History/Herstory on all Continents was made on Saturday January 21st, 2017 when a total of millions of women and men , young and old,  of all races and religions marched peacefully FOR equality and justice for all in the wake of the January 20th inauguration of US President Donald Trump whose many Campaign comments denigrated women, immigrants, Mexicans, the disabled and many other groups and frightened people of difference in the LGBTI , Immigrant and Disabled and other communities.  Here is a “collage “of the marches with RomanCatholicWomenPriests comments and sharing following The New York Times.com. .

The beautiful message is “we are here” “we are watching you” and “we are strong”.

From The New York Times.com 

Scenes of the Protests on Every Continent

Across the Globe, Huge Numbers Raise Voices in Opposition to Trump

By SUSAN CHIRA and YAMICHE ALCINDOR

In cities across the country and beyond, demonstrators protested the new president after an election that placed gender in the spotlight as never before.

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• March in Washington Had 3 Times More People Than Inauguration, Scientists Say

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Women March in Washington

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Women’s March Highlights as Huge Crowds Protest Trump: ‘We’re Not Going Away’

By ANEMONA HARTOCOLLIS and YAMICHE ALCINDORUPDATED 10:58 AM

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• Hundreds of thousands of women gathered in Washington on Saturday in a kind of counterinauguration after President Trump took office on Friday. A range of speakers and performers cutting across generational lines rallied near the Capitol before marchers made their way toward the White House.

• They were joined by crowds in cities across the country: In Chicago, the size of a rally so quickly outgrew early estimates that the march that was to follow was canceled for safety. In Manhattan, Fifth Avenue became a river of pink hats, while in downtown Los Angeles, even before the gathering crowd stretched itself out to march, it was more than a quarter mile deep on several streets.

• Begun as a Facebook post just after the election, the march is the start of what organizers hope could be a sustained campaign of protest in a polarized America, unifying demonstrators around issues like reproductive rights, immigration and civil rights. The movement has also encountereddivisions.

• The Times had journalists covering the marches in Washington; New York; Boston; Atlanta; Denver; Los Angeles; Phoenix; St. Paul, Minn.; and Key West, Fla. Check out what they posted on Twitter and what readers asked of them live. See photos from marches around the world, too. (All times listed below are local.)

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Here are some highlights from the rally in Washington:

(Or watch video of the whole event.)

• The singer and actress Janelle Monae highlighted the issue of police violence, leading the crowd in a chant of “Sandra Bland! Say her name!”, a reference to the high-profile case where a black woman died in police custody in Texas after being arrested in 2015.

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She then brought the microphone to each of the women in “Mothers of the Movement” who had joined her onstage. One by one, they joined in the chant, each inserting the name of her child who had died at the hands of the police.

• The actress Ashley Judd delivered an uninhibited speech that ended with her referencing how Mr. Trump bragged, in a 2005 recording, that he could use his celebrity status to force himself on women, even groping their private parts.

They “ain’t for grabbing,” she said. “They are for birthing new generations of filthy, vulgar, nasty, proud, Christian, Muslim, Buddhist, Sikh, you name it, for new generations of nasty women.”

• Gloria Steinem, the feminist icon of the 1960s and 1970s, told the women in the group to get to know one another more personally.

“Make sure you introduce yourselves to each other and decide what we’re going to do tomorrow, and tomorrow and tomorrow,” she said. “We’re never turning back!”

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• “It’s been a heart-rending time to be both a woman and an immigrant in this country,” said the actress and activist America Ferrera.“But the president is not America. His cabinet is not America. Congress is not America. We are America! And we are here to stay.”

• After getting to the crowd to repeat a number to call Congress, the filmmaker Michael Moore urged people to run for office:

“This is not the time for shy people! Shy people, you have two hours to get over it.”

• The actress Scarlett Johansson told a story about how she had visited a Planned Parenthood clinic in New York City after starting her acting career, and how a doctor there had treated her with compassion, “no judgment, no questions asked.”

“I feel that in the face of this current political climate, it is vital that we all make it our mission to get really, really personal,” she said.

“President Trump, I did not vote for you,” she continued. “I want to be able to support you. But first I ask that you support me. Support my sister. Support my mother. Support my best friend and all of our girlfriends.”

Otherwise, Ms. Johansson said, her own daughter, “may potentially not have the right to make choices for her body and her future that your daughter Ivanka has been privileged to have.”

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What’s up with those “pussyhats” I’ve heard about?

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Many participants believed that Mr. Trump expressed misogynistic views during the presidential campaign, with remarks about Megyn Kelly, Carly Fiorina and Hillary Clinton. After the 2005 recording surfaced, several women came forward to accuse Mr. Trump of inappropriate sexual conduct. He dismissed the recording as “locker room banter” and assailed his accusers.

In a sly allusion to the crude remarks Mr. Trump made in the recording, many marchers, men and women alike, wore pink “pussyhats,” complete with cat ears. The hats are described on pussyhatproject.com as a way to “make a unique collective visual statement which will help activists be better heard.”

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Mr. Trump seemed to go out of his way to ignore the march

Just after 10 a.m., Mr. Trump and his family headed in the opposite direction of the march in Washington for the National Prayer Service, an inaugural tradition, at the National Cathedral. When he spoke at C.I.A. headquarters in Langley, Va., in the midafternoon, he told his audience that they were his “No. 1 stop” on his first full day in office, because they were “really special amazing people.”

He also ruminated about how big the attendance had been at his inaugural speech, but he did not mention the large crowds of the women’s march, where demonstrators were challenging his administration on a number of policies, or even that the march was taking place as he was speaking.

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Hillary Clinton tweets her support

Mrs. Clinton was not expected to attend the march in Washington, The Times reported on Friday, but her Twitter account sent a midmorning note anyway.

https://twitter.com/HillaryClinton/status/822822900239581184″>

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Hillary Clinton

✔@HillaryClinton

Thanks for standing, speaking & marching for our values @womensmarch. Important as ever. I truly believe we’re always Stronger Together.

10:07 AM – 21 Jan 2017

• 114,743114,743 Retweets

• 412,960412,960 likes

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Elizabeth Warren: ‘Me, I’m here to fight back’

In a speech in Boston, Ms. Warren, a Democratic senator from Massachusetts, said fundamental freedoms, like abortion rights and gay marriage, could be at stake under Mr. Trump’s Supreme Court.

“We can whimper, we can whine or we can fight back,” she said, as demonstrators in pink hats waved American flags. “Me, I’m here to fight back.”

“We believe in science,” Ms. Warren said, adding, “we know that climate change is real.” A police officer patrolling the rally pumped his fists in agreement.

“We also believe that immigration makes this country a stronger country,” Ms. Warren said. “We will not build a stupid wall and we will not tear millions of families apart.”

“You know, I could do this all day,” she added, to laughs and cheers. “But we gotta march.”

Jess Bidgood

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John Lewis: ‘Don’t let anybody, anybody, turn you around’

Notable Signs: “Bend toward justice,” evokeing the work of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

“I’m ready to march again,” said Mr. Lewis, a Democratic representative of Georgia, who chaired the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee in the 1960s. “I’ve come here to say to you: Don’t let anybody, anybody, turn you around.”

