FOCUS E-NewsOctober 16 - 22, 2017 Edition

Please support this work!

Did you miss an issue of our weekly FOCUS E-News? Catch up!

FutureChurch welcomesKaren Murphy as newprogram director

FutureChurch welcomes Karen Murphyin her new role as Program Directorfor FutureChurch.

Karen brings both passion andenthusiasm for the work of reformand justice, as well as, a richeducational background, diverseprofessional work experiences, and avariety of ministries to underservedpopulations.

Karen has a BA in Theology andPhilosophy from the University ofScranton, a Jesuit school, and an MA inTheological Research, ChristianSpirituality from AndoverNewton Theological School, thenation's oldest graduate theologicalschool, where she was also awardedthe Gerald R. Cragg commencementaward for outstanding achievement inChurch History. Her Master’s thesisfocused on the Eucharistic theology ofSt. Catherine of Siena.

Throughout her career, Karen hasserved as an Assistant Vice Presidentwith CCS Fundraising where shehelped raise funds for churches,dioceses, schools, associations, andrelief organizations. Her developmentwork included working fororganizations like the Girls Scouts ofNYC and the Desmond Tutu PeaceFoundation.

Karen joined the Jesuit VolunteerCorps and worked at a regionalmental health center supportingwomen and men with debilitatingmental illness. Later she worked withchildren and adults withdevelopmental/intellectual disabilities.

Most recently, Karen has served asDirector of Operations for theFellowship of Reconciliation, a century-old peacebuilding organization, rootedin interfaith dialogue and nonviolentphilosophy and direct action.

Karen also designs and facilitatesretreats and programs steeped in thewisdom of women who have form theChristian tradition. Karen’s spiritualpractices include Centering Prayer,which she learned at a young agefrom her mother, and Ignatianspirituality, a gift from herundergraduate days which hasinformed her interior life eversince. She is a practitioner ofNonviolent Communication -- a spiritualpractice of empathy. She has beeninvolved in all levels of campus andparish life, including: choir member,lector, cantor, trainer, lecturer, retreatfacilitator, and RCIA director.

According to Karen, "When theopportunity to join FutureChurchbecame available, I knew it was thejob I had been waiting for, the job forwhich all my life experiences, mystudies, and my ministry had preparedme."

Welcome Karen!

FutureChurch pilgrims travelto Greece to follow in the

footsteps of our foremothersin faith

Seventeen women and menjoined FutureChurch'seducational director, Sr. ChrisSchenk, and FutureChurch'sspiritual director, Jocelyn Collen,for a ten day journey to Greeceto visit the sites of earlyChristian leaders with anemphasis on women leaders.Together they visited the site ofLydia's baptism in Philippi, stoodnear the ancient ruins ofPhoebe's church in Cenchreaewhere as a deacon, she wascharged with carrying a letterfrom Paul to the community inRome, and visited the siteswhere ancient women worshipedgoddesses of fertility andwisdom.

You can read some of thereflections from both leadersand pilgrims below.

FutureChurch will lead anotherpilgrimage to Rome in the fall of2018. We will finalize the dateswhen the Synod on theEvangelization of Youth datesare announced. Sr. Chris Schenkwill serve as educational directoragain. In Rome she will shareher expertise on women'sauthority based on her researchof burial artifacts.

Her book, "Crispina and HerSisters: Women and Authority inEarly Christianity" exploresvisual imagery found on burialartifacts of prominent earlyChristian women. It carefullysituates the tomb art within thecultural context of customaryRoman commemorations of the

dead. Recent scholarship aboutRoman portrait sarcophagi andthe interpretation of earlyChristian art is also givensignificant attention. An in-depthreview of women’s history in thefirst four centuries ofChristianity provides importantcontext.

A fascinating picture emerges ofwomen’s authority in the earlychurch, a picture either notavailable or sadly distorted inthe written history. It is oftensaid “a picture is worth athousand words.” The portraittombs of fourth-centuryChristian women suggest thatthey viewed themselves and/ortheir loved ones viewed them aspersons of authority withreligious influence.

To get on the mailing list to learnmore about this pilgrimage asdetails emerge, writedebrose@futurechurch.org.

FutureChurch board chairJocelyn Collen reflects on herexperience as a pilgrim inGreece

FutureChurch board chair,Jocelyn Collen served as thespiritual director forFutureChurch's pilgrimage toGreece. She shared somethoughts about her experiencebelow.

