Marina Teresa Sanchez Mejia of Cali, Colombia came a long way to be ordained a Roman Catholic Woman Priest with the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests on Saturday January 18 in Sarasota, Florida.   And although Maureen McGill came from nearby St Pete, Florida to be ordained a priest she too came a long way as did Rita Lucey of Orlando and Mary Bergan Blanchard of Albuquerque, New Mexico who were ordained deacons. It was a long journey because each had been preparing for this moment all of their lives. Marina Teresa,46 explains that she has been called from her baptism into priestly service. The others are in agreement.

Along with Olga Lucia Alvarez Benjumea of Envigado Antioqua, Colombia I am the Program Coordinator for Hispano Parlantes. We were delighted to present Marina Teresa for Priestly ordination. Her ministry in Cali, near the river Cauco, serves 173 families mostly of Afro-Colombian descent, representing over 700 people. The heads of this community wrote a letter of recommendation saying that she was ministering to and leading them and they would happily support her as their priest.  She also stands with them in their very real struggles to keep their riverfront land as there are interests who hope to take the lands and develop tourism there.

ARCWP Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan presided.  Our co-pastor Judy Beaumont assisted her with the altar book. St Andrew UCC Church on Beneva Road in Sarasota was nearly filled to capacity. The children of our Good Shepherd Church in Fort Myers led the procession with drumming, dancing with liturgical dancer Sheila Carey, and carrying the Book and candles and, later, the gifts. Keeron Jones was the drummer, Keeondra Terrell carried the Gospel Book, Natasha and Jolinda Terrell carried the candles and Jakeriya Maybin and Keion Lewis joined in the liturgical dancing with a tambourine and bells. Our Efe Jane Cudjoe, a Junior at Brown University read the first reading in English and Theresa Rodriguez read it in Spanish. Our Henry (Hank) Tessandori led the Psalm in English while we sang Alabare as the response. Elizabeth Lucey read the Epistle in English and Roman Rodriguez read in Spanish. Deacon Mary Weber read the Gospel, the Magnificat, and Olga Lucia Alvarez proclaimed it in Spanish. Bridget Mary’s spirited homily is below.  I  was pleased to be the MC for this Ordination that was conducted in Spanish and English. Univision TV will air an hour long special on Marina Teresa and Olga Lucia Alvarez and possibly our other priest in Bogota, Colombia, Martha Aida Soto Bernal on February 9,2014. Caracol TV in Colombia also covered this as did NBC and ABC News.  The beautiful pictures below are courtesy of Wanda Russell, ARCWP Priest.

This was a deeply moving Ordination where the Spirit of God was clearly present. The pictures and story below are wonderful but they cannot begin to convey the special meaning or beauty of this day to all concerned.

Sunday, January 19, 2014

ARCWP Ordination Photos – January 18, 2014 in Sarasota, Florida

 Homily: The Magnificat: Mary’s Prayer Empowers Us In Our Struggle Against Sexism” Bridget Mary Meehan, ARCWP

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PaY25ig9ULM&feature=youtu.be

Today justice is rising up for women in the Catholic Church in Colombia and in the United States.

Today the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests will ordain 4 women to serve inclusive Catholic communities where all are welcome to receive sacraments.  

Marina Teresa Sanchez is a 46 year old highly dynamic community activist and married woman who has two sons and a granddaughter.  She has pursued the cause of human rights, justice for women and for Colombians of African descent her whole life. Her degrees are in early childhood and community education and theology. In the 1990’s she participated in global women’s conferences in Brazil, Vienna and Beijing, China. She worked with local priests in several base communities. She was a missionary to Ecuador for three years where she studied Theology and served women and children and the outcast. Since 2005 she has animated, represented and served the very large community of Afro Colombians in Cali. As Marina Teresa gathers with this community around the Eucharistic table, they will reflect the liberating presence of God at work for justice on the altars of their lives.

Maureen McGill is a married woman with two daughters and 5 grandchildren. She is a retired lawyer who spent most of her practice advocating for abused and neglected children. She has served in almost every phase of church life including director of religious education, lector, and Eucharistic Minister.  Maureen will lead liturgies at Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community in Sarasota, provide pastoral care for residents of nursing homes in St. Petersburg and continue her advocacy role for those in need.

Like deacon Phoebe, whom St. Paul praised as an outstanding leader in Romans 16, our newly ordained deacons will continue to hear the cries of the vulnerable and work for justice for the marginalized.  

Rita Lucey of Orlando, a member of Pax Christi, has been married for 61 years. She is a mother of four and grandmother of nine.  As a human rights activist Rita spent six months in federal prison to close the U.S. Army School of the Americas. Because of her witness for justice issues and her experience in prison she has advocated for women in prison and has also served as a Hospice Volunteer for 25 years. As a deacon, Rita will continue her witness for peace through prison ministry, and as a human rights activist in Amnesty International, Pax Christi, and the United Nations Association.

Mary Bergan Blanchard is a widow, mother, grandmother, writer and a practicing Licensed Professional Counselor. Her early years were spent as a Sister of Mercy, where she taught in diocesan schools and spent one year on mission in Lebanon working in a Palestinian camp. She left the Order to teach the disadvantaged in Boston where she promoted racial integration and began a neighborhood group to promote social justice. After retiring, Mary and her family moved to Albuquerque where she served the Risen Savior Catholic community for twenty years as a Licensed Professional Counselor. As a deacon, Mary will develop liturgies for inclusive home church celebrations.”

In our Gospel today, Mary, mother of Jesus, proclaims that God raises up those who are exploited, the victims of poverty, discrimination and violence in church and society.

