I have begun to see my life in times and places, roles and functions,and relationships, in periods of time- as the beginning, the middle and the end. The beginning was my first 43 years in New York. A time of firsts, first loves, first jobs, first careers. A time of family and relationships that remain strong. The middle was my fourteen years in Connecticut, a time of productivity, changes, and great learning and special relationships.  I wrote my first major text The Empowerment Approach to Social Work Practice while there and revised it in Florida adding “Building the Beloved Community” to the title. It is still going fairly strong in the field. And now, I am in Florida, and have been for 17 years. It is a time of amazing growth and consolidation, of new and old callings fulfilled and of pulling it all together, if that is possible.  And in that spirit I realized that I need to reclaim the middle most of all at this time.

When I was a Masters of Social Work student  at Columbia University, in the beginning and not the middle of my life, I had a most gifted teacher, William Schwartz, Bill, as he preferred to be known was a brilliant thinker, writer and teacher. Students hung on his every word. One of the things he asked us to do was to pay attention to the beginnings and end of encounters with people in groups or as individuals. He said the middle was not as important. When we wrote Process Recordings for his class, he wanted a verbatim account of all of it, but focused more on the skills of contracting at the beginning and where it stood as the encounter ended, how we wound it up. I have kept up with some of my Columbia friends , but most are gone now, along with Bill. My dear friend Dr. Alex Gitterman, whom I met at Colombia in the early 70’s, and I have kept up over the years. and he is still teaching at UConn and carrying on and developing the tradition we learned and elaborated on so long ago with Bill as our mentor.  I am so thankful that he is a part of my beginnings and the middle and the now.

But now, as I look back and continue to move forward with my life, I will do what I did respectfully several times with Bill, say that I think he was wrong. This was never easy to do as he was so brilliant everything sounded right and he certainly was sure about it. But as I grew older in life and in the profession I developed my own wisdom and tested it out. Middles are important, dear Bill. They are the heart of the “work phase” and though quite messy very often, they are filled with what you call “real” emotions and events. They are worth staying with in practice and in life. I know that Bill would agree with that, despite his emphasis on beginnings and ends. But I guess I learned his lessons too well because I recently took stock of my life and the relationships that were important to me and also my self identity and I saw that I worked hard at maintaining early relationships and held on tight to what is here for me now, in what i call an ending phase of life, although I expect it has a while to go.  And somehow, unintentionally, I let the middle drop out of my  grasp. Yet, I am blessed because I did not let go completely and neither did my beloved friends of those middle years, many of whom were connected to the University of Connecticut School of Social Work where I was a Professor of Social Work for fourteen years.

I did take my “middles” with me of course as Judy Beaumont and I met while we both served the homeless community in Hartford in 1987 and we have been living and serving together for 25 years now. Both Judy and I had things to leave behind in our professional worlds, we were each ready to move on and so the move to Florida in 1998 opened new doors for us. But the goodness we left behind in our work and in our relationships were put on a “back burner” as we coped and adapted in Fort Myers.

I realize now that I was in a process of laying one profession down to pick up another. In the end I have kept both as being a priest and a pastor demands all of the social work and counseling skills I ever taught or used. Both professions demand your all although “pastoring” is truly more 24-7. Yes, I got up at 2 AM the other day to comfort a woman who was in the hospital and quite scared of a blood transfusion. And of those dear people from the middle of my life, when I was ordained in Boston in 2008, I was delighted to look up in that beautiful liturgical ceremony and see Ruth Martin,her daughter, also my student, Valerie Martin, and Jean Low and her mother,Ruth Low, and Nelly Rojas Schwan and others from my St. Michael parish in Hartford, reaching out to bless me in the laying on of hands. Thanks be to God that we were able to pick up our special relationships from there. It was Nelly who helped me in my role as Program Coordinator for those candidates coming to the Roman Catholic Women Priests from South America, Colombia in particular. She helped with support and also translation and was there beside me as I preached my first sermon in Spanish in Bogota, Colombia.Since then all of us and dear Virginia Starkie who facilitated my work as a Professor in so many ways and Gail Bourdon, then a religious Sister and my student and friend and then co-worker in work with the homeless women and children at My Sister’s Place have kept in touch, but not very well, alas- not as well as we would have liked but we held on to one another as we each scaled life’s vicissitudes.  I was there to “MC” and to read a poem I wrote for Ruth at her retirement as Associate Dean of the School of Social Work. We also visited when she still had a home in Tampa, but I had not seen her since she established a magnificent home in Hartford’s Historical District with her daughters, Valerie, Sonia and Maxine all talented and accomplished women. Ruth, or Dr. Ruth as we call her, wrote a wonderful review of my book 1185 St. Mark’s  in its original version. (It is now expanded and called The House on Sunny Street….). Jean and her Mom exchanged happy visits with us in Connecticut and Florida. The loss of Ruth Low was a very hard one indeed. When Jean started “RV-ing” she made it here as well. I was delighted when she and her cousin Bob Low came in  March of this year and stayed for a good while as the RV was repaired. I knew then that the middles were also in the now. I purposed to get back to Connecticut to see all of our friends there as soon as possible. Nelly’s loss of her beloved husband Hubert quite suddenly in July, prompted me to find a way to do this.