Lydia. Prisca. Phoebe. OurForemothers in faith! I now addAfaea, Gaia and Athena asForemothers. Our pilgrimage toGreece was not only a time toretreat from the demands of ahectic life in ministry, but it was

also a chance to be with somany other women from aroundthe country who have servedand serve in ministry. I wasprivileged to be a part of adynamic, radical, loving,prayerful group of fellowpilgrims.

I have read about Lydia, Priscaand Phoebe in the Scriptures.They became more like friendson our journey. I was grateful toexperience, with my own eyes,the places where these womenserved and broke bread. I wasalso so surprised and gratefulfor the opportunity to meetother ancient female prophetssuch as Gaia, the goddess ofthe earth, Afaea, the goddess offertility, and Athena, thegoddess of wisdom. Visitingtemples and holy sites for thesefemale figures was also quiteinspiring and powerful. Knowingthat the places we were able tovisit were holy sites for literallythousands of years honoringwomen, allowed me theopportunity to feel moreconnected, more alive, and moreaffirmed in my vocation.

Our leaders, Aliki Pelteki, andSr. Chris Schenk, CSJ, were amatch made in heaven. Alikiknew literally every historicalfact that we needed, and Chrisnew the Biblical facts, history,and context. They worked intandem flawlessly, and onewould have thought that theyhad been a team for decades.Instead, this was their firstpilgrimage together.

As I recall our time together asa group, I recall our time of

prayer. Each day our setting forour prayer services becamemore spectacular than the daybefore. From hotel spaces tomountains to outside ancient citywalls to the island of Aegina atthe temple for Afaea, we werecared for by God in a loving,spectacular way as we prayedprayers of Thanksgiving for ourtime in the spectacular countryof Greece, and asked God toguide the Greek people, help usto learn from our Foremothers,and bless our church, ourfamilies, and our communities aswe strive to build a church of thefuture in which all are welcomedequally to share in the banquet.

Efcharistópilgrims, guides, and of course,Hellas!

What was Paul doing crashinga woman's prayer service?

In her National CatholicReporter column, Sr. ChrisSchenk, who served aseducational director forFutureChurch's pilgrimage toGreece from October 5 - 14,2017 shared some profoundinsights. Her column is below.

For the past several days, Ihave been boning up on St.Paul's ministry in Greece as Iprepare to lead a FutureChurchpilgrimage to early Christiansites where women had foundingleadership roles.

Most Christians are completelyunaware that women helpedestablish many of the earliestchurches in Greece, Turkey andRome. This is because church

tradition always credits theirfounding to Paul.

Early Christ-followers circulatedand preserved Paul's undisputedletters (circa 51-62 A.D.) andlater, Luke's Acts of theApostles (circa 80-90 A.D.), bothof which chronicle Paul'smissionary journeys inconsiderable — if sometimesdiffering — detail.So it is understandable that laterChrist followers thought Paul didit all. But he did not. In fact,Paul himself credits Prisca as his"coworker in Christ Jesus"(Romans 16: 3-5) and describesEuodia and Syntyche of Philippias coworkers who "struggledbeside me in the work of thegospel" (Philippians 4:3).Paradoxically, no one wouldknow about these early womenleaders except for the patientpiecing together of disparatefacts by meticulous biblicalscholars working with the verytexts that chronicle (andsometimes lionize) Paul andother male leaders in the earlychurch.

Acts identifies Lydia of Philippias beginning the first housechurch in that city (Acts 16:6-40), and Paul's letter to thePhilippians suggests that adisagreement between twowomen — Euodia andSyntyche — is threatening theunity of the church there(Philippians 4:2-3). According towell-known New Testamentscholar, Sacred Heart Sr.Carolyn Osiek, Euodia andSyntyche were very likely amongthe episkopoi and diakonoi towhom Paul addresses his letter.

(A reference, by the way, thatPaul uses in no other greeting.)In Thessaloniki and Berea, theGreek "leading women"supported Paul's mission evenas the male synagogue membersran him out of town (see Acts17:1-15).

Christianity seems to have helda special attraction for Gentilewomen. Women of status —whether from business (Lydiawas a wealthy purple dyetrader) or of societal prominence(Greek "leading women") —were especially drawn to themessage of Jesus.

But why?

Recent research into ancientengravings at Philippi may shedlight on this interesting question.In Ritual, Women andPhilippi (Cascade Books, 2013),Jason T. Lamoreaux analyzed140 etchings on the acropolis atPhilippi. Ninety were dedicatedto the Greek goddess Artemis(Roman goddess Diana).Lamoreaux suggests that sincefew other goddesses were inevidence at Philippi, the Artemiscult was a primary focus ofwomen's religious lives in thatcity. He hypothesized thatfemale worship of Artemis wouldtherefore influence how womenreceived Paul's letter to thePhilippian church.