Citing the demonstrations across the country, Mr. Lewis urged marchers, who flowed onto the street running near the Center for Civil and Human Rights, to “use this unity to organize” future political efforts.

”The next election, we must get out and vote like we never, ever voted before,” said Mr. Lewis, who was embroiled in a public clash with Mr. Trump recently.

Alan Blinder

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Everyone wants to know: How many people turned out?

The crowds appeared to be huge in most places, with marchers in Washington, New York City and Chicago seeming to stretch to the horizons. Police departments, at times, decline to provide crowd estimates, and crowds are notoriously hard to estimate, even with a good satellite image. But some official and unofficial estimates have given a sense of the turnout.

Attendance in New York City was more than 400,000, according to Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office. The St. Paul police issued an official crowd count of 50,000 to 60,000 people. Attendance in Boston was 175,000, according to Nicole Caravella, a spokeswoman for Mayor Martin J. Walsh. The Atlanta Police Department estimated about 60,000 people attended a rally there. The Department of Public Safety in Phoenix estimated that some 20,000 marched, while in Key West, Fla., a town of 25,000, police said more than 2,000 people marched.

Organizers in Chicago estimated the crowd there at 250,000, the Chicago Tribune said. The Office of Emergency Management and Communications there said late on Saturday morning that Grant Park, the sprawling area where the rally-goers had gathered, had been filled to capacity. Though the official march was canceled, many still chose to walk through downtown holding protest signs.

Although the mayor’s office in Washington and organizers declined to provide an estimate of the size of the flagship march, The Associated Press reported that the District of Columbia’s homeland security director, Christopher Geldart, said it was safe to say the crowd at the march there was more than the 500,000 that organizers told city officials to expect.

“The crowd was so heavy, we didn’t know which way to go,” said Sabitha Pillai-Friedman, a psychotherapist who traveled to Washington from Philadelphia with her 17-year-old child, Sanji, and a friend, Pallavi Sreedhar. “We were squeezed, touching.”

(March organizers offered a worldwide tally for the 673 “sister” marches, but when asked, could not provide an explanation of how the tally had been calculated.)

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Here’s a rundown of scenes across the country. First up? Location: Washington. Time: 4:43 p.m.

Overheard Chant: “Yes we can” as people walked past the White House.

As the sun set downtown, protesters made their way to the White House and assembled in small groups in a park just across from the building’s entrance. There in an area surrounded by temporary gates, people walked single file through one open entrance and one by one laid protest signs across gates set up for inauguration several hundred feet away from the White House.

While the temporary gates made walking up to the building impossible, people stood shaking their heads in frustration.

Fontella Garraway, a 50-year-old retired Army veteran who drove three and half hours from her home in Rocky Mount, N.C., sat on a bench staring at the White House with a pin that read “girl power.”

“Even looking at the White House, it’s like I hope he’s looking out here at us,” she said of Mr. Trump. “I hope it’s penetrating to him that we mean business and we are serious.”

Moments later she lay a handwritten sign that read “Love trumps hate; Hear our voice,” on the a fence facing the White House.

”That’s his inauguration gift,” she said.

Yamiche Alcindor

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Location: Phoenix. Time: 1:01 p.m.

Notable Chant: “Tell me what America looks like! This is what America looks like.”

Notable Sash: “65,855,610 votes for a woman,” worn by Sara Powell, 61, of Phoenix, and nine of her friends.

Overheard: “My arms are tired. This is a good workout,” said Rima Borgogni, 50, owner of a Pilates studio in Sedona, Ariz., after holding a sign throughout the mile-long march.

Ellen Ferreira and her friends felt as if they were fighting for some of the same things they used to. They are mostly retired and many of them are veterans of past protests, including the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom in 1963, when Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech.

“For our right to choose,” said Piya Jacob, 70, a retired elementary school principal.

“For equality,” said Mary Helsaple, 67, an artist.

“For healing justice,” said Gretchen Vorbeck, 72, who runs a nonprofit that buys grocery gift cards for public schoolteachers.

Carol Decker, 70, a retired magazine publisher, jumped in and said, “We’re mad as hell and we’re not going to take it anymore.”

Fernanda Santos

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Location: Washington. Time: 3:10 p.m.

Notable Chants: “We are the popular vote!”

Notable Shirt: A blue shirt with “Make Sexism Wrong Again” in the same style as “Make America Great Again” campaign shirts.

Just off 15th street, a block north of the parade’s official end point, a large flatbed float with big “TRUMP” letters arched along the back parked itself in the middle of the street, drawing the ire of the thousands of marchers, who berated the float with chants of “Shame!” and “We are the popular vote!”

Police officers formed a barricade around the float with more than a half-dozen sidecar motorcycles. The six or so men and one woman on the float all took pictures of the protesters.

Yet some of those who chanted to chase the float away weren’t surprised at its appearance at their march.

“I mean the inauguration was yesterday,” said Chrissy Fiore, 39, of Washington, though she said it was “crazy that they made it down here and that now they’re getting police escorted out.”

Officers wouldn’t let reporters approach those on the float or those driving it, but a magnet on the side said “Trump Unity Bridge.”

As the float headed east to move away from the parade, Sheriff David A. Clarke Jr. of Milwaukee County, a Trump supporter, was seen walking along the sidewalk, taking in the scene but remaining silent. He did not respond to a reporter’s question about his opinion of the march or protest.

Nick Corasaniti

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Location: New York City. Time: 1 p.m.

Chant: “Don’t take away our ACA” and “Who’s the boss? We are!”

Notable Signs: “Show us your taxes;” “you can’t comb over sexism;” “1459 days;” and “build a bridge not a wall.”

Overheard: One woman speaking at the rally told the story of having an abortion when she was young, making the minimum wage and could not support a child. She said she was fighting for equal pay “not just for white women.”

At the rally in Mr. Trump’s hometown near Trump World Tower, elected officials and celebrities assailed the president. Signs in the crowd mocked his bouffant hair and the size of his hands. The actress Whoopi Goldberg said it would be the first of many protests against the president.

“This is how people ended the war in Vietnam,” Ms. Goldberg told the cheering crowd.

Grace Huezo, 20, a student at Hunter College, marched with her twin sister holding a “Nasty Woman” sign. She said she was there to defend women’s rights after she was appalled by Mr. Trump’s comments about grabbing women.

“We’re here saying, no, people do not have permission to grab women without our permission,” she said.

She said she was buoyed by the huge turnout and the camaraderie.

“I’m hopeful to see so many people that are not giving up and they’re keeping their spirit,” she said. “We’re all just going to stick together over the next four years.”

Emma G. Fitzsimmons

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Location: Denver. Time: 10:22 a.m.

Popular chant: “March! March! March!”

Notable signs: “I won’t stop til it rains glass;” “You can’t comb over misogyny” (accompanied by a drawing of Mr. Trump’s hair); “Flunk the Electoral College.”

Overheard: “I got to bring my high school punk rock out,” said Emily Hastings, 39, a woman from Denver wearing a black “eat the rich” T-shirt and carrying a “Don’t tread on women” sign. “Punk rock is all about resistance.”