I realize now that I was too eager to put the political struggles of Academia behind me-to get away from the unpleasant difficulties that develop when everyone is right about something and no one is right about all of it, but some see only one path and believe all should walk on it. While at UConn Carel Germain, a gentle and elegant human being and thinker and theoretician of the best quality, was my motivating force. She “brought me aboard” and we stood side by side and loved our time together. She was my dearest friend and a mentor. I could tolerate the political fray while she was there. When she retired then passed on, I think I just gave up the struggle.  I developed no patience with this process that repeated itself in every institution. ( I was also at Colombia and NYU and later at Florida Gulf Coast University.  My academic career was a good one, productive and exciting for the most part and it spanned 27 years. I loved the students and teaching and writing, but hated the “politics”.). And so, I know now, that I precipitously laid down Social Work education with a loud thud when I ran out of energy for “academia” when I was 55 ! I wanted to continue my social work practice as I had always done, I wanted to expand it, and I was drawn to a spiritual level of being and working with,ministering to and with people that was pastoral.  I first felt this call to being a pastor as a child, and I never could leave God and faith out of helping others as i was originally taught in social work. (It is a bit better now on that score with the work of Edward Canda and others). It was in 1982 while I taught at NYU that I also began my “voluntary” work in the NYC Shelters for women. I put voluntary in quotes as I strongly felt called by God to work with the homeless on any level possible. I found myself praying with women who clutched worn Bibles and rosaries in their shelter beds as well as offering all of the social work services possible.  This has continued to the present time and it is no wonder to me that now I include the Sacramental level of serving as a Roman Catholic validly ordained, and excommunicated, priest. Our Good Shepherd Ministry where Judy Beaumont and I are both ordained co-pastors has roots that go way back to the beginnings and middles of both of our lives.

I have been in Florida for seventeen years now and somehow despite the varied directions we have moved in those dear ones from “the middle” have come through for me and stuck with me over the time and distance. My recent visit to Connecticut on my way to the Priestly Retreat in Stony Point, New York was a very important one for me as it helped me to put the middles back in my life. I was truly warmed by the rekindled flames of relationships and the chance to put my time at UConn into perspective. It was very good to meet with Dr. Nina Heller now the Dean at UConn. We talked about issues then that are non issues now. We laughed about a good deal and she reminded me that it was I who “brought her abroad”. I said that was indeed one of the best things I had done while there. As I talked with Nina and Alex and walked through the halls where I taught for 14 years meeting some of my old colleagues and the new Doctoral students I had the same feeling of remembering who I am that I had at the IASWG (Group Work) Conference in 2013.  Then I gave a keynote honoring the life of Dr. Katy Papell, my first in many years, while i used to give the keynote frequently, especially to tell about Jane Addams and her influence on the profession and on me. In that time some like joe Lassner of Chicago and Jim Garland of Boston, called me “Our Jane Addams in modern times”-but these are post-modern times now.  I was so happy to be able to do that for Katy who passed over a year later. And I was thoroughly moved by the reception I had as “one of the greats” according to introductions and the many that greeted me afterward. I had not thought of myself that way. One doesn’t in the midst of things. But with grace I accepted that my time and leadership in IASWG had been good. And, I missed the group, many of whom were now gone. Alex stood with me then too and we missed our colleagues and friends together. Alex has been a friend from the beginnings until now and I am so grateful for this continuity and love.  Here are the pictures of reclaiming my “middles”,  my place in the profession of Social Work, and a part of myself laid aside and now taken up again with this visit to Connecticut. .

