At our parish, the Church of St. Francis Xavier in New York, NY, we presented a short skit on September 10, 2023 that depicted components of St. Phoebe’s story. In the skit, St. Phoebe describes her talk with Paul, as well as her journey and ministry as a deacon, and her mission to spread the message of the early Church. As a part of the skit, she describes Paul’s asking of her to go to Rome to deliver his letter, and she exhorts all of us in the audience to continue on with our passion today in serving the Church.

After this presentation of the story of St. Phoebe, many attendees requested other events to learn more about her witness and ministry. There was so much enthusiasm in parishioners’ responses, and many said that they learned a lot! The following week, there was a note in the bulletin about the service that our pastor wrote, so that others who were not in attendance might still hear about it. People were talking about our service for weeks.

We raised so much awareness from our event, of both the ongoing Synod and of St. Phoebe and her ministry. Together, we learned of the power of the intercession of St. Phoebe, and how significant her feast day can be to carry the message of women’s roles in the Church.

We are so glad for this opportunity to learn and advocate with one another. St. Phoebe’s intercession in this journey of lifting up the ministry of women in the Church is so important to our parish. We are so glad as a community to be involved in planning and participating in St. Phoebe Day.