Mary’s prayer of praise, the Magnificat, reveals her solidarity with the lowliest and the hungriest. In this prayer, Mary is an apostle for justice, a symbol of strength, comfort and empowerment for the disinherited and marginalized of the world. Her prophetic message gives hope that the oppressed will triumph over poverty, abuse and domination and that they will experience the justice promised to them by God. The poor and marginalized are the blessed ones, not their oppressors. Award-winning theologian Elisabeth Johnson sums up God’s liberating action in these words: “God protects the poor, noticing their tears, while challenging the comfortable and the proud to conversion, to genuine discipleship, even at the loss of their own comfort. The divine intent is not to take revenge and so create a new order of injustice but to build up a community of sisters and brothers marked by human dignity and mutual regard…Imagine the world according to the defiant Mary’s Magnificat, invites African writer Peter Daino: a heavenly banquet and all the children fed”(Elizabeth Johnson,  Truly Our Sister, New York, Continuum, 2009, 269-271)

In the spirit of prophetic obedience we remember the words of Archbishop Oscar Romero who said in 1977: “Peace is the fruit of justice….(There will be peace when) there is no repression, when there is no segregation, when all people have legitimate rights, when there is freedom, when there is no fear”.  As validly ordained women priests we long for such peace and justice for the world and for ourselves in the church. 

Pope Francis reminds us that a prophet is someone who listens to the word of God and reads the sign of the times. He said: “When there is no prophecy amongst the people of God, the emptiness that is created gets filled by clericalism…All those who are baptized are prophets: let us not forget God’s promise, let us not tire of moving forward.”

I agree with our beloved Pope. The church must once again reclaim the prophetic voice of the people of God, the sense of the faithful.  

Our international Women Priests Movement is one of the contemporary prophetic movements of our time.  We are visible reminders that women are equal images of God. I believe that on a deep, mystical level women priests are beginning a healing process of centuries-old deep misogyny in which spiritual power was invested exclusively in men.  Churches that treat women as second-class citizens contradict the fundamental spiritual equality of women in the Bible: “Humankind was created as God’s reflection: in the divine image God created them female and male God made them.” Genesis1:27

Our ordinations are acts of justice to move the church to live its mission of human equality as the Body of Christ on earth. The Catholic Church must break free of machismo and affirm women’s sacredness and full participation as equal partners in ministry including ordination.  As Pope Francis said in a recent interview in La Civilita Catolica, “Women are asking deep questions that must be addressed.”

The sad reality is that women are among the lowliest and poorest in our world.  The laws and policies of the Vatican have a major impact on women’s lives around the globe. If the church discriminates against women and excludes them from serving at the altar, then it perpetuates the abuse, rape and exploitation of women throughout the world.  We must make the connection between the denial of women’s decision-making authority in religion and the abuse and violence that millions of women suffer around the globe.

In solidarity with other church renewal organizations, the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests challenges church laws that fail to value the experiences of women and  their full human rights. The Vatican fails to treat women as free moral agents who are fully capable of following their consciences in decisions that affect their lives.  One example is the ban on artificial birth control.  If the institutional church utilized the gifts of married priests and women priests, this rule put in place by celibate males would be quickly lifted!  

Yes, Pope Francis, we agree it is time to listen to the prophetic voices of the faithful in the church for liberation and justice, and move away from the domination of a deficient, patriarchial  hierarchy.  Mary’s Magnificat offers a stinging indictment of a powerful hierarchy that clings to outdated structures that keep women subordinate in our church. The full equality of women in church governance and ministry is the voice of God in our times!

Women priests, Pope Francis, are following your advice and moving forward in prophetic obedience to the Spirit calling us to live human equality in our church now! The Magnificat: Mary’s Prayer empowers us in our struggle against sexism.

Now we ordain our beloved Sisters: Marina Teresa, Maureen, Rita and Mary. The Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests rejoices that 4 women , called by their communities, will be ordained today to serve God’s people.  May we be a “holy shakeup” that will bring justice, compassion and love to our church and beyond!

Bridget Mary Meehan, D.Min., a Sister for Christian Community, was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on July 31, 2006. She was ordained a bishop on April 19, 2009.  Dr. Meehan is currently Dean of the Doctor of Ministry Program for Global Ministries University, and is the author of 20 books, including   Living Gospel Equality Now: Loving in the Heart of God, The Healing Power of Prayer and Praying with Women of the Bible . She presides at liturgies in Mary, Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community in Sarasota, Florida. Dr. Meehan can be reached at  sofiabmm@aol.com and  www.arcwp.org

Posted by Bridget Mary Meehan at 10:17 AM No comments: Links to this post

Saturday, January 18, 2014

4 Roman Catholic Women Ordained Female Priests and Deacons in Sarasota by the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests

http://www.mysuncoast.com/news/local/roman-catholic-women-ordained-female-priests-and-deacons-in-sarasota/article_669d5e28-80a1-11e3-9781-0019bb30f31a.html?mode=image&photo=0
On Jan. 18, 2014, the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests ordained four women in Sarasota, Florida: Maureen McGill from St. Petersburg, Fl., Marina Teresa Sanches Mejia from Cali Colombia, Rita Lucey from Orlando, Florida and Mary Bergan Blanchard from Albuquerque, New Mexico. Approximately 140 enthusiastic supporters including Mary Mother of Jesus Inclusive Catholic Community in Sarasota, Florida and a large group of children, teens and adults from Good Shepherd Inclusive Community from Ft. Myers, Florida attended. Sheila Carey led the youth and clergy in a processional and recessional joyous liturgical dance. Linda Lee Miska Michael Rigdon and Jack Duffy were our  music ministers and cantors.  Pastor Phil Garrison welcomed everyone in the name of St. Andrew United Church of Christ. He prayed that like the cloak of St. Brigit of Kildare, our women priests movement would spread throughout the world and embrace all. Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan presided at the 2 hour ordination which was in English and Spanish. The entire community raised hands in blessing and laid hands on each ordinand in a joyous affirmation of the newly ordained women deacons and priests. Several people said that they saw such love and affirmation on the faces of the people as they laid hands on the newly ordained women that they felt that the church had already changed! Yes, we are a “holy shakeup” of God’s justice and love for our church and beyond that welcomes all to the Banquet Table of the Eucharist.  NBC, ABC, Univision, Columbian TV and NPR covered this historic event of the ordination of the first Afro-Colombian woman Marina Teresa Sanches Mejia.
Bridget Mary Meehan, www.arcwp.org, www.marymotherofjesus.org

