The holy witnesses of Martha, Mary, Mary Magdalene & the Syrophoenician woman

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/fgmf2Eyrwm4

Photo by Aaron Burden on Unsplash https://unsplash.com/photos/fgmf2Eyrwm4

Greetings during these weeks of summer. I hope they provide opportunities for you to enjoy parks, swimming pools, beaches or mountains, to reconnect with family and friends, or to engage in a fun hobby awaiting your slower pace.

We had hoped to be sharing our synthesis report this week and apologize for its delay as a member of our design team needed to tend to the health emergencies of relatives. Thanks for your prayers for needed healing. We are using this time to translate the synthesis into Spanish and hope to share both the English and Spanish versions soon.

About this week’s newsletter

Sunday’s Gospel reading highlighted the sisterly quarrel between Martha and Mary over “diakonia” – service. It’s an interesting and multi-layered text to contemplate, and in our preaching section below we feature a couple of reflections from Dr. Susan McGurgan on Catholic Women Preach and myself in U.S. Catholic (posted below). 

This week our Church celebrates the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene, and I invite you to join me in pondering how the holy witness of Martha, Mary, Mary Magdalene and the Syrophoenician woman continue to ripple out and influence our own times as we discern the Holy Spirit’s call today.

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Witness
“[W]e celebrated St. Phoebe Day with a mass to uplift the voices of women in the Church, invite the community to rethink women’s participation and raise awareness of the global synod…Many were deeply moved by our celebration together. A senior female parishioner shared that she had waited most of her adult life to hear the hope that was offered during mass. A man approached after the celebration to ask for a copy of the reflection shared. With tears in his eyes, he shared that he hoped to share it with his daughter who had left the Church.”
St. Francis Xavier College Church
St. Louis, MO
Witness
“As a parish, we know the blessing of the many ministries and gifts that women in our parish share with all of us. Celebrating mass this weekend to honor the witness of St. Phoebe focused attention on women’s gifts for leadership in our parish and the Church more broadly. We are proud to be a part of the conversation and discernment for women’s ordination to the diaconate.”
St. Bridget of Kildare Parish
Seattle, WA
Witness
“This is not only because Church teaching written by men sometimes misses the mark when it comes to women’s lived experience. It is not only because our Church’s management in many ways mirrors the patriarchal systems that have also harmed our secular society – mismanaging cases of abuse and failing to provide living wages or adequate parental leave policies to its employees. It is primarily because without women’s voices, we are missing out on entire elements of who God is.”
Kelly Sankowski
St. Phoebe Day Witness, St. Martin de Porres, Toledo, OH

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