St. Phoebe Day – A Growing Devotion

“[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 woman from the parish 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.”

“Students were moved and inspired by learning more about St. Phoebe. As a part of a student-led prayer assignment for her theology class, one sophomore student decided to focus her prayer on St. Phoebe. In her prayer assignment she states: ‘We pray to you to give not only those at the Synod blessing and advice on how to enlarge one’s tent, and also to possibly open up more role opportunities for women in the church–just like St. Phoebe–as well as blessing all of us with advice on how to enlarge our own tents.'”

“Each woman shared how the Lord had called them to their ministry, and how they have grown in the various human, intellectual, spiritual and pastoral dimensions of their ministry throughout their years of service.”

“The loveliest and most hopeful memories from our celebration for me were the planning meetings led by myself and our priests, who supported me in this idea with an open heart. They spoke and accompanied our young women in the process, uplifting their voices and leadership in our community.”