 THANKS BE TO GOD

 Rev. Dr. Judy Lee, ARCWP

Rev. Chava Redonnet, RC woman Priest reflects here on the tenderness of our loving God. Her illustration comes from a sad situation with a deportee. How sad it is that we treat our strangers and guests this way when we are asked not to break the bruised reed.  We also have some migrant workers who sometimes attend our Good Shepherd Church and some “second generation” families of migrant workers as well. Last week one of these asked help for a woman and her children after the deportation of her husband. There is no way she can pay her rent or sustain the family. Our Government simply causes dependency in addition to much pain and loss when heads of families are deported. John the Baptist asked that those who talk religion SHOW how they follow the law of God-the law of love and justice. Rev. Chava’s ministry is a beautiful example of following God’s law of love as Christ did.

We are always pleased to share her work with you,

Love and prayers,

Rev. Judy Lee, ARCWP 

Feast of the Baptism of the Lord

Dear friends,

This week we hear these beautiful words from Isaiah:

He shall bring forth justice to the nations,
not crying out, not shouting,
not making his voice heard in the street.
a bruised reed he shall not break,
and a smoldering wick he shall not quench,
until he establishes justice on the earth

That is both comfort for those of us who experience being “bruised reeds” –
which is most of us at some point in our lives! – and a model for the
church. How shall we be servants of God in the world? Not by arguing
endlessly, trying to convince others to believe as we do, but protecting
and encouraging those who are vulnerable, broken, their lights almost gone
out.  Encouraging life wherever we encounter it.

Some time ago on one of our visits to check in with the immigration folks
in Buffalo, one of the immigration men and I were talking about one of the
guys in our community who was having trouble complying with what was
expected of him, mostly because he would forget. “He’s kind of a lost
soul,” the immigration man said. “I think you care more about him than he
cares for himself!”

I think that’s a pretty good part of the church’s job description:
reminding people of their worth and dignity even when they’ve forgotten
they have it. A bruised reed we shall not break and a smoldering wick we
shall not quench… that’s  compassion and justice.

Toward the end of October I got a call from the roommate of the man I just
mentioned. He was in trouble with the law, and in jail. Could I help? Well,
no, there was nothing I could do because I could not find him in the
system.  In Buffalo, all they knew was that he was in jail and thus no
longer the responsibility of ISAP, the contractor that does the
Alternatives to Detention program. I called the roommate back and asked
that if our friend called him again, he’d pass on the message to call me.
No call. Finally in December I located him in the system. He was not in one
of the county jails as I’d thought (could have been Monroe, Genesee or
Orleans), but in the Detention Center.

So I sent him a card, told him I was praying for him, gave him my phone
number. About a week later I started getting strange phone messages with a
recorded woman’s voice speaking in Spanish. After several such calls I
finally figured out they were coming from the detention center, and after a
couple more, what I was supposed to do! And just in time, because he was
going to court two days later. You might remember this story from the
bulletin a few weeks ago. He went to court alone and asked for an extension
so he could come back with his lawyer, and then went back this week. I had
thought he would get bond and then need to figure out how to raise the
money to be bonded out, but instead, it seems the options are deportation
or voluntary departure. With voluntary departure a person has to pay their
own way out of the country, but they don’t have a deportation on their
record. Theoretically that means that they will be able to apply to come
here legally sometime in the future. Reality, for workers who are
considered unskilled, is that if it were that easy they wouldn’t have come
here without documents in the first place. He has said he would prefer
voluntary departure, and I will go to court next week to speak on his
behalf.

It says in the Talmud, “Every blade of grass has its angel that bends over
it and whispers, ‘Grow! Grow!’” It seems to me that it is part of the work
of the church to be those angels. A bruised reed we shall not break, and a
smoldering wick we shall not quench. Remember that, when your own wick is
smoldering.

Blessings and love to all, Chava

Oscar Romero Church
An Inclusive Community of Liberation, Justice and Joy
Worshiping in the Catholic Tradition
Mass: Sundays, 11 am
St Joseph’s House of Hospitality, 402 South Ave, Rochester NY 14620

I am watching the late day sun glint and gleam on the little lake outside of my window. It is breezy so the water is moving quickly. The ducks and coots bob along and decide to sit on the shore for a while. The lake is full of life, the water itself sustains the life. There is something holy about water–holy and essential for life.

I think of the sea wall and the muddy Atlantic ocean in Guyana, South America,known as the land of many waters, where we accompanied Sister Jacinta and the Guyanese social workers in their work with homeless people. The homeless and mentally ill bathed in the sea and sat and watched it day and night with hope for a better life. We may have been the only non-Guyanese to swim there. It joined us forever with the people.

