OUR Lenten readings today equate the flow of water- rain, snow–flowing water– to the words of God. The water falls and makes the earth fertile and fruitful and the words that come from God will not return to God empty but accomplish what it was sent to do- make the earth and those who hear and heed the words fertile and fruitful as well. (Isaiah 55:10-11; Psalm 34:4-7; Matthew 6:7-15). How fruitful are you feeling these days, are God’s words raining down on you? Do you hear, see or feel them?

So how do we “hear” God’s words? We listen to the rain fall, that is, take time to attend to God in nature, to the magnificence and awesome-ness of our Creator God, our Father-Mother God. Nature is all around us from the city streets and tall canyons of buildings, to the purple sky and tiny flowers in the desert, to the boats bobbing on the sea and the seabirds playing and diving into them. To the warm hands and smiles of those around us– to the music of the spheres. We listen for God’s voice in the voices of those around us. Those who love us and care for us are indeed the voice of God to us. Those who are hurt or upset or frightened and in need of our caring, those who have lost so much and need help to survive are also the voice of God to us. And yes, sometimes our surroundings are not so loving, then we allow God, and even seek God, to be our comfort and our joy- as the Psalm says our God is “close to the broken hearted and those crushed in spirit God saves.”

In the Gospel of John (1:14) we learn that Jesus, the Christ, is the Word of God made flesh and dwelling among us. The Holy Scriptures are also the word of God. We are so blessed to have them to teach us. So, even as we walk with Jesus, we also turn to the Holy Scriptures and read and pray with them daily. One does not drink or use water once in a while but daily and regularly. The Holy Bible is full of messages from God in all of its pages from Genesis to the Torah, the Law, the Prophets, like Isaiah, all of the Hebrew Scriptures and the New Testament.

The Gospel today is Jesus teaching us how to pray (Matthew 6:7-15). We call this “The Lord’s Prayer”. And as we pray it we are asking for the kin-dom/kingdom of God to come on earth, (for us to help bring justice and peace to this earth) and for everyone on this earth to have their daily bread (and water), not just ourselves. We are asked to forgive others as God forgives us. What a wonderful formula for growing and being fruitful. So indeed as water is all around us and makes the world fruitful, God’s words are all around us. They are written and spoken and visual words-words we can see all around us. As water is necessary for life, so are God’s words in all its varied forms necessary for life. How do we listen to God’s words?

There are many little periodicals to help us structure Scripture reading. For example, in the daily scripture magazine Living With Christ , livingwithchrist.us

we can follow the daily Scriptures used in the Roman Catholic and other Christian churches daily. In today’s readings there is a piece by Sr. Melanie Svoboda, S.N.D, that says it very well:

“Water is a very apt image for God’s word. Why? It is essential for life. It is graceful and ungraspable. It cleanses and rejuvenates. In fact, when Jesus spoke to the Samaritan woman at the well, he described his teachings as “living water”. It’s easy for us to take the blessing of water for granted. Let us rekindle our reverence for water by being mindful of every drop of water we use today. Then we can try to be less wasteful of water. We can also educate ourselves on water shortages in our world.( My words-Like for example, the horn of Africa that experienced its longest drought in 40 years in 2022 and experienced its fifth consecutive failed rainy season. And, in the US, Florida and 41.35 % of the lower 48 and Puerto Rico are now officially in drought according to the U.S. Drought Monitor). And finally we can take time just to be with water-a river, an fountain, or even a single glassful-and give thanks to God for this great gift. Gracious God, thank you for the water of your word and the water of our earth.”

May we appreciate water, may we glide like these ducks and swim and dart and play in it. May we be careful not to waste it and cherish it. May everyone have enough of it to drink and use and enjoy. May we pray for those in drought and may we do something , including send funds to agencies and organizations serving those areas where people do not have access to water.

Let the River Flow is a beautiful contemporary song and hymn. Check it out with google or your search engine. The words include: “”Let the poor man say I am rich in Him, Let the lost man say I am found in Him…let the dead man say I am born again, Let the river flow. Let the river flow!

And may we read, listen and watch for the loving word of God all around us.

Be blessed,

Pastor Judy Lee, RCWP

Rev. Dr. Judith Lee, Good Shepherd Ministries of Southwest Florida

Today in our Lenten readings we are told that if we remove oppression from our midst, curtail malicious speech, “bestow bread upon the hungry, and satisfy the afflicted” light shall rise for us in the darkness, gloom shall be like midday and our strength will be renewed. “….You shall be like a watered garden, like a spring whose water never fails….”(Isaiah 58:9-14)

What a beautiful image that is– life blooms from us and around us and light and life-giving water flows from us.

