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Witnesses
St. Leo's Church
Tacoma, WA
August 7, 2024

Here at St. Leo’s Church in Tacoma, WA we celebrated St. Phoebe on September 2nd and 3rd 2023 with a simple yet deeply meaningful celebration together. Sr. Christine Still, OSF of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia preached for our community at our celebration. She reflected on the ministry and witness of St. Phoebe and related St. Phoebe’s story to the Sunday Mass readings during our celebration.

During our time together, we also recognized the many women who serve in a variety of ministries in our parish by having them stand and come forward for a blessing and acknowledgement following Communion. We gave all the women who were acknowledged St. Phoebe prayer cards from Discerning Deacons, and after Mass several girls from our community distributed St. Phoebe prayer cards to everyone else, as well. 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.

Witness
“I know that women are being called by the Holy Spirit and women are living diakonia in creative, ordinary ways today. Now, as a mother of a toddler girl, I want to discern with the Church on how to make way for her to discern her own future calling, should the Spirit call her.”
Ana López
Spiritual Director and Theology Teacher, Los Angeles, CA
Witness
“If women were able to serve as deacons, it would magnify the grace and love of God and make it more widely available.”
Judith Oberhauser
Retired Chaplain, St. Paul/Minneapolis, MN
Witness
“I was not raised Catholic but converted in my adult life. As a child, Mother Mary would appear to me often…I believe Mary appearing to me as a child who knew nothing about the Catholic Church was more than her wanting me to find Christ through the Church. I believe she came to me because I was meant to do more for the Church.”
Christina Kovar
Adult Faith Formation Leader, Chicago, IL

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