I think about visiting the interior of Guyana, South America with Sister Jacinta, a Guyanese East Indian Carmelite nun who was so in tune with nature and with the poor. We went to the interior on two very different occasions. First, traveling on the Essequibo, a major river by small boat, then going by van over land,we went to the interior to visit the indigenous people, Amerindians, during a time of El Nino drought. We were heart broken to see evidence of brush fires and families walking miles with small plastic containers to find the water that remained of their dried up lake. Some were already sick and dying of thirst.  Sister said that it was both drought and greed that brought about this condition. There was water available in Georgetown but it had not been transported there. We told Sister that we would max out our credit cards, as we had little cash, to get the water delivered.  She and the Village Captain tried hard to make this happen, but were told it could not happen,even with outside payment, the water would be delivered when it was delivered.  The Amerindian people were low priority. And people waited and the vulnerable died. Sister later said that they got it a few days later so our caring did help. But we agreed that it was major social sin committed in the name of politics to be neglectful of the basic needs of people for water.

Another time Sister took us by a very small plane to the Brazilian border deep in the tropical jungle where the magnificent wonder of the Kaiteur Falls stunned and amazed us.  It was not even at its mightiest, as  it was not the rainy season but the immense Falls still thundered. We thought of Psalm 29: “the God of Glory thunders”. We laid on our bellies and felt the power of the water cascading. A brilliant rainbow arched over it and us. We thought of God’s covenant with people that water would not again destroy the earth. We longed to feel the water on our dry skins. We got back in the small plane, disembarked and walked until we saw the smaller twin Orinduik Falls splashing in the sun. Still magnificent, there were ways that four women could climb down and enter. As the water renewed and refreshed us at the same moment Sister and I said “Baptism” and began to throw water on each other. Rahannah,our Muslim friend, joined in as well until we were all drenched and refreshed. I am not sure what it meant to Rahannah but as we became one with the Falls and in our friendship, our one God was most surely with us.

I think about the River Jordan that I stepped into when I was in Israel in the 1970’s. There was a fence with a small sign “River Jordan Where Jesus was Baptized”, and a small body of water the size of some of the drainage ditches and small lakes here in Florida. The dark brown water moved lazily downstream. I imagined that in Jesus time this river was fuller and more vital. But the remarkable thing was that it was still flowing. I felt united with Christ as I stepped knee deep into the water.

I remembered my own baptism. I was eleven and as those of you who read my book The House On Sunny Street know, life was a bit hectic in my family and although I was attending church on my own and loved Jesus since I was eight I had not been baptized. I would be baptized now because finally my Aunt and Uncle agreed to have my baby cousin Jackie baptized and my mother would be the Godmother. And I would be baptized now because I asked my Pastor to baptize both of us. He was delighted and smiling as I was initiated into the Christian faith and “made new” again. Jackie who was “new” to this world has been a holy and loving person her whole life. Now I am reminded of a poem by Ezra Pound where the Chinese Emperor wrote a prayer on  on his tub: “make things new again”.  The renewing power of water is great for Christians and non Christians alike.

Each time that I baptize a child, a baby or an adult I am profoundly humbled and moved. Of the eighteen baptisms I have done in the past five years all but three have been of people who were old enough to understand what was happening and to actively request baptism. Sometimes for the adults tears flowed as they experienced the cleansing newness after lives of great struggles and trials. As the congregation and I  joined together to welcome our new members, the love in the room was palpable. The children respond with joy and some of the most happy smiles ever seen on their faces. It is a deeply spiritual experience for all and especially for this priest and pastor– every single time.

Recently a man who is a pillar in our church asked me to baptize him. He has actually stood up for some of those that I baptized. He is one of the adults who will be joining our young people in Confirmation this Spring.  But now he was uneasy.He had already been baptized when some young people from an evangelical local church reached out to him about eight years ago when he was homeless. His faith was rekindled by their caring and that was good. But his baptism disappointed him. He told me the story. He was taken to the Pastor’s back yard swimming pool and the pastor stood nearby as one of the young men dipped him in and said the right words: “In the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit”.  It was not in the church and no congregation welcomed him. There was no oil and there was no light. He did not know why the Pastor asked the young man to do it, instead of himself. Maybe he was learning, he thought. They said that they were happy that he was cleansed from sins. He was too and he saw it that way. He loved Jesus and knew that he would follow Christ before and after the baptism, but he confided in me that though the words were said,he didn’t feel baptized as our people are baptized. He knew now that the welcome to the body of Christ, the church, the company of those who would work for love and justice together was missing.  I was torn in my response. At first I thought that “baptism is baptism” and this dear man is full of Christ already. I felt a little like John the baptist, “You should be baptizing me, your faith is so great!”. But I have pondered this and talked about it with my Co-pastor Judy Beaumont and Bishop, Bridget Mary. He and I were both to pray and think about this. I am clearer now. He wants another level of “newness”, one that includes being loved, welcomed and included, the level that a baptism done in the heart of a congregation who knows and loves him gives. If he still wants to be baptized I will be very happy to baptize him.

For the Jewish disciples of John  the Baptist, baptism meant changing one’s very heart, turning one’s life around, rethinking what one was doing, and following God’s commandments with actions and not only words. John’s was a very strong radical  and prophetic movement involving change toward love and justice, toward God’s law. The women priest movement of which we are a part, is a movement like that of John the Baptist. We are stepping into the water in prophetic obedience which is also disobedience within the Church, we step in on faith, to enact God’s call and let the church and the world know-God calls whom God wants to call to serve God’s people and enact justice. Marina Teresa Sanchez Mejia of Cali, Colombia, South America will be ordained a priest next Saturday, 1/18 here in Sarasota, Florida. She serves the indigenous Afro-Colombian people who live near the Cauco River in Cali. She stands with them as they fight to retain their riverfront lands.