Known in Hellenist culture as thegoddess of the hunt, Artemiswas the daughter of Zeus andLeto, and the twin of Apollo. Sheremained a virgin, and womeninvoked her protection in labor,childbirth and female rites of

passage such as puberty,marriage and pregnancy.In the 90 archaeological reliefscreated by female devotees atPhilippi, Artemis was depicted 51times as a huntress with a bowand arrow. In the androcentricimagination of ancient Greekmedicine, the womb was viewedas a wandering animal. Artemis'sarrow signified anchoring it andmaking it fertile. (Freud wouldhave a hey-day with this.Seriously.) Seven times in thePhilippi reliefs, the goddess isdepicted with a sword slaying adeer, indicating the darker sideof Artemis — namely her powerto bring death.

Astronomically high maternal-infant death rates meant thatancient women had an intimaterelationship with the prospect ofdeath. Religious ritual helpedthem deal with that. Theacropolis reliefs contain imagesof gifts offered to Artemis inthanksgiving for a safe andsuccessful childbirth: sandals, amirror, a comb, a wool basketand spinning distaff.

If an infant or a woman diedduring childbirth, it was thoughtto be punishment from Artemis.Reliefs depicting her killing astag may be commemorations ofthe death of a mother or hernewborn. Artemis was feareduntil a woman survivedchildbirth.

Lamoureaux suggests thatPhilippian women heard theChristian message differentlythan men because Paul paintsdeath as a positive and not as apunishment: "It is my eager

expectation and hope that I willnot be put to shame in any way,but that by my speaking with allboldness, Christ will be exaltednow as always in my body,whether by life or by death. Forto me, living is Christ and dyingis gain" (Philippians 1:19-22).One wonders what Lydia, a "Godworshipper," and her femalecompanions were about whenPaul finds them at the "place ofprayer" by the river. God-fearers were non-Jewish peoplewho were interested in Judaismand hung around the localsynagogue. But there was nosynagogue at Philippi, or Paul,Timothy and Silas would havegone there for Sabbath worshipas was their wont. Somescholars believe the Lukanauthor of Acts portrays Lydia asa "God worshipper" to clean upthe disciples' religious gaffe.

After all, what was Paul doingcrashing a woman's worshipservice?

What we do know is that Lydia"opened her heart" to theGospel, was baptized herself,had her whole householdbaptized, and then invited Pauland his companions to stay ather home. Several weeks laterbefore leaving town, Paul"encouraged the brothers andsisters" who are now meeting ather house (Acts 16:40).Lydia started a church of Jesus-followers who believe death isnot a negative.

Now that's a hopeful — ifchallenging — concept for all ofus.Read the full article in NCR

New program director KarenMurphy reflects on herpilgrimage to Greece from Oct5 - 14 with FutureChurch

"I want to be baptized again!"

"Oh let all who thirst, let themcome to the water!" As we sangthe opening lines to this favoriteJohn Foley song, the flowingwaters of the river of Lydia'sbaptism our onlyaccompaniment, I found myselfwondering what it must havebeen like for Lydia to experiencethe zeal of thirst for baptism.

What was going through hermind, her heart? Was sheafraid? Excited? With whom didshe celebrate? Did sheunderstand her baptism as aholy consecration, as a gift, achallenge, an invitation? Whatchanged in her after she hadbeen baptized? What changed inothers? How long did she feelthe power of her baptism?

I felt excited just thinking aboutthe Holy Spirit moving inher. And I wanted to feel thatpower, that hopefulness, thatjoy and trust.

I wanted to be baptized again!

And it dawned on me that this isour call, our invitation: to liveour lives with the full zeal andpower of our baptism as thoughit had only happened a momentago and was still fresh and alivein us. We do this byremembering who we are -God's beloveds. We do this byremembering we are not alone -

the Holy Spirit whispersunceasingly into our hearts.

And we do this by rememberingour mothers of faith - the Lydiasand Phoebes and MaryMagdalenes. We walk wherethey walked, pray where theyprayed, preach where theypreached. We let them be alivein our midst, and in keepingthem alive, we are drawn backinto the fullness of our ownbaptism knowing that we areaccompanied by those who havegone before us.

