“Part of my joy comes from the fact that in my work in the parish I have the privilege of doing diaconal work serving my community, the poorest of the poor, the marginalized, the immigrants, and those who are sick at home or in the hospital. I am honored to accompany them, praying and offering spiritual support as well as basic resources for those in need.”
“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.'”
“By celebrating Evening Prayer, rather than Mass, we were also able to demonstrate how much is already possible within the parameters of Church practice. Laypeople are only allowed to give reflections at Mass under very limited conditions. In the Liturgy of the Hours, lay preaching is already permitted.”
“Together, here at St. Leo, we were blessed to uplift St. Phoebe in a way that not only celebrated St. Phoebe, but also celebrated the many wonderful gifts and ministries of women in our local parish community.”
“What surprised us, was that nobody was saying, “oh it’s a woman doing a reflection” instead what we heard was, “I didn’t know anything about Saint Phoebe”. We were pleased and delighted by our community’s response!”
“Students, staff, faculty, and community members were nourished and energized by fellowship, authentic conversation, and prayer. St. Phoebe Day created space for conversations rooted in truth: the truth of our individual experiences, our shared faith, and who and how we are called to be as Church.”
“Together, we were so grateful and inspired by our celebration, and we were deeply moved to bear witness to the leadership of women in our own community, all of whom have blessed us with their leadership, gifts and ministry for many years. It felt so fitting to hear them break open the word for our community at St. Phoebe Day, as they have and continue to break open God’s word and loving mission through their lives and service.”
“A young woman from our parish, who dreams of a future for women in the Church, is an artist and also developed coloring book type pages about St. Phoebe for the children as part of our celebration. Together, we are grateful to uplift St. Phoebe in our parish, and we will continue to uplift the witness of women in our own community and in our Church!”
Personally, I have struggled with the role of deacons, which added another male vested in the sanctuary. I know the pain of many women watching the sanctuary be even more dominated by men. The thought of have a woman deacon in our sanctuary is thrilling!
“Our St. Phoebe Day celebration was a Catholic mass at its best—coming together, unified at the Eucharistic table, getting nourished through meaningful ritual, prayerful and relevant songs, a challenging message on synodality from scripture, and engaging and honest testimonies from two women in our community. St. Joan of Arc parish today did what Jesus did years ago—fed souls and gave people hope.”
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