Alex and I standing together once again.  Alex and I and Jean, who made this visit possible with her caring and hospitality and facilitating and driving us from place to place. 

We loved visiting with Jean and her Bonnie

Judy Beaumont and her friend,peace activist colleague and former Co-Worker at My Sister’s Place,  Jackie Allen, meet outside of the Catholic Worker House in Hartford. This House is a cross between a Dorothy Day Worker House and a Settlement House.  Jackie and her family live there and so do others and some of the poor folks who have knocked on the door. Our sister Priest from Colombia, Marina Teresa Sanchez Mejia was especially happy to visit the Worker House and see St. Michael Parish in the North End where Father Al Jaenicke, of truly blessed memory especially on All Saints Day, inspired our ministry with the poor and African Americans. Marina Teresa who is dedicated to the Afro-Clombiano Community in Cali was also happy to meet with Dr. Ruth Martin, leader and elder in the black community in Hartford.  

Here Jean and Ruth greet and embrace. Then we see Dr. Ruth with her daughter Valerie,also a social worker, and Marina Teresa.  

Here is Virginia Starkie with Dr. Ruth. Virginia , our wonderful support staff, was one we could not have done without. She just retired two years ago and is now 88.  We met for dinner at the home of Dr. Nelly Rojas Schwan (standing next to Rvda. Marina Teresa with Judy B., Dr. Gail Bourdon, Virginia and Dr. Ruth and Jean seated).

We are blessed to be at the table together in a eucharistic moment, one of thanksgiving and praise to God who brought us all together again after many years. I was honored to bless the food for the strength of our bodies and our friendships for the strength of our souls. I believe that we all left there with a renewed spirit of love, compassion and service.

  With love and gratitude for the middle in the now,

Rev. Dr. Judy Lee, RCWP

Friday, October 30, 2015

http://ncronline.org/blogs/ncr-today/cincinnati-nun-excommunicated-after-admitting-illegal-priestly-ordination

“A nun in Cincinnati was excommunicated and dismissed from the Sisters of the Precious Blood after admitting she was secretly ordained as a priest this spring.

Sr. Letitia “Tish” Rawles was serving as a “catacomb” priest in order to not cause trouble for her religious order.

“A catacomb priest is a priest who functions privately in service of a specific community,” said Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan of the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests (ARCWP). Rawles’ specific community is the Atria Northgate Assisted Living Facility in Cincinnati, where she ministers to the sick and dying. She is seriously ill with multiple sclerosis, late stage liver disease, and diabetes. She has been a nun for 47 years.

Rawles knows what she would choose if there was an option on returning to her order.

“If I could stay in the order and also be a priest, I would definitely want to go back,” she said. “If it’s choosing between being a nun and being a priest, then I am a priest.”

An online petition is currently underway which the ARCWP hope will send a message to Pope Francis to allow Rawles to continue as a Sister of the Precious Blood and overturn her excommunication and others in the Year of Mercy.

Sr. Joyce Lehman, president of the Sisters of the Precious Blood, said in a press release that they are holding Sr. Rawles and all involved in prayer. Lehman noted a decree by Cardinal William Levada, former prefect of the Congregation of the Doctrine of Faith, in 2007, “both the one who attempts to confer a sacred order on a woman or a woman who attempts to receive the sacred order incur an excommunication.”

“This defection from the Catholic faith calls for an ipso facto dismissal from a religious congregation. Therefore, by her own actions, she has excommunicated herself and separated herself from the Sisters of the Precious Blood,” said Lehman in the press release. “She no longer has the right or privilege of wearing the ring and insignia or presenting herself as a Sister of the Precious Blood.”

Rawles told NCR she feels a mixture of things now that this secret is out.