Today we are challenged to follow Jesus into baptism by water and by the Spirit.  Jesus did not have to be baptized by John, the radical on the fringe asking for repentance, for turning  lives around from self to God’s ways.  Why did he choose to do this?  When Jesus entered that little river, he allied himself completely in solidarity with those who felt most broken, that they disappointed God the most, who needed to be washed clean, forgiven, and to begin again.  And, with those that the religious establishment judged as unworthy and as sinners.  He was redefining baptism itself, beyond individual sin it had to do with the sins of the so called righteous who nonetheless forgot what God had asked of them, to bring true justice to the nations (Is. 42: 4)  In the preceding chapter (Isaiah 41: 17) the prophet illustrates injustice and promises God’s help: “the poor and the needy search for water but there is none…but I, the  Lord  will answer them. I, the God of Israel will not forsake them…”)  In Baptism we are called to serve God’s “smallest” and neediest people.  We are called as Jesus was called to live love, to live the acceptance of all people who do what is right before God, to live inclusion as Paul said in Acts 10: 34-38. Like Israel and like Jesus, we are called to bring good news to the poor and captives. When we follow Jesus in accepting this call we too are pleasing to our loving God.

When Jesus stepped into that water to be baptized he did it in solidarity with all humankind, especially the poor,the broken and the and outcast. He also joined with John in rebuke of the religious establishment ,we remember that John called them a bunch of snakes and told them not to say they have changed their hearts, but to show the fruits that prove their hearts have changed to embrace God’s law of justice and love. This was a fulfillment of Messianic prophecy but was also a call to do likewise. In God’s approval of Jesus ,Jesus was named “Beloved”; claimed, “My beloved”; and deeply loved.

Let us step in the water with Jesus. Let us act to proclaim good news to the poor and broken and bad news to the establishment when it does not reflect God’s profound love for all people.  Then we too will hear:”on you My favor rests” and we will be guided by the Spirit and given strength to build the kin-dom of God. Are we ready for this baptism?

Amen.

Pastor Judy Lee, ARCWP

This is a follow up on my blog on supporting Sister Megan Rice and Greg and Michael who are soon to be sentenced for courageous anti- nuclear activism. 

 Sentencing for Transform Now Plowshares rescheduled: Now Jan 28, 2014

POSTED BY TNPLOWSHARES ⋅ SEPTEMBER 20, 2013 ⋅ 3 COMMENTS

Judge Amul Thapar has reset the sentencing date for Megan, Michael and Greg at the request of the defense attorneys. All three are currently scheduled for sentencing on Tuesday, January 28, 2014 in federal court in Knoxville, Tennessee. They remain incarcerated at the Irwin County Detention facility in Ocilla, GA, pending sentencing.  There is a renewed opportunity to write Judge Thapar on their behalf.  Also, please continue to write Megan, Michael and Greg.

Please click on “Letter…” below and see the wonderful letter by the Friends (FCNL) that beautifully questions how these courageous peace activists can be seen as terrorists when their intent is the opposite-to save innocent people not ever to harm anyone. Please consider supporting these modern day saints, in the Name of the Prince of Peace.  Pastor Judy Lee, ARCWP

Letters of Support pour in

POSTED BY TNPLOWSHARES ⋅ OCTOBER 4, 2013 ⋅ LEAVE A COMMENT

Letters of Support for the Transform Now Plowshares resisters continue to pour in; more than a thousand cards and letters have been sent to the judge or the support team to date. The Friends Committee on National Legislation in Washington, DC, submitted a letter; you can see it by clicking on the title of this post and following the trail:

Letter from FCNL 9-17-13

Please see the blog: URL Http://transformnowplowshares.wordpress.com

TNP statement on Judge’s denial of Rule 29 motion to dismiss sabotage charges

POSTED BY TNPLOWSHARES ⋅ OCTOBER 8, 2013 ⋅ 1 COMMENT

Dear friends and supporters of the Transform Now Plowshares,

We continue to ask for your support and help. On October 1, we received word that Judge Amul Thapar denied the motion to dismiss the sabotage conviction as well as denied the motion for a new trial.

In his ruling dismissing the defense Rule 29 motion and upholding the sabotage conviction for the Transform Now Plowshares resisters, Judge Amul Thapar has left the door open for the government to argue for the maximum thirty year sentence.

The pre-sentencing reports prepared by the Probation Office are likely to recommend sentences ranging up to 12 years—the recommendations take into account the record of past convictions, so Megan, Michael and Greg are likely to each have a different range; Greg, for instance, has indicated his guideline range is 6.5-8 years. For Greg, any sentence less than six and a half years would represent a downward departure.

Judge Thapar’s ruling included a statement that the nature of the offense has to be taken into account at sentencing¹, suggesting he may be open to consider a “downward departure” from the presentencing report’s guidelines.

While we all believe that the real criminal and dangerous activity lies in the ongoing work of Y-12, and that Michael, Greg and Megan should be released immediately from jail, we also know that this is a very unlikely scenario. The reality is the three will remain incarcerated for some additional amount of time. They never asked for nor expected a “get out of jail free” card. Instead, they offered their lives and freedom freely and without expectation. By asking for downward departures, they are in fact giving the judge the opportunity, a gift so to speak,  to recognize the difference between the letter of the law and the spirit of the law and for him to publicly proclaim his humanity and compassion by granting a downward departure from guideline sentences that can range up to 12 years.

The TNP support team therefore asks that letters to Judge Thapar continue and should encourage him to sentence with downward departures from the high sentencing guidelines which can range up to 12 years. Even if you’ve written a letter in the past or sent in a pre-written postcard, you can still write another. They seem to have an effect as Judge Thapar has referred to the high volume of letters and postcards and he has posted a few on legal record himself.

Please continue to send your letters to:

        Please feel free to post and share this statement on your facebook page.

Peace,

the TNP support team.

