the Tower of Faith and all, each of us standing with her.  Amen? Amen!