“In one sense I feel a freedom now to really practice and do priestly things that I had to do in secret,” she said. “But I also feel a loss of community. I love the Sisters of the Precious Blood. I know they feel I deceived them because I didn’t tell them, but I didn’t tell them to protect them. That’s why I went catacomb status. Now I can be more in public.”

Being a priest is not something new for Rawles. She said she’s always wanted to be a priest and always had a calling to help other people. Rawles believes she was able to help a lot of people as a nun, both in the Sisters of the Precious Blood for 25 years and her previous 22 years with the Sisters of the Incarnate Word.

But she also felt she needed to go into something deeper, which turned out to be priesthood. Some of her ministry includes helping the sick and dying, giving last rites, funeral services, prayer services and presiding at home liturgies.

Rawles doesn’t know what her next step may be, but she does know the religious community is putting together a financial package because of her major medical issues.”

[Elizabeth A. Elliott, is an NCR Bertelsen intern. Contact her at eelliott@ncronline.org.]

“Cincinnati Nun Excommunicated After admitting Illegal Priestly Ordination”, by Elizabeth A. Elliott, National Catholic Reporter

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION TO REINSTATE TISH (See earlier blog)

It is only just with so many years of selfless dedicated service that a financial package should be given, but it is our concern that it be enough and that she be able to remain at Atria Assisted Living or get an equal level of care.

Rev. Dr. Judith Lee, RCWP-USA-East

We are pleased and grateful to present here two homilies for All Saints Day, my own and Rev. Dr. Beverly Bingle’s of the Holy Spirit Catholic Community in Toledo, Ohio.

Rev. Judy’s Homily

This Saturday Hallow’een is celebrated and it leads us into  the celebration of the Solemnity of All Saints Day on Sunday. Hallow’een means Holy evening when the church prays for all departed souls. The praying for our loved ones is a welcome remembrance of them and a sense of their existence beyond the grave. But for children, eerie ghosts and friendly and not so friendly pumpkins as well as downright scary costumes heighten a sense of questionable comfort with the dead. Mexico with its happy and playful Day of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) celebrations conveys cultural comfort and acceptance of death as part of life. Yet, I loved Halloween as a child and had only a vague sense of its religious significance. It was a day when children could have fun dressing up and also “beg” for “treats” including apples, candies and coins, a special joy in a poor neighborhood. Only as I grew older did I grow to appreciate praying for the dead and celebrating the sainthood of ordinary people as well as extraordinary people throughout the ages. It is so precious to me to get together with friends and family members who live far away, to preserve and rekindle those precious ties. But for those who have died, prayer can unite us with them in forever love and care.  I deeply miss many saints who have gone before, including my own grandmother Ella, and mother, Anne, and my mother-in-law (Ngut Gue Lee) who bore much pain and adversity with strong and wonderful faith and sweet, sweet spirit. I think of my friend Barbara’s grandmother, Hattie Ballard, who did the same with the added burden of discrimination to balance yet she raised her son’s family as my grandmother raised me- to know God. I think of living Grandparents, Godparents, and other holy people in our church like Grandma Jolinda Harmon and her daughter Linda Maybin and Phyllis Williams and Harry Lee Gary who carry huge families and much illness and laugh to keep from crying but bring their families to church, bring them not send them to God.  I think of my co-pastor Judy Beaumont who has served always bearing at one point one cancer after another, three in all, and other illnesses. I think of my Pastors, David and Melvin and Virginia and Al and Angelo and fellow church members who kept the faith when discrimination,hatred, doubt and many evils might have pulled them away. I know that they are with us still. Prayer can  remind us that we are part of a “communion of saints” throughout time, a “cloud of witnesses” who point us to the faith and hold us to the love of God in Christ. And as we are witnesses to their journeys they are also witnesses to our own.

