When I was thirteen years old attending mass at my family’s parish, our church’s first deacon candidate spoke to the congregation explaining the diaconate role.  For me this was a “that’s what I want to be when I grow up” moment. “Women can be deacons, too, right?,” I asked my dad afterwards. He gently explained otherwise.

Yet, over the years as I’ve tried to find my place in the Church, the diaconate has remained my guiding light. I cannot imagine anything more exhilarating than embodying a bridge from the pulpit to the marginalized. When I attend ordinations or first masses of deacons, whether friends or strangers, my heart burns in joyful solidarity.

I think that a female diaconate would be electric for our Church. Being engaged with the Synod on Synodality and Discerning Deacons’ work within it has been one of the most energizing things I’ve ever been a part of. Through our local Phoebe Circle’s efforts to grow this conversation, I have met some of the most intelligent, visionary, compassionate, and faithful people, and I am filled with shockwaves of hope!