If only we do something to alleviate the suffering of those who suffer most-perhaps those who have the least, perhaps those who are forced to leave their homes and become immigrants, those who lose everything like those in Syria and Turkey post earthquakes and in Ukraine as war continues ravaging and wiping out whole cities, communities, families and lives. Perhaps those who live under the bridges here in Fort Myers as they continue to recover from Hurricane Ian, perhaps those who have faced the personal ravages of life and health and mental health, economic, and relational issues and can’t seem to get out of poverty and homelessness. Perhaps those who are bereaved or just plain lonely… and those living in Nursing Homes and simply those managing alone. Our texts are saying instead of giving up food or conveniences we are to give love and life to others who need them most for whatever reasons.

This follows yesterday’s reading in Isaiah that clarifies the “fast” God wants of us, is not giving up meat or candy but living lives that enact the gospel for the poorest and most oppressed among us: “This, rather , is the fasting that I wish: releasing those bound unjustly,…setting free the oppressed….sharing our bread with the hungry and sheltering the oppressed and the homeless…” (Is 58:6-9).

There is a woman named Chris Miller who has organized groups of local volunteers and restaurants to feed the hungry in Lion’s Park here every Friday night. She and her beloved husband Rick Judy started with our Good Shepherd Ministry in 2007 and continued their feeding program after our Ministry left the park and began serving in a building we purchased for a church, lunchroom and shelter in 2009-2010. We are so blessed to be part of the flowing water that nourished the seeds of their ministry that has continued long after us and bloomed so fully and beautifully. Even when Chris lost Rick to cancer she was able to continue their ministry and every Friday night the hungry are still fed in Fort Myers. Tonya Van Scoy who started feeding in the park with a youth group before us and then joined with us also continued a regular feeding program on Saturday nights until recently. Indeed “their light breaks forth like dawn”!

There are many wonderful examples everywhere of people who are moved by the Spirit of God to serve one another. Recently, a Mom and her daughter, Jennifer Mosseso and her Mother, quietly started bringing home made food and Panera Bread food to Hurricane Ian victims living under the damaged Matanzas Pass bridge to Fort Myers Beach. A tent city had grown up there. When the Press heard of it they showed how these two women not only brought food but made caring relationships with those suffering. Their compassionate behavior also prompted the Town and County to do something more for these tragically displaced people. One only hopes that they were not just moved away or “out of sight” but moved to good shelter and next steps leading out of their homelessness. Yes, neighbors helping neighbors are a beautiful expression of the “fast” that God is asking of us this Lenten season. They are a “spring that never fails” and plenty comes from even the “parched land” around them. (Is 58:11)

Today we also read of Jesus calling the tax collector, Matthew aka Levi, to follow Him. And “Levi got up ,left everything and followed him”. Tax Collectors were a hated class in Jesus’ day and they were often accused of fraud and cruelty. They were shunned by most of the religious establishment and ordinary people. Today we may hate unwanted and unrealistic taxes just as much but we usually don’t blame the tax collector. And today we realize that the taxes paid can also provide food and shelter for the poor and hospitals for the sick and schools for children, and so on. Not so then when the taxes went to the occupying Roman government and were not put back into the local economy. The critics of Jesus aligned the tax collectors with sinners and accused Jesus of eating with “tax collectors and sinners”. Jesus tells them that he came to”call sinners to repentance”. Too bad, though, the haters of Levi and other tax collectors did not seem to know that they too were sinners. Nor did they apparently get up right away and follow Jesus as Matthew did or throw a party for Jesus to attend in joy for being called to follow.

Pope Francis reflecting on this in “General Audience, April 13, 2016 said :

“Like the tax collector Matthew, each of us relies on the grace of the Lord despite our sins. We are all sinners, we all have sins. By calling Matthew, Jesus shows sinners that he does not look at their past, at their social condition, at external conventions,but rather opens up a new future for them. I once heard a beautiful saying: ‘There is no saint without a past and there is no sinner without a future”. This is what Jesus does. There is no saint without a past and no sinner without a future. It is enough to respond to the invitation with a humble and sincere heart. “

So as we look at our lives and activities in this Lenten season, and as we are tempted even as Jesus was when he began his ministry ( First Sunday in Lent- the Temptation of Jesus-Matthew 4:1-11) to lead self-centered lives instead of serving God’s people, let us be thankful that we are called to follow and to serve by a God who knows us and loves us and delights in our attempts to serve.