The first reading for Sunday from Revelation (7:2-4,9-14) is rich with symbolism known to people of the day probably 81-96 CE or A.D.(  after the death of Christ.) Christians were living under the cruel domination of the Roman Emperor Domitian who demanded that he be addressed as “Lord and God”.  Those who refused to do this were threatened, exiled and put to death. This book(the Revelation of John) was a call to the persecuted that God still reigns supreme, and Christ is alive forever, death did not hold him. “Praise and glory….power and strength be to our God forever and ever. Amen!” The saints who endured persecution continued to praise God. Indeed it is an essence of sainthood to praise God in great adversity. While Jesus’ disciples often did not “get it” and sometimes denied and betrayed him, all but John also died a martyr’s death as did unnamed millions throughout the ages. They have much to teach us as do modern day saints like Martin Luther King, Jr., Oscar Romero, Dorothy Day and the millions unnamed who lived the faithful life of working for love, justice and inclusion. For those who live for justice no matter the cost with little reward I John 3:1-3 offers explanation: “The reason the world does not recognize us is that it never recognized God”. Selah-pause and think that over. We are also assured that we are children of God. The Beatitudes Jesus gives in Matthew 5:1-12 tells us that we are blessed, happy, and indeed, congratulated by Jesus when we keep the faith in humility and in poverty, when we are gentle, and merciful. These Be-attitudes are the attitudes that make for sainthood. We are also congratulated, encouraged and happy when we live our lives as justice seekers and peace makers. I see the Beatitudes of Christ as be-attitudes and actions that lead to fulfillment of our purposes on earth -to bring in the kin(g)dom of God where ALL may live and be and be happy. Finally in the Beatitudes, Jesus tells us that we are to be congratulated and blessed when we are persecuted for “righteousness sake”, “persecuted for their struggle for justice” . And here I think of our Roman Catholic women priests and the men and women who support us. I reiterate to those who get mired down and stuck in outdated church traditions that don’t recognize the sanctity of all lives, including women, gays and those on the LGBTQT spectrum: God still reigns and Christ lives and includes all of God’s children always and in all ways.

I think especially of Rev. Sister Tish Rawles the gentle woman of conscience written of in earlier blogs, who dared accept her call to the priesthood and is now dismissed from the only family she has known for 47 years as a religious sister, her community of Sisters.  I pray for this living saint who is in need of appropriate housing and health care. Let us remember the saints on Sunday, the living and those gone before. Let us take strength from their courage and steadfastness. Let us pray for them, and ask them to pray for us.

Rev. DR. Judy Lee, RCWP-US-East

Co-Pastor of the Good shepherd Inclusive Catholic Community in Fort Myers, Florida