The march began in a park at the center of the city with a group singing “You’ve got a friend.” Marchers blanketed the park nestled between the gold-domed state capitol and city hall, hauling strollers, wearing pink hats and often hugging and kissing.

Julie Turkewitz

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Location: St. Paul. Time: 10:55 a.m.

Notable Sign: “Make America Compassionate Again,” and “I Love You”

Thousands of demonstrators gathered on a drizzly morning clad in rain boots, ponchos and pink knit “pussyhats” to march to the Capitol.

“What Trump has said is so based on exclusion and winning and being right versus taking care of everyone,” said Hilary James, 27, a musician from Minneapolis. “Even if he doesn’t listen to us, I feel it’s important to not sit back.”

Christina Capecchi

Location: Boston. Time: 10:25 a.m.

Notable Sign: Make America Think Again

Gloria Cole, 66, had turned the protest into a family affair, traveling here with her wife, her daughter, her daughter’s boyfriend, and her brother and sister-in-law.

“I drew a line, it’s like, I’m an old woman — I’m not that old, I’m 66 — I have to stand up for equal rights for everyone, for human rights,” Ms. Cole said. “We’re here, and we’re not going away.”

Aili Shaw, 14, held a white sign that read, “Our arms are tired from holding these signs since the 1920s.”

Ms. Shaw had traveled here, by train and car, with friends from her home in Coventry, R.I.

“Women don’t have the rights they should,” she said.

Jess Bidgood

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Location: Washington. Time: 10:30 a.m.

Popular Chant: “Thank You.” Women were chanting this to the organizers of the march as they kicked off the day’s events.

Notable Clothing: At the corner of C and Third Southwest, many women (and some men) were wearing cat-eared “pussyhats” of all shades of pink. Organizers wanted to knit as many as one million hats for this event.

People were also getting creative with the signs they carry. Alan and Alison Lewis drove in from Astoria with their 20-month-old, Grace.

https://twitter.com/katierogers/status/822831081258975233″>

• “You shouldn’t have to have a relationship to a woman to stand up for women,” Mr. Lewis said. “Equality and justice is enough of a reason to be here.”

Katie Rogers

 And from RCWP PRIESTS: 

 Photos from Annapolis, MD Women’s March Jan 21, 2017 From RCWP_East Bishop Andrea Johnson

There were over 600 men, women and children at the march which went up Main Street from the Market Square, where slaves were once sold, to the Annapolis State House, which had once served for 9.5 months as the Capitol of the United States before Washington, DC, was built. Spencer and I stood and listened to the speakers next to the statue of the late Justice of the Supreme Court of the US, Thurgood Marshall, an African-American  Marylander, and a great friend of women. Carved in stone over the speakers heads was the inscription – Equal Justice Under Law. The last speaker finished by saying, “This is just the beginning.” E-mail addresses were collected for future actions.

From Morag Liebert, RCWP Scotland

To see video clips and photos of Women’s Marches in Edinburgh, Scotland and the UK look at:

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-edinburgh-east-fife-38704352

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38700123

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38706746

Over 2,000 women turned up to a demonstration outside the American Consulate in Edinburgh (an actual march was not possible because of time scale)  and 80 to 100 thousand women marched in London to Trafalgar Square.  Not totally all women, there were some men!  I was at the demo in Edinburgh.  It was great!  There were some wonderful placards and banners.

Enjoy the video clips and write ups!  Morag.

From Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP

Women’s March in Sarasota, Florida Challenges Trump Administration on Women’s Rights, Advocates for Equal Rights for All

Pat Mac Millian and Bridget Mary Meehan from Mary Mother Of Jesus Catholic Community in Sarasota, Florida at Women’s March on Jan. 21, 2017

Anna Davis, Bridget Mary Meehan and Russ Banner from Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community at Women’s March in Sarasota, Florida on Jan, 21, 2017

From Suzanne Thiel RCWP  Portland ,Oregon

38 degree Rain and Rain and More Rain but didnt stop us!
That is Becky Karver with me who is a strong advocate.
People clicking pictures everywhere and thumbs up and thanks-yous!
And getting info about us and our website!

And From Linda Spears, RCWP in Quebec, Canada

Dear All,

Our little ski resort town of Sutton marched in solidarity with women’s marches all over the world at 10 AM today. Out of a population of the 4000 (with part-time residents 8000) we were between 80 and 100 men, women, children and dogs. We were Anglophones and Francophones. Trump has certainly succeeded in uniting us, but not in the way he intended.

Linda Spear, priest, RCWP Canada East, Sutton, QC

 

This is a song of celebration for the life of Sherry Hornbrook ,74,of Fort Myers, Florida who left this earth sheltered in the arms of Love and surrounded by her three beloved pets:  her dogs, beloved  big,shaggy, docile, sweet Annie,15, and Buddy, her little ball of fire and love, with her less than a year, and her very special cat, Tux, with her three years.  The latter two were homeless pets that she opened her life to when I asked for her kindness, bringing them such security and joy. She was in her favorite company. She left quietly and peacefully in her sleep some time in the wee hours of January 19th, 2017 for her forever life with our loving God.

Sherry was a woman of faith though not a regular church goer as her favorite church was St. Michael and All Angels Episcopal Church on Sanibel Island. This was her family’s church for over thirty years after her parents moved there from Michigan. She had recently began to attend Iona Hope Episcopal Church in Fort Myers, closer to her home. Her faith was evident in the way she cared for her animals and for her friends and neighbors. The last I visited with Sherry was about two weeks ago when she brought me boxes of crayons to give to the children that I serve in our Mission church , the Good Shepherd Inclusive Catholic Community.  She also cooked home made chicken noodle soup and her special banana bread for my life and ministry partner, Judy Beaumont as she battles yet another cancer with heavy rounds of chemo. Sherry never “wanted to intrude” but would just deliver her gifts to the door, and we let her know how very thankful we were. We spoke on the phone too as she liked to share how happy she was with the animals that I introduced into her life.This too was a great source of joy for me, as was her feeding of  a few of the many stray kittys we have in our neighborhood.  Sherry loved animals and they responded to her without fear.

On the morning of January 19th, the loud whining sirens from an ambulance and police cars rudely summoned the neighbors to the streets.  The sirens stopped at Sherry’s house where her closest friends,Donna, in tears,and Joe by her side, told the police that she found Sherry in her bed, lifeless. Sue and Luther, her good friends from across the street joined them and I came a little later.  We all held each other and cried as we realized that Sherry was gone. We would not hear her voice again though she dearly loved talking with each of us when she visited or was visited. We all described the feeling of emptiness we had as we looked at the house she loved,and responded to Annie and Buddy bewildered and confused at the fence. (Tux was under the bed and would not emerge). Joe and Donna shared that at first Buddy would not let anyone get close to Sherry’s bed. He was standing next to her,and doing his job of guarding her with all he had to offer in his compact small mixed terrier body. Joe was able to call him outside with Annie. The police officer asked about her relatives and for any knowledge of her health. As far as anyone knew, Sherry had no life threatening illnesses. She did not expect death, although she had let some of us know who would take care of the pets in the event of her passing. She was proud that she had made plans for them.