       ¹ “The defendants’ non-violence thus does not affect the question facing the Court today: whether a reasonable jury could find the defendants guilty. Of course, the defendants’ non-violence will be relevant at sentencing, since the Court must account for both the “nature and circumstances of the offense and the history and characteristics” of the defendants. See 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a)(1). Given the obvious differences between the defendants and the paradigmatic saboteur, those factors surely will be worthy of discussion. But because those differences do not lessen the defendants’ liability under § 2155(a), the Court denies the defendants’ Rule 29 motion.” [Memorandum Opinion and Order, US District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee, Northern Division, Knoxville; 1 October 2013]

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Thanks and may peace be with you,

Pastor Judy Lee, ARCWP

Our children prepare their gifts for Jesus. The gift of a smile, the gift of laughter and giggles, the gifts of their hearts, and the gift of telling the story to the Congregation held us spellbound. Our wise young people from different lands are both girls and boys, younger and older. They represent Africa, South America, Italy and the USA. They carried gold, (money in a small box), Frankincense in a censor and in a small bottle, and myrrh in the form of  aromatic candles.  They gave these gifts to Mary and Joseph. Mary (Jakeriya Maybin) begins by reading us the story of the gifts for the baby king that she wrote.  .

Our Mary, Jakeriya Maybin 11, tells us the story of how the wise people from far away brought baby Jesus very special gifts because they knew he would be King of our hearts and bring love to the world. Joseph, Jakein John Maybin listens.

Joseph reaches out to receive a gift from Niah Battles,5.

Frankie Antonio, 7 has given a box of gold.

Keion Lewis, 11 brings the sweet smelling Myrrh.

Marcella Randazzo, 12 brings the gift of herself.

How blessed we are to receive the gifts of our children on Epiphany.

Toni Ann and Baby Courtney

What shall we give the baby Jesus? We’ll give him our hearts…

Love and Joy,

Pastor Judy Lee,ARCWP and Pastor Judy Beaumont,ARCWP, Co-Pastors

Epiphany 1/5/14

These pictures are sent by Pastor Marina Teresa Sanchez Mejia(in Navy blouse at the feet of the infant Jesus being carried) who will be ordained a Roman Catholic Woman Priest in Sarasota, Florida on January 18,2013. She is experienced in ministry and theologically prepared.  She has been serving in this wonderful community since 2005. We received a letter from the community leaders recommending her to us for Ordination. In these pictures the children are in a Procession carrying the baby Jesus and singing Carols. They are also receiving gifts and celebrating.  This is also an Epiphany celebration as Jesus was given gifts by the Magi.

nte

We in ARCWP, the Association of Roman Catholic Women Priests are delighted to have Pastor Marina Teresa Sanchez Mejia ordained as a Roman Catholic Woman Priest on January 18,2014. She will be the third Colombiana to be ordained as a RC woman Priest.   This Ordination will be at 2PM hosted by the St Andrews United Church of Christ in Sarasota, Florida. ARCWP Bishop Bridget Mary Meehan will be presiding and all are welcome.

Rev. Dr. Judy Lee,ARCWP and

Olga Lucia Alvarez Benjumea, ARCWP

Co_Coordinators of Hispano Parlantes

We see the face of Christ Who Is for all of us  in our “Three Kings”

Sometimes the beauty and simplicity of the Holy Scriptures is both moving and confounding. Such is Matthew’s account of the visit of the Magi. (“Magoi” means wise or learned men, or scholars or astrologers or even magicians, some say kings or priests of another religion perhaps Zoroasterism.  Some see them as hailing from Persia (Iran), Babylonia or just “the East”. One later tradition has them coming from China and Africa). The writer of Matthew whose community is Jewish Christians, masterfully crafts a story that has the newborn king, Jesus, belonging to the Jewish tradition as fulfillment of Messianic prophecy (Isaiah 60; Psalm 72; Micah 5:2 ) and also bringing light to the gentiles (Isaiah 60). Through the journey and adoration of the Magi, the infant Christ also belongs to all the known world and all of creation.

The writer of Matthew crafts a story of inclusion, a both/and story that establishes Jesus as the fulfillment of Jewish prophecy and yet as belonging to strangers, outsiders as well-to those who seek the Christ. Indeed the rejection of the Jewish people is forecast as the news the Magi gave the insecure King Herod about the newborn king “greatly disturbed” Herod and “all of Jerusalem”. The Magi find the Christ child while following a star, or perhaps it was a comet, a great light in the sky. So Christ is revealed through nature and natural phenomena and to people very different than the religious Jews of the times who would not have approved of astrologers, or worshipers from neighboring countries who once ruled them, or representatives of other religions-all of which the Magi may have been. Probably the testimony of the poor shepherds who were Jesus’ first visitors also guided by a great light or star according to the writer of Luke,  would not have convinced the religious leaders either. But for Matthew, like Luke, the bottom line message is: this newborn king is here for everybody! Christ is for all people and for all nations. Now that is truly good news-no one will be left out.

The account raises the question how do we find Christ now?  What can guide us as we seek the Christ?

In our time when people struggle with historicity and scientific proofs we can hitch our wagons to the stars, speak in lovely abstractions and miss the wonderful messages of the Gospels about inclusion. Luke starts off with animals and poor shepherds as first visitors and first evangelists. Matthew has foreigners bearing the first news of the Christ to Herod and to the religious establishment who are very unhappy about the news. The Magi recognize the Christ and give gifts worthy of a King (gold and the expensive Myrrh and Frankincense), a Deity (Myrrh that also connects God and earth, and can accompany in death) and a Healer (Frankincense and Myrrh). (These are also used for healing today for everything from skin diseases to colitis and cancers to asthma, anxiety and stress).  These strangers are given a sign in the skies that they can understand as star gazers and they also understand who this baby is. Their gifts are prophetic and the gold was also just in time for a poorer family that has to flee into Egypt.