Rev. Bev’s Homily

Blessed are the poor in spirit, our gospel says.
The modern translation would read like this:
Congratulations, you who are poor! the reign of God is here!
Right here, right now.
Congratulations, you who mourn!
God is with you!
Congratulations, you who hunger and thirst for justice!
God is on your side!
Good news, indeed, for the people Jesus talked to… and for us.
_________________________________________
Those beatitudes, scholars tell us,
are very close to what Jesus actually said.
In the Gospel of Thomas, which predates the canonical gospels, Jesus says:
The kin-dom of God will not come by watching for it.
It will not be said, “Look here!” or “Look there!”
Rather, the kin-dom of God is spread out upon the earth,
and people don’t see it.
The Gospel of Luke repeats that same saying.
So Jesus challenged
both the apocalyptic and the nationalist expectations
of John the Baptist and of other prophets of the time.
In short, Jesus said, God—
not the government, not the rich,
not the corrupt religious leaders—
God is already in charge.
_______________________________________
But Jesus’ sense of God’s reign was often lost on his followers.
The gospels show them as understanding him poorly.
Mark softens Jesus’ ideas—he writes
blessed are the poor in spirit
instead of just blessed are the poor—
probably, scholars say, because Mark’s community is wealthy.
Mark also follows the expectations of the culture
in phrasing the beatitudes
as a promise of reward for virtue in the future
rather than assurance about the reign of God
in the present time.
Not only that, but the kind of people Jesus calls blessed,
the kind of people he congratulates
for their poverty, for their grief, for their hunger for justice—
those folks are not the ones looked up to and rewarded
by the culture they live in.
Theologian Frederick Buechner observes that
“If we didn’t already know
but were asked to guess the kind of people
Jesus would pick out for special commendation,
we might be tempted to guess one sort or another
of spiritual hero—
men and women of impeccable credentials
morally, spiritually, humanly, and every which way.
If so, we would be wrong.”
____________________________________
This week when I was at breakfast at Claver House,
I was especially aware that I was sharing a meal
with people without much money, some without a place to live.
I found out Tuesday that Ned,
a man I’ve talked with every weekday for over a year,
can’t read or write.
I found out that the job he goes to every morning
is hard labor at less than minimum wage,
paid under the table, with no benefits,
and that he did time in Stryker.
But my experience of Ned is
of a man with a sense of humor
and a habit of consideration for his elderly neighbors.
_______________________________________
When I look around that room,
I see people who are looked down on by our society.
I see the very people Jesus called blessed—
people living in poverty,
people who grieve the loss of jobs and homes and family,
people oppressed and discriminated against
who hunger for food and justice.
_______________________________________
Being recognized as a saint didn’t always mean
that you had to be canonized by a pope.
The first saints were people who died for their faith.
Then people who were examples
of living good lives as followers of Christ
began to be called saints.
The year 973 saw the first recorded evidence
of a pope naming a saint.
Then the Council of Trent in the mid-16th century
set forth the dogma of the communion of saints
and reserved the naming of saints to the pope.
As a result, lots of saints don’t get canonized.
But the sensus fidelium, the sense of the faithful, prevails.
We still, thank God, hear people say about someone,
“What a saint!”
Like the first disciples, we all stumble and bumble through life,
most of the time unaware that we live in the kin-dom of God,
unaware that we live in the midst of a communion of saints.
Not perfect people, but people on the Way,
people doing the best we can,
with what we have,
right where we are.
_______________________________________
Thinking about these beatitudes
caused me to take another look at the people in my life.
I have to admit that it’s hard for me to see any saintliness
in some people I’ve known—a short list, but memorable.
And then there are some people who have died,
family members and colleagues and friends,
a longer list of people who did some good stuff in their lives.
And finally, a really long list of people I know who are still here,
living under God’s rule,
friends of God, and prophets,
the holy ones among us.
Every one of you is on that list.
All of these folks—
the saintliest of them as well as the ones
we aren’t able to see the way God sees them—
all of them are part of our church.
When we gather to celebrate Mass,
they’re with us, that communion of saints
that we acknowledge when we profess our faith.
On this All Saints’ Day
we call them to mind in a special way.
_______________________________________
Each of you has a slip of paper,
and as you reflect on today‘s celebration
of our communion with all the saints,
please take a minute to write down the names
of the people you would like to remember.
Write down the saints who have died,
and the saintly people still with us,
and any people you have trouble seeing saintliness in.
Then place them on the altar as a reminder to all of us
that we are not alone
and we are not a small group.
We are, as the book of Revelation puts it,
“an immense crowd without number,
from every nation, tribe, people, and language.”
We live, right here and right now, in God’s kin-dom,
a true communion of saints.

—
Holy Spirit Catholic Community
Saturdays at 4:30 p.m.
Sundays at 5:30 p.m.
at 3925 West Central Avenue (Washington Church)

www.holyspirittoledo.org

Rev. Dr. Bev Bingle, Pastor
Mailing address: 3156 Doyle Street, Toledo, OH 43608-2006

Thanks be to God for the Saints among us!

” I lift my eyes to the mountains-from where will my help come? My help comes from YHWH who made heaven and earth!  YHWH will not let our footsteps slip;our Guardian never sleeps….YHWH guards our leaving and our coming back,now and forever” (Psalm 121:1-3;8). 

Stony Point New York is a long way from Fort Myers, Florida and an even longer way from Cali, Colombia where temperate warm green climates prevail. There is no crisp autumn air or deeply colored autumn leaves in our home towns.  Yet  from Friday October 23 – Sunday October 25th Stony Point Conference Center was the most beautiful golden and red home for the members and friends of RCWP-USA-East including Roman Catholic Women Priests Maria Teresa Sanchez Mejia, Judy Lee and Judy Beaumont who were welcomed into membership by the group. RCWP-USA-East gathered for a renewal and retreat centered on the theme of “:Pastoring” led by Rev. Ellie Stratton, a Presbyterian Pastor and Retreat Leader from Pennsylvania.  And it gathered to welcome its newest members, Marina Teresa, Judy Beaumont  and me, Judy Lee, and three new Deacons to be ordained in a private ceremony on Sunday October 25th and one new candidate as well. There was a sense of anticipation and joy in the air as palpable as the crisp and gentle breeze that held us in her embrace.