Her beloved Mother Eleanor Hornbrook, of Sanibel, Florida preceded her in going home to God by a little more than a year (in September of 2015). After working many years at a job she loved at Furniture World she retired and her recent life had been devoted to the care of her mother and her wonderful and vital pet family and with visiting her sister, Cynthia, who was in a rehab facility. She spoke frequently on the phone with her dear sister, Peggy Hornbrook Mulligan in Michigan and referred to her in conversation as if she lived here too.  She also thoroughly enjoyed getting to know her grand-niece Sarah and Sarah’s wife, Rachel who now lived nearby and Sarah’s children. She had Thanksgiving with them and was thrilled by this. It was moving to see the love and respect Sarah and Rachel had for this newly found grand-Aunt as they assumed the care of her beloved pets.  Her best friends were neighbors Joe and Donna Grohal. Joe, whom she knew for over twenty years, helped her with her grounds and did many tasks for her and she was so grateful to him. Joe and Donna shared holidays with her and the ups and downs of their lives.  She had had a great Christmas with them.  Joe shared that he and Sherry had coffee together the morning of the 18th and she was full of life and interest in all he was doing.  We each regretted the times we could have visited her but got caught up with our own lives. And yet we recognized that we are all a part of each other’s lives. She was a gentle and caring woman who loved her home and her pets and her yard, especially the beautiful big trees in the yard. She built a wonderful large and safe enclosure so the dogs could run and play in the yard and so Tux could eat grass now that he became an indoor cat.  Then, it seemed to us in the midst of life, she was suddenly gone.

Another neighbor, Lorna Kibbe joined us as we stood there remembering Sherry. She did not know Sherry well, but cared deeply that our neighbor was gone. I asked if the little group of neighbors and friends would like to pray together and the strong response was “yes, please” We held hands and stood in a circle and prayed for Sherry and her family of pets and people, and for each of us there who would miss her. Of different Christian denominations and faiths we joined in the faith of her eternal life with our loving God and in being so very thankful for the life she led among us.

Neither….death, nor life nor…. present things,nor future things…nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39)

“Precious in the sight of the Lord, is the death of his faithful ones” Psalm 116:15

And precious to us forever is Sherry Hornbrook, who made 74 years on this earth and lives on in eternity. We are so blessed to be her neighbors  and friends.

These are some pictures of Sherry taken in December of 2013 when I brought her cat Tux to live with her: 

I wrote on December 22,2013:

A great joy this week was placing Tuxedo in a new home. This is a kitty who has been visiting me for a few months. He was terrified of human contact and would literally run so fast that he would disappear when we first met. In the past few weeks he became very friendly and did all he could to beg his way inside. I was so blessed to have a neighbor, Sherry Hornbrook who was willing to adopt him. He went to the Vet on Monday and was neutered and got all of his shots. He had to stay a little longer as there was a complication with his neutering and he had a pre cancerous condition that was so much better removed! He did very well with all of this and charmed everyone at Dr. Terry Sutton’s Three Oaks Animal Hospital.  He was so ready for a home. On Friday Sherry picked him up and it was mutual love right away. He is adjusting to two older dogs who are very patient with him as they had a cat sibling before. What a lucky kitty to have such a loving family now. We are very thankful. (One of the beloved older dogs, Freckles, passed away in the next year or so and after a while there was room in Sherry’s heart for another little dog. )

This (below) is the little dog that Sherry accepted into her family last March. She renamed him Buddy because he became her special buddy and a buddy to Annie and Tux. (Buddy is with Pat Scorsone here who helped me bring him to Sherry. Pat had cared for him after he lost his home and had been hit by a car. Sherry told Pat that she could visit Buddy any time but Pat was just so pleased that he would have a home and big yard with Sherry.

Below this is  Sherry (in the middle) with Sue Davis and myself out for lunch, Judy Beaumont is taking the picture.

And here the words of poet William Wordsworth also fit:

“she lived unknown, and few could know,

when Lucy ceased to be….

But O, the difference to me”  And to all of her neighbors , friends and family four and two-legged.

REST IN PEACE DEAR SHERRY, you are our angel on Eastshore Drive now!

With love and blessings,

Judy Lee

Rev. Dr. Judith Lee, RCWP

“I commend to you our sister Phoebe,a deaconess of the church in Cenchrea.  I ask you to receive her…and to give her any help she may need of you….” Romans 16:1-2  Here, the Apostle Paul instructs the Roman church to assist Deacon Phoebe-Can we do less?

Here is a way to take action in support of women deacons within the traditional Roman Catholic Church presented by the Women’s Ordination Conference:Please use the clicks below.

In our age of uncertainty, violence, terrorism, just plain hatred and distrust of others and a resurgence of nationalism where mine is right and yours, if different, is wrong we find ourselves in a place not so different than the time of Jesus’birth and early years.  Jesus was born when his  Hebrew people and native land were under Roman rule, occupation and oppression. Today in the Middle East, Israel as a sovereign country exists , a small but powerful country seeking to protect its borders and territory. It exists in conflict with most of its neighbors and especially with Palestine (that also has a strong claim on the land).  There is no peace. In Jesus’ day those who were poor suffered greatly and justice was, and still is, yet to be realized. Jesus was born in relative poverty in an obscure place but one of importance in his prophetic Jewish tradition.  Yet, even by unusual light and events in the night skies people found him. Those who were not powerful were the first to find him.The shepherds, a despised and maligned local group, were the first to follow the light to his manger and to spread the good news of his birth(Luke 2:1-14). From the beginning of Jesus’life the definitions of who is important to God is turned upside down.  A little  later we see strangers finding him with the Magi from the East making their journey to him.(The Gospel of the day: Matthew 2:1-12).  Magi were priests in the Zoroaster religion and they sought God by signs in the sky. They came from the area that is Iran today. In tradition, they are sometimes called kings because of the very expensive gifts they brought-gold for a king, myrrh for a healer and for pain, and frankincense for divinity. Gifts full of symbolism and meaning. And they were called kings and wise men because the Prophets (eg. our other texts of the day, Isaiah 60: 1-6; Psalm 72:1-13) foretold that kings of Sheba( now Ethiopia) and Arabia and other distant places would seek and find God’s chosen one, Messiah, Beloved, Son.  Emmanuel-God With US. Then justice and peace would finally come to the world. There would be a Light to show the way.  No  class or racial/cultural divides and no  nationalism here: all were welcome to find God revealed in a tiny humbly born human being, Jesus, the Christ-child.

Many sought him, some found him, but few live the lives he asks us to live-lives of compassion, inclusion, justice and peace making-lives marked by selfless love, and priority on the poor and outcast, like his. Hence, the promises of lasting justice and peace are yet to be fulfilled. Recent political events in the United States now prompt hundred of thousands of diverse women to march and stand in protest for the January 20th inauguration of the President-elect whose strongly,sometimes crudely, stated negative views on the dignity and worth of women and migrants from different shores leave us in disbelief and dismay. Standing up for justice for all is a beautiful “God-thing”as we say today.  As Pope Francis responded: to live Christ is to be a builder of bridges, not walls.