BLOOM where you ARE, BLOOM!

Love and Blessings,

Pastor Judy Lee, RCWP

Rev. Dr. Judith Lee

Good Shepherd Ministries

2/25/2023

Today in the Readings for the Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time we hear a daunting and possibly puzzling section of the Sermon On The Mount when Jesus tells us to be perfect: Matthew 5:48-“You must be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect”. “Oh my”, is my response, “I can’t even approach that!” No amount of trying or good works or good thoughts or hopes can make perfection out of this flawed instrument. If I even stub my toe I cuss up a storm and I am not always charitable in my thoughts of others, or doing as much good as I can, no matter how much I try. This is not false modesty or humility it is just the truth of me as I experience it. I am sure that those who know me well, or have lived with me could also chronicle my faults. Yes, they could also chronicle the goodness that the grace of God has granted me and I am so thankful for that. But perfection, at least according to Webster is quite another thing. “As good as it is possible to be”, “having all the required or desirable elements…” “complete”,” being entirely without fault or defects” as in a perfect diamond. The expression “A diamond in the rough” describes most of us.

Yet our Loving God has made each one of us “perfect” and brand new as we enter this world. In Genesis 1:31 God says of all of God’s creation “It is very good”.

Below is Rev. Olga Lucia Alvarez, ARCWP Bishop of Colombia, South America being blessed with a cross on the forehead by a little girl in one of her communities

This is our newest family member, Julian Dennis, son of Zachary and Paige Robinson, son of Ken and Lisa Robinson, son of Robert Jay and Barbara Robinson, Son of Julian C. and Frances Robinson. Julian C., my beloved Uncle, was one of the three Uncles who were fathers to me. I am so happy to see his name carried on!

Yet, like the first of humankind, our choices sometimes also make us less than perfect. And sometimes too, life is very hard on us and we are pushed and shoved by many circumstances into less than perfect responses-sometimes, downright evil responses. Here in Florida last week, a six year old boy carried a loaded gun to school and shot his teacher point blank. She is struggling for her life. He did not like her, felt angry, and the gun was available and he knew how to use it. How on earth did so much go wrong by 6 years old? What was this child’s life like? We do not know. I pray for this teacher and his frightened school mates, and for this boy and his family. I pray healing will take place all around and that love not rage will rule. I wondered if he was lovingly taken to church or Sunday School? I wonder if he had ever known God’s love or family love. I wondered why a loaded gun was available to him? I believe that God understands the lack of perfection in all of us. And, God forgives. That is a WOW!!! Even on the Cross, Jesus said “Father, forgive them for they know not what they are doing.” (Luke 23:34). And the forgiveness is there even when we do know vaguely or fully what we do. Human beings are usually far from perfect as life goes on. So why then does Jesus ask us to be “perfect”?

Now we remember that “perfect” is an English word and its meanings in English are what I have cited above. We also recall that Jesus was a First Century Jew who spoke Aramaic. So we need to understand the meanings of “perfect” in Aramaic and we need also to look at the context in which Jesus is quoted as saying this in the Gospel (Matthew 5: 38-48). George M. Lamsa in Idioms in the Bible Explained (Harper and Row, 1985:p.51) says that “perfect” in Matthew 5:48 means “All inclusive, or to know all lines of a trade”. Rocco A. Errico in …And There Was Light ( Noohra Foundation, 1998, 102-104) explains that flawlessness and infallibility are not close to the Aramaic term gmeera which Jesus uses when he is translated as saying “Be perfect”. GMEERA means perfect in the sense of complete, thorough, finished, full-grown, mature, accomplished, comprehensive, rounded out and all inclusive. Note one word in Aramaic can have many meanings and context is important.