  This is Retreat leader,  Rev. Ellie Stratton with Judy Beaumont and Marina Teresa Sanchez Mejia and Eda Lorello during a break at the retreat. 

The crisp mountain air and delicate, crunchy and beautiful autumn leaves heightened our senses and set the stage for a warm,moving, and heartfelt welcome ceremony planned by Maryrose Petruzzi and Alexandra Dyer. Sadly, Alexandra could not be there as she continued in her recovery process but her spirit was there with us. Also Gloria Carpeneto who has guided so many in this group as Program Coordinator needed to be at home with her husband who was also recuperating-yet her sense of humor carried on in Maryrose and others.  Alexandra gave us the image of an open door and we waited actually on the other side of an oak door as we were welcomed one by one into the group. We sat together in a circle of smiles and warm welcomes including our bishop, Andrea Johnson, and listened to readings by Jean Marchant, Barbara Beadle and others. We were each given a glass vessel to be filled by each member present with multicolored glass stones symbolizing the passing on of the spirit of the group to us. Then we were each blessed by everyone there with the oil of gladness. This reminded me of the point in our ordinations when the bishop(s) and all present lay hands on us in blessing and tears came to my eyes. To be anointed blessed by so many priest sisters and members was a most sacred moment of inclusion and unity. As I looked to my side at Marina and JudyB I could see they were also thoroughly moved and blessed. We joined in a circle, arms linked, and sang De Colores and Wherever You Go by the Monks of Weston Priory. After the sign of peace and many embraces the song Can You Feel the Love, by Elton John felt more sacred than secular.  How true it is that  our loving God guides our leaving and our coming back home. It was good to be home.

After a break there was a Celebration of Life Service for Rev. Maureen Andrews,RCWP who went home to our loving God on September 13, 2015 after battling cancer with grace, humor and ,finally, peace.Jean Marchant, Mary Steinmetz and others of the Mary Magdalene Community in Boston, Massachussetts, Maureen’s community, led the Celebration.  Maureen’s loving partner Nancy Stephens was a part of the group for the entire retreat and her sweet presence brought Maureen’s spirit close to all present. Maureen, born in Australia, loved the image of the Cosmic Christ and unfathomable mystery. There was a lovely video and also a photographic eulogy remembering Maureen.Her own words were used throughout. In her words: “Life is inspired by the universal and is open to the universal. It is based on forgiveness and openness to those who are different, to the poor and to the weak. Community is the breaking down of barriers to welcome difference”.  WOW! At the end we wee asked to bless one another as Maureen enjoyed most giving blessings. It was wonderful to be welcomed by Maureen in this way and to spend time with Nancy witnessing their love.

The Retreat itself was centered on “pastoring” using the symbols of sandals, the staff and a stole. Rev. Ellie Stratton guided us in meditating and reflecting on these symbols. Many shared their stories of using these symbols in their ministry, and the struggles and joys of ministry and of being a priest in a church that rejects women priests. The sharing was very real and from the heart. Rev. Ellie ended with a lovely story of a Pastor who was loved by the congregation and loved the congregation until it was time to part with much gratitude to the loving congregation.. She wished us all that love. It was good to remember the essence of Love in our ministry at every level..

On Sunday the time came to ordain three new women deacons. This was a beautiful rite and it was a joy to welcome these deacons, two of whom are Jacqueline Clarys of the Living Water Inclusive Catholic Community in  Maryland and Claire Gareau of the Sophia Inclusive Catholic Community in  New Jersey. Our third deacn wishes to be welcomed at a later time. We also welcomed a new candidate from Maryland  and remembered that we have welcomed some wonderful international candidates earlier this year. these are some of our priests as they gathered for the Ordination.