And so now, in our times we still seek God.  And the more we seek the more we find that God is bigger than and MORE than all we seek. God does not fit in a “God Box” all neatly tied with a bow. Jesus the Christ surely does not fit in that box.  Our current love of the Cosmos and the Cosmic Christ and dependence on science for knowledge are but another step in this journey. Yet, it is faith that guides and prompts our search and the concepts of faith and knowledge are relevant at different levels of being.  Faith is not based on logic or even knowledge, it is a gift of God-it is Grace, the Spirit of God helping us to believe and reach out to God. I do not think we find God through what we see as scientific fact, better known as theory. There are too many unknowns still. What goes on in the “black holes in space” are but one example of this.   It takes a leap of faith to get up and make the journey into the unknown. The Magi represent this leap of faith as do the despised poor shepherds, as do Mary and Joseph as well. The story of Jesus’beginnings is all about faith, risking a journey into the uncertain and the unknown to find God and what God wants of us now in a world where love, justice and peace are sorely needed. The beginnings of this journey as revealed in Scripture and those accounts of the writers who lived closer to Jesus’ time are every bit as meaningful and valid and perhaps more so than our newest imaginations. Let us bring forth the foundation of our faith as we forge a way into the future and as we seek God’s Love and Wisdom. So, standing on all that has been revealed, let us step out on faith and find all that is to come.  A blessed feast of Epiphany to all near and far.

Rev. Dr. Judy Lee,RCWP

Good Shepherd Inclusive Catholic Community, Fort Myers, Florida

Here below are excerpts from the Homily of Rev. Dr. Beverly Bingle of Toledo, Ohio who shows us how Jesus too was a migrant, a refugee and comments on living a life of welcome to strangers in our midst.

“….Epiphany is a good word for this.
It’s from the Greek,
meaning appearance or manifestation or revelation.
Lots of things are revealed
in this second chapter of Matthew’s Gospel,
and two of the most decisive are
that Jesus is hated by the powerful oppressor
and that he is adored by wise outsiders.
To show who Jesus really is,
Matthew pictures him as a helpless baby,
born away from his parents’ home,
taken to another country to escape slaughter,
then being settled in a different place
because of fear of oppression.
Jesus is poor, a refugee, a displaced person, an immigrant.
__________________________________________
Tomorrow [today] through next Saturday
is National Migration Week.
Our Church reflects on the circumstances
faced by migrants, including immigrants, refugees, children,
and victims and survivors of trafficking.
Pope Francis asks us to create a “culture of encounter” with them.
He wants us to look past what we want
to pay attention to what the people around us need.
__________________________________________
It’s hard for me to imagine the fear and the chaos
of the experience of being a refugee.
The closest I’ve been was the time I woke up
to find a strange man standing by my bed.
I jumped up and chased him out of the house,
swinging a rocking chair at him like it was a piece of spaghetti.
Adrenalin is pretty amazing!
But I didn’t feel safe in my home any more.
I couldn’t stay there,
but I didn’t have to leave town or leave the country.
I slept on a friend’s sofa for three nights
while I searched for an apartment.
That’s a pretty tame experience
compared to some I’ve heard about.
Last year a teacher told me about a second grade student
who was living with his grandmother in a van.
A few years ago I visited Family House Shelter
and cringed at the rooms for the homeless,
a 10×9 space for the whole family.
You’ve seen it, right here in our own wealthy country:
rows and rows of cots at the Cherry Street Mission,
New Orleans after Katrina,
people curled up to sleep under a bridge or on a park bench.
And we’ve all seen our broken world on TV,
most recently the bloodied women with babies and children
racing away from the rubble of their homes in Aleppo.
As Christians, we see the Holy Family in these refugee families.
We see living, breathing, feeling people,
children of God just like us,
people who, as Isaiah says, show the glory of God rising.
__________________________________________
When I think about the suffering of the immigrant and the migrant
and the refugee and the trafficked and the homeless,
I’m inspired by YOU.
Our community has donated to ABLE, Rahab’s Heart,
Claver House, 1Matters, UStogether, and Beach House.
More than money, though,
each one of you gives stuff, or time and energy, or prayer.
You create that “culture of encounter” that Pope Francis talks about
every time you work in a pantry, pray for peace,
or give socks and gloves for the homeless.
You signed welcome cards
to the Syrian refugee families now settling here in Toledo.
Every week you fill my car with really good stuff
to take to Claver House for the hungry and homeless;
and to take to Rahab’s Heart
for their work with trafficked women;
and to UStogether for the new refugees.
__________________________________________
The principles of social justice you put into practice
weren’t created by our Catholic church.
They are rooted in the whole Judeo-Christian tradition
of hospitality to the stranger.
Referring to Abraham and Sarah,
St. Paul told the Hebrews not to neglect hospitality,
for through it some have unknowingly entertained angels.
And he wrote to the Ephesians that we are all heirs,
all part of the one body.
To paraphrase Pogo, we have met the stranger and he is us.
__________________________________________
We expect the coming years to be challenging.
We find hope in responding to the needs of the displaced.
Even more, we will keep on speaking up
whenever the policies of our leaders—
local and state and national—
threaten the peace and prosperity
of the least of our brothers and sisters.
Maybe it will be a one-line email
sent to our representative and senators in Congress:
don’t mess with Obamacare;
keep public lands for the public;
subsidize renewable energy, not fossil fuels;
no more fracking;
tax breaks for the poorest, not the richest.
Or a phone call to the mayor
or a council member or a county commissioner.
__________________________________________
However we are able, we will reach out,
building that “culture of encounter” that Francis talks about,
one person at a time.
We’ll be entertaining angels,
and we will be aware of it.
Thanks be to God!

—
Holy Spirit Catholic Community
Saturdays at 4:30 p.m./Sundays at 5:30 p.m.
at 3925 West Central Avenue
Toledo, OH 43606
(Washington Church)

www.holyspirittoledo.org

Rev. Dr. Bev Bingle, Pastor
Mailing address: 3156 Doyle Street, Toledo, OH 43608-2006
4

A BLESSED EPIPHANY TO ALL!

The Rising Sun-Reflections on a Christmas Ministry

And Last Report on Good Shepherd Ministries of SW Fl, INC

“In the tender compassion of our God the dawn from on high (the Rising Sun) shall break upon us, to shine on those who dwell in darkness and the shadow of death and to guide our feet into the way of peace” Luke 1:78-79 NAB-TIB-“Rising Sun”)

In this year’s Christmas eve Scripture Zechariah, the father of the prophet John, sings a canticle about his newborn son John who is to “go before the Lord to prepare his way…”(verse 76). God’s tender compassion is breaking through into history. Through Jesus- the Christ of Christmas- God has entered the world in a new way, has come closer than ever to being one of us, bringing the light of dawn and rising sun in the night of darkness.

The Hebrew Scripture reading for Christmas Eve, 2 Samuel 7 reflects on David the young shepherd king chosen by God to lead God’s people. And in Luke 2: 8-20, the traditional Christmas Scripture, gives poor shepherds the shock and blessing of being the first to welcome Jesus into our world, responding to amazing events in the night sky, as a baby laying in a manger, a feeding trough for the cows. The image here is not only poor rough simple folks receiving the Good News and passing it on, nor the poverty of Jesus’ birth in union with most of the world’s struggling  children and families but that the Shepherd Leader/king sent to the world by God is here!   God is with us in a new way, in a way we can see and feel and emulate. If we but have the faith and courage, if we know his voice as the sheep know the shepherd’s voice and respond, and if we can see the light in the darkness.