It resonates with me that Jesus is talking about maturing in the faith-becoming a full grown Christian. To be a mature Christian is to grow from focus on the self-“I am saved” “I am forgiven” “I am loved by Christ, I am loved by God”- to “I love all of God’s children no matter who they are by race, culture, good or not so good choices, nations, languages, sexual orientations, ages, incomes or lack of them or any other factor. I am concerned with the “Other” not myself, and my service and love are for the “Other”. I am doing my best to work for justice and peace on earth. Violence reigns these days as never before, and as a full-grown Christian I hope not to add to it in word or deed. But, yes, I fail at this and need God’s grace to continue to growing in the faith. We do not come full grown into the world or into Christianity. We must work at growing. We must find experiences that help us to grow in the faith. A church, a group of dedicated Christ-followers, family and friends, a place to pray and commune with God, a favorite place in the woods, or by the sea, or on our roof, or walking in the city or countryside, time to read and pray with the Scriptures and to “Have a little talk with Jesus, to tell him all about our troubles-he will hear our beck and cry, and answer bye and bye” according to one old hymn. We have a responsibility to work toward faith maturity, and if we neglect this we may be at varied stages of arrested development. We can not fully love either our neighbors or our enemies, we get stuck on ourselves and our own problems, and we are far from perfect.

And in the day’s Gospel text Jesus also asks us to literally “go the second mile”. If we are asked to go a mile, go another one, if we are asked for a tunic, give a coat, give to those who ask of you…and so on. The mature faith is a second mile faith. We strive to do the most that we can not the least. Recently here in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian we continue to hear about whole families and whole communities that are left with nothing at all. The best stories accompanying this news are the stories of neighbors and strangers reaching out and taking in those who are lost and bereft, and giving all they can to help. Thankfully there are many stories of this sort. But do we need a hurricane or a disaster to make us so attuned to the pain of our fellow human beings? Or can we rely on the love of God within us to truly do the right thing? Can we pray to go the second and yes, the third mile?

Errico notes that “What Jesus desired of his disciples was a thorough comprehension of the task that was before them. Because they were to face much opposition and many clever people, they needed to be wise, alert, gentle, unaffected, and courageous. These disciples were to be…all-inclusive…. Insiders and outsiders was not to be part of their understanding.” Errico reminds us that before Jesus told his disciples to be perfect, he had taught them ” Love your enemies,bless anyone who curses you, do good to anyone who hates you,and pray for those who…persecute you…so you may be children of your Father…who pours down his rain upon the just and unjust. This is the perfection to which Jesus referred. And, just as God does not discriminate but is ‘all-inclusive’ so his children were to show the same nonexclusive nature as their heavenly Father” (p. 103). He continues: “Perfection is a loving presence. It is the loving presence that is all-inclusive….This is God in action.” we are to be like our loving God who blesses “the good and the bad, the just and unjust”. This is the PERFECTION that God wants of us.

So, my friends, let us strive to be perfect in loving one another-NO MATTER WHAT!

Be blessed,

Rev. Dr. Judy Lee, RCWP

The Good Shepherd Community in Fort Myers, Florida

2/19/2023

Last year, 2022, was a banner year for the ordination of women to the Roman Catholic Priesthood. World wide, since 2002, there are almost three hundred Ordained Priests and Deacons in the line of Apostolic succession in the Roman Catholic Church. In 2022, nine well prepared women were ordained Priests and eight were ordained Deacons and one a Bishop through the Roman Catholic Women Priest Movement, RCWP. We welcome all of them to the RCWP inclusive community of equals.

The names of the nine women ordained as Roman Catholic Priests in 2022 are: Rev. Teresa Elder Hanlon of Alberta ,Canada-4/30/22, Bishop +Jane Kryzanowski Presiding; Rev. Katie Nimcheski of Albany, New York-June 4, 2022-+Bridget Mary Meehan Presiding; Rev. Donna Johnson-Smith of Olympia, Washington-July 30,2022-+Bishops Jane Via and Suz Thiel Presiding; Revs. Mary Ann Matthys and Phillis Sheppard of Albany, New York-8/27/2022-+Bridget Mary Meehan Presiding; Revs. Vieda Baker and Denise Bernt of Portland, Oregon-9/10/22-+Suz Thiel Presiding; Rev. Rosemary Robinson of San Francisco, California +Bridget Mary Meehan Presiding; Rev. Elaine Pfaff of Corolla, North Carolina-October 10,2022-+Bridget Mary Meehan Presiding.

On October 22,2022 in Coralville, Iowa Rev. Martha Sherman was ordained Bishop-Presiding Bishops were: +Nancy Meyer, +Jean Marchant, +Mary Keldermans and + Jane Kryzanowski.