So how can we who seek Christ today find Christ? Perhaps first we have to allow ourselves to seek and to acknowledge that we are seeking. We are seeking love that is unconditional and all inclusive.  We are seeking true community. We are seeking justice especially for the poor and outcast of this world. We are seeking the reign of God characterized by love and justice when both are sometimes very hard to find. We are seeking peace in our hearts, in our families, in our communities and in the world. Each one of us is different. Some of us will find Christ through seeing and listening to the stories of others. Some of us will find Christ in the faces of the lowly shepherds of our times, the homeless and the hungry,the children and the elderly, those who share their gifts and the serially unemployed. Some of us will find Christ in serving with them and in listening to and responding to their stories.  That is how I find Christ. When my heart is moved I know Christ is speaking to me and asking me to help my fellow seekers.

But the Magi found Christ through natural phenomena, or even spectacular natural phenomena. Some of us will find Christ through our connections to the astounding beauty of the natural world-the sky, the mountains, the sea, the creatures of the earth and sea. That is another way I find Christ. Looking up at the night sky,  feeding the fish, turtles, ducks, ibis and coots on my little lake, watching a pod of dolphins play, witnessing a frightened person, dog or cat respond to loving ,patient feeding and talking, experiencing the loyalty of both human and furry friends, I experience awe and a quiet deep joyful belief in God’s love.

Experiencing the wisdom of others through their heartfelt stories, writings or film or art I find the living Christ. Some find Christ in grasping the discoveries of science. I am in awe of this.  In the love of friends and family I find Christ. In the eyes of one who was hungry and feels full, I find Christ. Watching others respond to love and grow in faith is clearly seeing the living Christ at work. When one of our teenagers reflected that she finds love at our church, I remembered when I first felt loved through the church of my youth.  I knew that Christ was with us and thanked God for the miracle of Christ with us in one another.

You may fix cars or computers, you may heal people or animals, you may write, you may sing, you may carve wood or make great works of art, you may sell commodities or stocks, and you may be in deep trouble and have nothing at all to give to the baby Jesus but your love. Christ will find you where you are, and in ways you can recognize, that make sense to you.  God will accept the wonderful gifts that only you can bring and, if you seek love and justice and peace, you will find it. You will find Christ.

Amen.

Rev Dr. Judy Lee, ARCWP

Introduction

This has been a year of wonderful work and accomplishments in the face of some challenges and changes. The program was fully carried out with some modifications despite my sudden illness in late Dec. 2012 and January 2013 and major surgery for a GIST, a slow growing cancer totally removed on 2/28/13. While neither chemo nor radiation was necessary a period of recuperation was. Hence Pastor Judy Beaumont singlehandedly, with the help of volunteers guided the Ministry from March 1st through April, 2013.  Although I returned on Easter, it was quite a while before I was able to be back in full swing. Yet, with God’s help and that of our members and volunteers we were able to keep going. Now things are back to full strength and we are so thankful.

 Joshua House

An important change in the program was the closing of Joshua House Transitional Residence in April of 2013 when the last resident, Joe B. was able to get into Goodwill Housing at Ohio Place. This closing was planned before my illness and was unrelated to it. The co-Pastors and others in the Church community saw the need to expand the physical space for the church in order to attend to the expansion of the congregation and have room for youth to meet on Sundays, for a dining area, and for the “Store” where people get clothing and personal items without pay to expand into adequate space. The more spacious fellowship and living room/ dining room type atmosphere benefit our Tuesday people.

Joshua House served 23 people, 21 men and two women for periods of time ranging from two weeks to over three years.  Three of these had serious problems but twenty did very well in residence. Of these, seventeen moved out into affordable housing and one into regular housing. Sixteen of these were successfully helped to get incomes through SSDI or SSI. One was helped to complete a vocational program.The remaining five did not complete our program and continued in addictive behaviors although one was eventually housed and received his Social Security. We decided that we could offer hospitality to carefully selected individuals in need of brief respite and offered this to one man, Linuel, on two occasions in June and July, 2013, making 24 individuals who stayed at Joshua House. Our hospitality/brief respite function will continue on a selective basis.

We make many referrals to the Triage Center and other residential programs in the area.

 Housing

We continue with our focus of housing the homeless and doubled and tripled up individuals and families by assisting people with applications, preparation and recommendations for affordable housing and with shepherding, funds, furniture and resources in setting up a home. The resources included rent and security and setting up an electric account with deposits. Four of our newly housed were formerly homeless and one lived unhappily with a family member. We also assisted others to obtain low income market level housing. One particularly rewarding example of housing assistance was helping a woman who was in and out of the mental hospital to obtain her own apartment by shepherding her in every aspect of becoming housed. Another was helping a woman unable to work and lacking an income who lived serially in abusive relationships in order to be housed to obtain her own place for the first time in her life.  Still another very rewarding example was helping a man who is mentally ill and homeless to obtain affordable housing and learn how to maintain it. With God’s help, we have helped over 75 individuals (and families) to obtain and maintain affordable housing in the past five years.

Dr. Teresa Sievers continues to see our affordable housing candidates pro bono for disability clearance.

We also helped Lili R. to reapply for Habitat for Humanity Housing and she was recently approved. We need help in obtaining volunteers to work on a house for her.

Avoiding Evictions    

While we cannot make a practice of this, we were able to pay electric bills for three families who would have been evicted for lack of payment. We also paid rent for two large families. For one family of four where the mother was unemployed and awaiting unemployment insurance we saved the day just in time. This woman was able to pay us back almost two thirds of the rent we paid. She has also started attending the church with her children and assisting us with tasks.

Incomes and Educational/Vocational Training

We helped this Mom to apply for a course in medical coding. We helped another young mother with expenses as she pursued a course in the medical field.