Mary Marrocco (Living with Christ-Today’s Good News, December 2016, p. 162) reflects “In Christ, God gives a shepherd who knows and loves his people, goes where they go and lays down his life for them. How fitting that a group of shepherds are the first in this world to greet him. He does not rule from above; he claims his own by being born into the midst of them-of us. Christ our shepherd, come close to us”. (Emphasis mine)

Our Good Shepherd Ministries

We believe that our Shepherd is close to us this year and abides with us through illness and getting older and the need for change in our ministry and in our lives because of new bouts with cancer appearing in February and June of 2016. We believe that Light completely changes darkness. I have faced my second cancer this year and it, like the first one three years ago, was handled primarily by surgery.  Judy Beaumont’s is a return of a blood cancer probably secondary to the chemotherapy given for her earlier blood cancer, APL, which was cured over ten years ago. Ten years cancer free was more precious than we knew. This one is held at bay by a strong chemo that is a monthly event. Hers is an ongoing battle necessitating our courage and strength, time and focus. This chemo beats back the blasts that could rise to AML (Leukemia) and it IS working, thank God, but takes a monthly toll.  God is with us as we transform ourselves and our current Good Shepherd Ministry from a 501c3, tax exempt ministry existing since 2008 to returning to our lives offered as ministry. In a way it is a full circle, for before we ever declared a ministry with a name and a tax exempt status we simply served, especially the poor and the outcast, the broken and the beautiful different people of God.

Our Good Shepherd Ministries of SW Florida came into existence in 2003 to continue our call to shelter the homeless and to follow the Shepherd and offer guidance, care, and light to the poor and homeless of greater Fort Myers. In 2003 Judy Beaumont and I bought a small humble home to shelter a homeless family and later a homeless mentally ill woman.  We sold this when their needs were met but continued to serve doing pastoral work in a Mission church serving poor African American and Caribbean and Hispanic and mixed communities, and later in a larger parish church.

In 2007 we joined with Lamb of God, an Episcopal Lutheran church Youth Group that fed the homeless and hungry in the local park.  As time went on and the Youth Group moved on leaving one strong family to continue we became known as Good Shepherd Ministries once again and responded to need by moving our ministry to a different night so there would be feeding and community worship on more than one night. In 2008 we incorporated into a 501c3 ministry so donations could be tax exempt. We have had a wonderful Board of Directors over the years with several of the original members remaining.  So many dedicated people have served with us in the ministry and in giving to the ministry, that it would take pages to name them and I would be afraid of forgetting one. But they know who they are and how much we thank them.

In July 2008 I became an ordained Roman Catholic Woman Priest and served sacramentally as well as in our Matthew 25 ministerial ways. Judy Beaumont was ordained as a Roman Catholic Woman Priest in 2012 and we continued to share the responsibilities of our wonderfully blessed ministry.   In late 2008 Judy and I bought a house for the ministry with our own funds.  In late 2009 we stopped our service in the park leaving that to other groups as we developed our Ministry House. Most people we serve just call it “the Church”. There we had feeding on Tuesdays and Sundays, worship, Sunday School and Youth work, counselling, free clothing and limited financial assistance and social services in the front part of the house. In the rear we developed first a transitional living facility and later a Hospitality House. In all until now in December of 2016 we have served 51 individuals living in “the church” for various periods of time. This includes individual women and men of all ages and families with children from toddlers to young adults and several pets.  Presently it is the home of a woman Roman Catholic Priest from Latin America who also ministers. The beat is different but the beat goes on.  The Sun is still rising.

A Last Report- July – December 2016

As of December 31, 2016 out of our own choice our 501c3 ministry will be dissolved but our service as God directs us will go on forever. We will not be tax exempt and minister on a large scale but our priesthood as servant leaders will never end. This is the Last Report on the Good Shepherd 501c3 ministry but it is not the last word on our ministry, God is still writing that story.

We gave a six month notice to our church community and continued our services as we began to phase out some of our activities. In July 2016 we reluctantly stopped our Sunday church services/Mass, our children’s and youth work and our Tuesday services.  We had a graduation service for the youth recognizing their achievements and meaningfully prepared them for continued faith learning. To that point we had already served over 600 meals without counting seconds and take-home meals.  We provided instruction and guidance for twenty children and youth.  We brought an adult and youth class of seven to the Sacrament of Confirmation in June of 2016. With those confirmed in 2014, 23 of our individuals were Confirmed in their Christian faith and desire to follow Christ and we had baptized 21 from infancy to old age in our eight years as Church.  We anointed many sick and dying and continued doing this in the last six months as well.  We made sure that all we served had access to other churches, pastors, counselors and social agencies. We encouraged and facilitated reaching out to other churches and agencies. Then from July to now we continued to serve individuals and families with needs. We continued pastoral and counselling relationships with many and we met many material needs.

We helped a young adult attending college and working establish her own apartment where she would have space and peace to study. We helped two other young adults with transportation so they could get to work. We counselled and gave support to a young man with mental illness as he attempted job preparation programs. One of our teens was accepted into a special fine arts program and we helped her with art supplies. One of our members and Board members is shepherding two of our teens in tutoring and other enrichment activities that leads to academic success and work possibilities. We were able to take a group of children, teens and grandparents to see The Wizard of Oz at Broadway Palm Dinner Theater. Joelle, our nine year old said “This is the BEST!” We also gave summer learning packets full of learning and fun materials to all of the children.

One of our most pleasant tasks was to help one of our very hard working mothers to buy her first home for her family of four by contributing to closing costs and some repairs and set up of utilities services.  Another of our formerly homeless women had to move from her apartment as she could no longer afford the raised rent of a new landlord. We helped her with Security and first month’s rent as well as furniture and also paid for her pets’ vaccinations and health needs. We assisted two others from the same development in finding and securing new housing. Pastor Judy Beaumont assisted her seven payees in obtaining other Rep. payees and in money management in their new rooms and situations. She helped make the transition easier for them. Two are now supported by family members.

Debbie and her family of four now have a new home that is their own, Thanks be to Debbie’s hard work and our gracious God! 

Another pleasant task was facilitating the move of Pat S. from her room in the church to permanent subsidized Senior housing. Pat who had formerly lived in the woods with her small cat Sarah had become a real part of our community since February of 2016.  She was confirmed with the group in June 2016. And Pastor Marina became her beloved housemate and catechist, teaching her to pray. She lets us know that we are in her prayers always and we are thankful. It was hard for her to leave, and we miss her too but her new home is a lovely ground floor apartment and she is very thankful for our help. She is slowly and regularly paying back the costs of her move, including old bill payback, rent, security, pet deposit, utilities set up and furniture.  She is also actively ministering to others in her Senior community. We helped three others with Senior and handicapped housing applications and referrals.

The newly Confirmed with Bishop Andrea Johnson. Left to right are Brenda, Debbie with Courtney, and Joelle, Gaspare in rear, Bishop Andrea, Pat, Quay in rear and Grandma Jolinda Harmon and myself. 