And the beat goes on.

with love and gratitude,

Rev. Dr. Judy Lee,RCWP-USA-East

On the right in both pictures is Rev. Tish Rawles,ARCWP of Cincinatti,Ohio,  and also a religious Sister of the Precious Blood Community, as she recently assisted in worship with the Good Shepherd Inclusive Catholic Community and Pastors Judy Lee, RCWP and Judy Beaumont, RCWP in Fort Myers, Florida.

Although we, Pastors Judy Lee and Beaumont, are not in the same group as Sister Tish in the RCWP Movement, we met at an ordination and became fast friends with this gentle woman who loved her Sisters, and her beloved animals and had thoughts of becoming a priest. Her abilities in sharing love and caring far surpassed her pressing disabilities and infirmities, though the latter were quite serious. Sister Tish was ordained in April of 2015 and served those around her in her Assisted Living Facility. She also cared for the many abandoned cats outside of the facility. As a vacation gift we invited her to Florida for a visit and she graced our home and church community with her presence from 10/2-10/7. . Upon her return she   immediately learned that someone at a local religious Conference had told her Superior that she was an ordained priest. She had held this in secret not wanting to be separated from the Order where she served faithfully with her Sisters for 47 years. Below is an account of what happened quickly after it was known that she had been validly ordained. This kind of rejection should happen to no one, and especially not to such a good and faithful servant. But that is what happens when one lives with inspiration and follows conscience. May there be a public outcry directed at a rejecting church and rejecting community who follow the letter of the law but not the spirit of LOVE. We understand that the Community could suffer if they supported Sister Tish, and this is a difficult position to be in,  but we expect nothing less from people of conscience and Christ-consciousness, like Sister Rev. Tish Rawles.

Please see: 

http://www.local12.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/Nun-working-as-priest-fights-excommunication-224703.shtml

Nun working as priest fights excommunication Updated: Wed, Oct 28 2015, 05:51 AM CINCINNATI (Angenette Levy)

— A retired Catholic nun who has been operating as a priest in secret was kicked out of her religious order and excommunicated after she was questioned about her activities. Sister Tish Rawles has dreamed of being a priest since she was in the fourth grade. “When I first started going to Catholic school I couldn’t understand why it was only men on the altar. I couldn’t understand why there weren’t girls up there too, serving,” Rawles said. She responded to her calling by serving as a nun for 47 years but she always wanted more. “I needed to respond to the workings of the Spirit. I needed to follow my conscience what we call Primacy of Conscience,” Rawles said. Rawles wrestled with her decision to become ordained. She suffers from MS and end-stage liver disease. She also worried her decision would hurt her community, the Sisters of the Precious Blood.

In April, Rawles was ordained a Catholic priest by the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests. The group said its ordinations are valid because the first women bishops were ordained by a male Roman Catholic bishop with apostolic succession. The group preaches about inclusivity and welcomes members of the LGBTQ community. “All are welcome. All are accepted. No one is turned away from our tables.” Rawles preached in secret – also known as catacomb status – until last week. She was questioned by the head of the Sisters of the Precious Blood. She was notified that she was no longer a member of the community and excommunicated. Rawles said she and the other women priests want to force change in the Church. “We feel that we are not leaving the Church. We are leading the Church,” Rawles said. She and the other priests are appealing to Pope Francis to remove the excommunication from the women who’ve been ordained priests during the upcoming Year of Mercy. “Jesus would not excommunicated anybody. Jesus welcomes all with open arms… There’s no reason a person can’t be a nun and a priest at the same time.” Pope Francis has said he’d like to see women have a greater role in the Catholic Church but he has not said that he would be open to women becoming priests. Sister Joyce Lehman of the Sisters of the Precious Blood said Rawles excommunicated herself by her actions. Sister Lehman said she was surprised that Rawles had been acting as a priest. “If we’re going to be Catholic sisters then we will be faithful to the teachings of the Catholic Church,” Lehman said.

Read More at: http://www.local12.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/Nun-working-as-priest-fights-excommunication-224703.shtml

Today I am sharing my homily and also a letter from Rev. Chava Redonnet, RC woman priest for migrant workers in Rochester, New York. As the homily theme is that we belong to others, especially the most needy and outcast among us the letter is a part of the homily.  St. Romero’s has a pressing need before winter and I hope that we will all respond in sharing our resources to help this special church find a new home.