When St Ambrose University hosted the conference “Francis at Ten: A Papacy of Possibilities” in March 2023 to celebrate and honor Pope Francis and his 10 years of service as the leader of the Catholic Church, I was introduced to St Phoebe in a breakout session facilitated by two prayerful and enthusiastic women.

According to St Paul in his letter to the Romans, Phoebe is a deacon and a benefactor, meaning she was his co-worker in the kingdom and obviously supported the needs of the early Christian community in important ways. Having served as a lay minister in the church for 35 years including the last 10 years in campus ministry at St. Ambrose, I was touched by the affirmation of my call and filled with hope for a future Church that recognizes the gifts and contributions of women. Throughout my years in ministry I have served God’s people in a variety of ways including leading prayer, accompanying families in grief, preaching at wake services, preparing people for the celebrations of the sacraments of initiation and marriage, catechizing children, youth and adults and serving the poor and oppressed.

I organized the St. Phoebe Day celebration on our campus in hopes that our students would be inspired to pray for and support increased participation of women in the life of the Church.