This is Pat in her new home in Senior Housing- Her church housemates Pastor Marina and Felice facilitated the move.   

One of our most difficult situations during this time was assisting a family of seven where the mother, age 39, was stricken with advanced cancer in August. We have helped this family with emotional and spiritual support and rent, utilities and appropriate referrals and individual needs for the last few years and this continued through this period of time. They were  active church members.  It was hard to experience their grief of “losing the church” even as they coped with the new diagnosis of advanced cancer and the accompanying pain and treatment regimes. I attended a session with the oncologist with the couple and helped them to understand what the Doctor was conveying. I also intervened when pain issues necessitated another level of pain management so treatment could continue. With this dear family and with one of our other members who has had a recent mastectomy our own experiences with cancer forge a special bond of understanding.  And, we try to be there for each one  as they are able to talk about it. We mediated with another  pastor and attended a church in their local area with the Grandmother and three of the children, three of the young cousins and three of our other church members. We also took them out to celebrate four birthdays on that day. We are hoping this Pastor and church will reach out to them and that transportation issues can be worked out.

(Below are the triplets with Grandma and cousins and myself on their 8th birthday , November 4,2016.)

We will continue to walk with this Mom and family although the financial support will have to be significantly less. We are hopeful for their greater independence while remaining there for them with pastoral support.

We helped several others with rent or Utility bills and  with appropriate referrals. We have been shepherding one woman back into mental health treatment so she is eligible for subsidized housing in that system and so she can negotiate other helping systems.  She is back on her meds and so far compliant and more hopeful.

In this Christmas season we were extremely blessed to have our Board member Gini Beecroft and her Red Thread Reading group from the Breckinridge Community to donate almost $1300 for gift cards and monetary gifts. We have dispersed these gifts and others earmarked for Christmas to twenty-five children and youth and thirteen formerly homeless and very low income adults. We did not accept gifts for the children from other individuals or agencies but had many gifts saved from the bounty of last year that made big Christmas bags for three large families and a few adults as well.  One special donation enabled us to buy a new bike for Mike M. one of our formerly homeless disabled Veterans who has maintained his housing since 2009 after living at our Joshua House transitional residence. Mike also helps rescue cats and kittens that abound in his community. We have kept in touch over the years.  This brings us full circle as an important part of our ministry in Lion’s Park was our bicycle ministry and Mike received his first bike from us then.  Our Kathy Roddy was able to pick him up and take him to buy the bike. Her joyful appreciation for the second Christmas in her own home after losing everything is a joy to behold. The greatest joy for us is to see how mutual aid works so beautifully in our group where we are all ministers. This a truly Merry Christmas for us all despite the transitions we have now completed and continue to face.

Gini Beecroft presenting the gifts of the Red Thread Spiritual Reading Group from the Breckinridge Community

The Good Shepherd Ministries will continue as we all continue to give our lives in service.

Christ our Shepherd stay close to us. Christ, our Light continue to shine in the darkness of poverty and homelessness, brokenness, illness, despair and doubt. Continue to be Love for us, turn our tears into joy and our hands into life giving service. Turn our faces toward the brilliance of the Rising Sun.

A blessed Christmas and Happy and Healthy New Year to All.

With much love and gratitude,

Pastor Judy Lee, RCWP and Pastor Judy Beaumont, RCWP

Co-Pastors and Directors of Good shepherd Ministries of Southwest Florida

From The National Catholic Reporter:

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2016

“African Jesuit Fr. Orobator quests for women’s inclusion in church structures” by Joshua J. McElwee , National Catholic Reporter

Some ordained members of the Eastern Region of Roman Catholic Women Priests

“When theologians or others raise concerns about the exclusion of women from decision-making roles in the Catholic church, critics often say such concerns only come from a certain subset of the Western faith community. They say those in places like Africa, where the church is burgeoning, have other worries.

Yet one of the most trenchant voices in recent years for the full inclusion of women in Catholic ministry has been a Nigerian Jesuit theologian and priest. In 2012, for example, he came to the premier annual theological conference in the U.S. with an unsparing message.

Discrimination against women within the Catholic community is so manifest, said the priest, that the church “totters on the brink of compromising its self-identity as the basic sacrament of salvation.”

Fr. Agbonkhianmeghe Orobator told that year’s annual gathering of the Catholic Theological Society of America that the state of women’s participation in the church leads to a deeply discomforting question.

“We stand before God, as Cain was, befuddled by a question that we simply cannot wish away at the wave of a magisterial wand,” he said. “The question is: ‘Church, where is your sister? Church where is your mother?’ “

 

In the years since, such blunt words on the situation of women in the church have become common for Orobator, who heads Kenya’s Jesuit Hekima University College. In March 2015 he addressed the matter at the Vatican itself, telling the second Voices of Faith event that girls in Africa are often treated as if they were “children of a lesser God.”

Orobator, 49, previously served as the head of the Jesuit province in eastern Africa. He was one of the delegates sent to Rome for the order’s October election of their new global superior and many Jesuit leaders openly speak of him as a possible future superior himself.

The Nigerian is also widely influential in U.S. theological circles, often making trips to speak at American Catholic colleges and universities. He has published several books that are frequently cited in others’ works, focusing on the African experience of Catholicism, the struggle to end violence across his continent, and feminist theological ethics.

In an October NCR interview in Rome shortly after the election of the new Jesuit superior, Orobator praised Pope Francis for creating a new commission to study the possibility of Catholic women deacons.

---

Related: “Nigerian Jesuit calls new superior general ‘someone you can relate with’ “ (Oct. 17, 2016)

---

Calling the idea a “real and present question,” he said he hoped the pontiff would not continue “dragging this out for centuries or decades … but [come] to some clearly defined position now because it is a question for now.”

“It involves lives of people and people who feel called to ministry in the church but at the same time feel they are not able to live out this call,” said the priest. “My hope is that we don’t drag this out for another decade.”

In an earlier, wide-ranging interview in 2015 on the sidelines of a pan-African theological conference hosted in Nairobi, Kenya, by his university college, Orobator said he is compelled to speak about the status of women in the church largely because of how he saw his mother and sisters face sex discrimination in Nigeria.

The theologian also portrayed the struggle for women’s inclusion as something personal, or even almost selfish. He said he cannot feel whole or complete until women are better represented in church structures.

“I feel almost violated because I feel that my humanity, which should be full and complete on the basis of mutuality and equality, is not being given that opportunity to have that experience of completeness,” stated the Jesuit.

“Humanity is not about one side,” he continued. “It’s about both. It’s man, it’s woman; it’s male; it’s female — it’s all together.”

“I feel that there’s something in me that will continue to be violated as long as that wholeness is not achieved, or as long as I participate, whether unconsciously or inadvertently, or by virtue of my belonging to this institution,” stated the Jesuit. “As long as I participate in that process of exclusion, I still feel violated. I feel responsible.”

“This is my deeply held conviction,” he concluded. “As long as there’s exclusion, we’re not whole. We’re not complete. We’re not an integral body. Something about our integrity is violated. And we’re responsible for that.”

[Joshua J. McElwee is NCR Vatican correspondent. His email address is jmcelwee@ncronline.org. Follow him on Twitter: @joshjmac.]