We successfully assisted three individuals to obtain SSI or SSDI this year. One, Lloyd, paid us back for his stay at Joshua House and an additional amount. Another is making good on a bill we paid for him and the other made a small donation to us.  It is very special when people are able to pay us back and they enjoy this very much. Several others are waiting SS hearings with a lawyer that we have referred them to.

We helped Joe B. complete his plumbing course and as he still has no work, we assist him with a small monthly stipend. We also assist Eddie F. and Lin J. with small stipends.

We also supplemented the cost of PSAT tutoring for a High School Senior and gave other assistance toward college applications.   We helped a College Junior with an increase in college tuition and we assisted her family with rent.  We assisted two college sophomores with incidental expenses. We assisted another HS senior in obtaining legal status with the Obama immigration plan.  She is now graduated and working and awaiting green card status which we also paid for.

Pastor Judy B. has been the Rep Payee for seven individuals this year and one has gone on his own recently. She now has six people, three women and three men whom she pays bills for and shepherds through many of the activities of living so that they maintain health and housing.

Priority on Young People

Our children’s and youth group has served seventeen young people this year ranging in age from 5-20.  I meet with the teens on Sundays and Pearl Cudjoe meets with the Juniors while Linda Maybin and Debbie Carey assists with the preschoolers. During the season Kathy Overby also works with the Juniors. (We baptized one eleven year old,one very ill young adult, and two infants this year as well.) We made special appeals for summer activities and also for our kids at the start of school. We were able to assist them with $800.00 to start school with books, supplies and clothing. They also took three trips this summer with the assistance of Judy Alves and Efe Cudjoe.  Pastor JudyB and I took them to see Shrek the Musical at the Dinner Theater and it was great for all ages. Judy A. and Efe took some of them to the Holocaust Museum and to the Movies. We also note a wonderful year end contribution by the Sophia Inclusive Catholic Community of New Jersey where Mary Ann Schoettly is a Roman Catholic Woman Priest. Their great generosity is earmarked to enrich the learning experiences of our young people throughout the coming year. We are so grateful.

Throughout the year we give incentives for good report cards and assistance with school related costs. We gift them on Birthdays and on Christmas. It is a great joy to see them grow in maturity and learning. As noted above, we have five of our young people currently in college. We are very proud of them. Three are at Edison in their second year and one is at FGCU in her Junior year. Efe Cudjoe is in her Junior year at Brown and continues to help is in the summer and on breaks.

Our High School students were asked to keep an Advent Journal. I am happy to share with you Jolinda’s entry as it moves me so much and is an example of what we are hoping to offer our young people:

“Coming to this church I have learned a lot. I have especially learned to love because that is what I feel when I am at church. So I thank my Pastors because you are both the best symbol of love! Coming to this church makes me happy because I am loved by the Pastors and other members. I thank you and I love you all.”

And, Natasha, our High School Senior reflected on her hopes and on the changes she was trying to make in her life:

“I need to change my mindset to become a Christian mindset so I am prepared to keep evolving and making myself better for God. (This includes growing in forgiving others because it is hard for me.) My hopes are to be graduated from college and become active in my career. I want to be able to help others. I want to be married and grounded in faith. I want to be financially stable and able to give back. I want to help my family in big ways and to be happy with family and with life”.

And the Junior Class with Mrs. Pearl Cudjoe made a group collage Thank You Card!

What wonderful hopes and prayers our children have expressed. How special it is to be part of their journey.

Our Beautiful Young People

Meals

We have served over 1200 meals this year. We served about two hundred on Tuesdays and a thousand on Sundays.  We do not keep track of take away meals and second helpings. The mean attendance on Sundays is 35 (up to 46) and on Tuesdays 17 (up to 23).

We have wonderful and faithful volunteers. Especially in the season members of the Lamb of God Church provide, cook and serve food for us. Monica Piccirillo and Eileen Wickeri and Ginny Beecroft and her community also provide and serve throughout the year.   For the rest of the year, Ellen and Jack McNally and their Country Creek community cook and serve on Tuesdays and our own members, especially the Cudjoes, the Rismays and Judy Alves provide food and cook and serve it on Sundays. We continue to be blessed with caring members and volunteers.

Hospital and Sick Call Ministry

We make many visits to serve hospitalized and sick members of our community. We pay special attention to the caretakers and families of our sick. We also visit one woman in a Nursing home and three individuals at home who battle with serious illnesses.

Christmas 2013

We are so grateful to The Orioles Club and Ginny Beecroft’s Breckinridge Community, Lamb of God and Gail Fleeman of the Salvation Army who generously gave our children Christmas gifts.  We were able to share this bounty with the Tropical Trailer Park as well where some of our Tuesday members live and many children received no gifts, and they were well received. Santa Clus also visited us after our Christmas Mass. Our Congregation was also able to give a good love offering to an orphanage in Ghana, Africa where one of our families is affiliated.

Kiah said to her sisters” This is the REAL Santa Claus!

Our St. Francis Ministry

It has also given us great joy to assist God’s other homeless creatures this year. When Jesus was born in a stable and laid in a feeding trough, the gentle animals were his first visitors and the poor shepherds and their sheep were next. Symbolically God’s love incarnate was joined with all of creation in the Christ child and the weakest became the first to know this miracle. We were so happy to place Bushy Tail, Farmer Joe, Tuxedo  and Potsy in loving  forever homes.  Seeing the joy of the people whose families were now complete was a special part of this miracle.

                                                                               This is Sherry and her new family member,Tuxedo-Joy for both!

In Conclusion

We have had a full year of service despite some part time hours. We are thankful to look forward to the future with our excellent Board and members and to continue to serve the low and lowest income community of Fort Myers. In this we get so much more than we are able to give. There is truly a united Good Shepherd community that welcomes and serves one another and the wider community.

Here is to a happy and healthy New Year for all!

Pastors Judy Lee and Judy Beaumont,ARCWP