Below we see: On September, 10, 2022- Ordination of Veida Baker and Denise Bernt as Priests in Portland Oregon, +Suz Thiel Presiding Bishop and Priests of the Western Region of the United States.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE

The Roman Catholic WomenPriest Movement was launched on June 29th, 2002 in a ship on the Danube River near Passau, Germany when seven exceptionally well prepared women were ordained to the priesthood. Their names were: Dr. Ida Raming, Dr. Iris Muller, Dr.Gisela Forster, Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger, Adelinde Roitinger, Dagmar Celeste, and Pia Brunner. They were ordained by two male bishops in good standing with the church who passed on Apostolic Succession with the laying on of hands. Hence, they were really and validly ordained. The excommunications that they, and we, sustain due to ordination is a penalty we do not accept. For nothing can separate us from the love of Christ and the call to serve the people of God. Revs. Christine Mayr-Lumetzberger and Rev. Dr. Gisela Forster were ordained Bishops in 2003 by three valid male Bishops. Hence Apostolic Succession and valid ordination are now passed down to us by our own women Bishops. When the male Bishops who brought RCWP into being initially are deceased their names will be revealed. At the original Episcopal Ordination one of the male Bishops said to Revs. Christine and Gisela: “…This is not for you, but for bringing ordination to all women in the world who desire to become priests…Don’t sleep, don’t do ‘nothing’, don’t think this is enough. Be active as Bishops, go to the people and to those who need you.” (From “The Start: the Danube Seven and the Bishop Heroes”, by Gisela Forster, pp.9-13 in Women Find A Way-The Movement and Stories of Roman Catholic WomenPriests,2008, Edited By: McGrath, Meehan and Raming, VBW Press). Going to those who need us is exactly what all of our nearly 300 ordained do every day. We have a variety of ministries and churches throughout the world. We are simply Priests who serve God’s people throughout the world.

And we are a part of a long history of women clerics in the Church since the beginning. As these charts by Dr. Dorothy Irvin, PhD, (Pontifical Doctorate in Theology) theologian, Biblical archaeologist and scholar shows there were women who were Deacons, Priests and Bishops in the early church. On the bottom of the first chart which appears in a 2007 calendar, she includes some of the women ordained on the Danube in 2002). Dr. Irvin has also compiled The Archaeology of Women’s Traditional Ministries in the Church including her calendars and writings, also called The Rebound.

Dr. Irvin said “The archaeological evidence shows women as receiving ordination and experiencing ministries on par with men”.

AND AGAIN IN THE PRESENT TIME:

I was ordained in Boston, Mass. on July 20, 2008 along with Revs. Gabriella Velardi Ward of New York and Rev. Gloria Carpeneto of Maryland. Rev. Dana Reynolds and Rev. Dr. Ida Raming were presiding Bishops. We all remain active in our ministries and churches. Since then I have been the Pastor of the Good Shepherd Ministries and Inclusive Catholic Community in Fort Myers, Florida. Our church is a diverse group of women, men and children, old and young, who represent all colors and cultures and sexual orientations. Many were homeless and formerly homeless, and poor and well to do worship and serve one another and the community together. Due to Covid 19 and other factors I am not regularly celebrating Mass now but our community remains and I am still Pastor. It is the joy and fulfillment of my life. Below I am with Rvda. Marina Sanchez Mejia and some members of our Good Shepherd Community after Mass pre-Covid when we could still meet inside. More recently we have met outside.

Below are Priests and members of the Good Shepherd community gathered for the priestly Ordination of Rev. Marina Elena Sierra Sanchez of Colombia, South America with the Presiding Bishop Andrea Johnson at our Good Shepherd Church in February of 2017.

Long Live all who serve throughout the world, long live Priests and Pastors and Ministers and all people who live to serve God’s people, LONG LIVE Roman Catholic Women Priests among them!

We are hoping to redress injustice in the man-made rules of the modern and post modern Church denying ordination to women, and challenge mythology and lack of knowledge of the roles of women in the Priesthood since the church began by spreading truthful information. If knowledge is power, then we must know.

We are not new, and we ARE here. Women Priests exist NOW in the Roman Catholic Church. Come, get to know us and spread the truth so every year is a banner year for women priests in the Church, and every year speaks to justice in the church and in the world we serve.

Blessings,

Rev. Dr. Judy Lee, RCWP

Good Shepherd Ministries of SW Florida

2/11/2023