This third Sunday of Advent is the Sunday of Joy-Gaudete Sunday.    The readings of Advent lead us to prepare for the coming of the ONE we wait for-the ONE who will set the world aright, who will bring joy and life to the tired world, peace in the midst of conflict,forgiveness and mercy in the face of anger and hurt, water to the dry earth and those who thirst,  provisions and shelter and hope to the poor, restoring the lame and blind and those in despair. The lighting of the candles for the four weeks of Advent stir alive the flames of Hope, Peace, Joy and Love. We are to burn brightly with the essence of the living Christ in us even as we await the celebration of his birth once again. In the secular world and in the church, lights appear everywhere piercing the darkness, bright reds and greens and yellows and blues paint a joyful world. The deep purple candles represent hope, peace and love. The pink candle of Advent is the candle of joy. Joy is of a different order, it is a feeling, and one that we cannot fake, it must be born deep within us and its flame must last through the darkest nights and burst forth again. Even in the darkest times it burns within us for it is born of our connection with our loving God who through each one of us is making the world right. This year has shaken us with political turmoil and disappointments and fears for the well being of the poor and those who have little, and for peace in the world. Personally we each face challenges, losses of loved ones and profound illnesses that change everything. Everything but the Presence of our loving God who still works to help us rejoice and bloom like desert flowers, that strengthens the hands that are feeble with illness or age, turns around mourning and sorrow and frees us to enter Zion singing with joy and gladness. The One who secures justice for the poor and oppressed who loves the just, protects the strangers and raises up those who were bowed down IS with us and is coming again as we work for the kin-dom. (IS 35:1-6a,10; Psalm 146:6-10).In the Gospel, Matthew 11:2-11 Jesus asks John to look around and hear the news of what he has been doing.  He assures John that doing the work of justice described in Isaiah IS just what he has been doing.   AND, it is just what we need to be doing to get the job done. Light the light of JOY, God is not dead,nor does God rest-with our work for justice and peace the kin-dom/kingdom of God is here, and Christmas IS coming again this year!

“Our God keeps faith forever,secures justice for the oppressed, gives food to the hungry…” Psalm 146:6-7

This is part of my 2013 homily for the Sunday of Joy.

Are You The One? Homily for the 3rd Sunday in Advent A-Rejoice! By Pastor Judy Lee

Today‘s reading from Isaiah
tells us to have courage
because we will be vindicated.
Justice will prevail.
God will uphold us,
sustain us,
make all things right and just for us.
And when that happens, Isaiah says,
the poorest will be healed.
The eyes of the blind will be opened,
the ears of the deaf unsealed,
those who can’t walk will leap like deer,
and the tongues of those who cannot speak
will sing for joy.
________________________________________
In the Gospel we heard Matthew tell how John the Baptist,
when he sends his followers to ask Jesus if he is sent by God,
gets the answer
in terms of a fulfillment of that passage in Isaiah:
go back and report what you hear and see:
‘Those who are blind recover their sight;
those who cannot walk are able to walk,
those with leprosy are cured;
those who are deaf hear;
the dead are raised to life;
and the anawim—the “have-nots”—
have the Good News preached to them.’
________________________________________
The practice of looking to the tradition
for keys to the present situation
is as long as recorded history.
It’s the habit of calling on the wisdom of the past
for guidance in our time.
James’ letter gives the same kind of advice:
Be patient, don’t grumble about one another, persevere—
take the prophets as your models.
________________________________________
What about us, now, in our time?
We say we are followers and imitators of the way of Jesus.
That means, according to the Word we just heard,
that we are to be teachers and healers,
reaching out in love to the poor and marginalized.
We are to work miracles, just like Jesus did.
________________________________________
It sounds like a tall order,
but we see those miracles all around us.
Pax Christi, the national Catholic peace movement,
has a local branch that meets over at Corpus Christi Parish.
Just one of the projects that makes Pax Christi a healer
is the “Manna bag,”
a gallon-size plastic bag full of non-perishable food and drink
that they put together and sell
so they can give them away
to those folks standing on street corners asking for help.
Then there are miracle workers like our own Liz Facey, who,
like so many other teachers,
works tirelessly to open the eyes and ears
of her special needs students.
We’ve been seeing stories on the news lately
about doctors who are pioneering stem cell therapy
that rebuilds body parts,
giving new life to people struck with disability and disease.
We all know families and friends of stroke victims
who tend them through the difficult times of loss and rehab,
loving them through every possible step of improvement.
We all face hard times, accident, illness, or surgery,
the difficulties of aging,
and it’s there that we see the loving care
that Jesus told John’s followers to tell him about.
_______________________________________
Miracles are happening here at Holy Spirit, too.
We’re focused on the environment
and the impact of climate change
on the poorest and most vulnerable people,
and we’re doing something about it
with our Tree Toledo efforts.
And you are generous in direct help to the anawim of our time,
donating to organizations
that serve the poor and the marginalized
with housing, food, health needs, clothes, education…
it’s a very long list!
You write letters to officeholders
supporting programs that help the poor…
or criticizing programs that harm the poor.
And you pray,
preparing your heart and your soul
to be ready to love when it’s the hardest.
________________________________________
Christmas is just two weeks away.
It’s heart-warming for me to hear the plans you’re making
to gather with family and friends,
to share a feast and enjoy each other’s company.
And among the things I hear is
that you’re going to welcome Maude and Claude—
Aunt Maude with her acid tongue,
Uncle Claude with his overindulgence.
And you’re going to embrace Pam and Sam—
cousin Pam, who is sure to let you know
that she’s better than everybody else,
and nephew Sam with his crude language,
sneaking off to smoke marijuana behind the barn.
Even though you don’t approve of what they do,
you love them.
You’re planning to open the door and welcome them at the table.
And that’s a miracle.
________________________________________
As Richard Rohr said:
“The Second Coming of Christ is us.”
When we help the poor and the oppressed,
the downtrodden and the marginalized,
no matter if they’re families
racing away from their bombed-out homes in Aleppo
or family at the Christmas feast,
it’s our love that brings Christ to life again.
We are miracle workers.
________________________________________
People don’t recognize us as Christians
because we go out and buy lots of presents every December.
They know us by our presence, our p-r-e-s-e-n-c-e.
People see that we are followers of Jesus
because of how we treat people every day, all year long—
family, friends, co-workers, neighbors, strangers, enemies.
We meet them and reach out to them and walk with them
along the way.
We spend time with them, get to know them,
see the face of Christ in them.
That’s how they know we are Christians…
they see our love bringing light to the world.
It’s the true miracle of Christmas.
We have two weeks left to get ready
for our celebration of the fact
that we are the ones
who make that miracle happen all year long.
Amen!

—
Holy Spirit Catholic Community
Saturdays at 4:30 p.m./Sundays at 5:30 p.m.
at 3925 West Central Avenue
Toledo, OH 43606
(Washington Church)

www.holyspirittoledo.org

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

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 May the JOY of Advent and of following Christ be yours today.

This homily for Christ the King Day is by RC woman Priest, Rev. Dr. Beverly Bingle of Toledo Ohio, and I appreciate the way she tells it like it is in the wake of the Trump election. High fives, Sister Bev!  JL

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