May all who thirst come to thewater! Over and over and over,let us be nourished by thewaters of baptism, and by thefaith and communion of ourmothers whose courage andconviction remind us of thepower and presence of the HolySpirit. And then from that place,let us journey forth as the newlybaptized do, filled with zeal forGod and love for one another

Bishop Calvo reiterates hissupport for women deacons atOctober 16th Reno meeting

FutureChurch board memberBarbara Guerin invited BishopRandolf Calvo to speak to areaCatholics on Monday eveningabout the possibility of womendeacons.

A canon lawyer, Bishop Calvobelieves that women can beordained as deacons based onthe needs of the Church today.And he believes that the role ofwomen deacons need not belimited to what it was historically.

While serving as president ofthe Canon Law Society ofAmerica in November 1995, hesent a copy of an ad hoccommittee's report on "canonicalimplications of ordaining womento the permanent diaconate" tothen-Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.Those conclusions did notprevail.

Bishop Calvo expressed agenerous willingness to sharehis perspective with otherCatholics. Those who want tohave him speak at their parishshould contact his office.

Most Reverend Bishop Randolph R.Calvo, DD, JCD Executive Assistant to the Bishop Ms. Donna Kennedy 775.326.9428 DonnaK@catholicreno.org

Barbara Guerin will offer a fullreport of the meeting for ourupcoming newsletter. Stay tunedfor the Good News!

Three women set tone forAmoris Laetitia be heard

Matthew Sitman writes that aconference hosted by CardinalBlase Cupich and JamesKeenan, SJ, at Boston Collegeearlier this month focusing onAmoris Laetitia sought to forge“a new momentum for moralformation and pastoral practice.”

Bringing together two cardinals,twelve bishops, and over twentyother participants—some priests,but many lay theologians—thegathering clearly was an attemptto shift the way Amoris laetitia isbeing understood and engaged

with in the United States.

Most Catholics certainly haven’tread the exhortation; theirknowledge of it is second hand,often filtered through feveredspeculations about the pope’s“plot” to change the church ornews reports about “filialcorrections” from self-styledguardians of orthodoxy.

But Amoris Laetitia begins, notwith abstract theological ideals,but attentiveness to the concretehopes and sorrows, joys andmessiness, of actual family life.It starts with examples andcomplexity, not pat formulations.It’s important to underscore theword family. Often we reducedebates about such matters toarguments about the nature ofmarriage itself, but family ismore expansive than that. Italso means nursing sick parentsand grandparents, helpingstruggling siblings, andmentoring nieces and nephews.In Amoris Francis exhorts us toacknowledge and work toovercome the pressures we allface in caring for those close tous—not least because of the“throwaway” economy the popelamented in Laudato si’ andelsewhere, which incentivizesmobility, fosters individualism,and undermines stability andlasting commitments.

That’s why it was encouragingthat the Boston Collegeconference did not start with aseries of prelates pronouncingfrom on high, but with a panelthat included three lay womenpresenting on Amoris’s receptionso far—Natalia Imperatori-Lee,

C. Vanessa White, and CathleenKaveny. They very much offeredreports from “on the ground,”from each woman’s specificcontext: a Latina theologian whoalso is a mother of youngchildren, an African-Americanprofessor, and a woman workingat the intersection of law andtheology. It set the tone for theconference: that theexperiences of lay people,especially women, were going tobe taken seriously, and that theconference aimed for good-faithdeliberation, a conversationwithout a preordained end.

Imperatori-Lee’s and White’stalks especially were helpful inemphasizing the way Amorisconnects with Catholics outsideof the white, middle-classenclaves that have historicallydominated the U.S. church. Bothtalks drew attention to thechallenges facing Latino andAfrican-American Catholics andtheir families, which exist inspecific pastoral contexts. Withthe former, the perils ofmigration, poverty, lack ofdocumentation, domestic abuse,and other issues impinge onfamily life.

Lee also made theconnection between a passiveunderstanding of the laity andcolonization, drawing onFrancis’s comment in Amoris thatpastors “have been called toform consciences, not to replacethem.” For Lee, the attempt toreplace rather than formconsciences is an “act ofdomination.”Read more

Pope Francis announcesregional synod of bishops

Cardinal Claudio Hummes, whois very close to Pope Francis andpresident of the BrazilianBishops’ Conference’scommission for Amazonia haschampioned the call for aregional synod -- a call thatPope Francis just announced.

Pope Francis has announced aspecial assembly of the Synod ofBishops, scheduled for October2019, to involve prelates fromLatin America’s Pan-Amazonregion, meaning Bolivia, Brazil,Colombia, Ecuador, FrenchGuyana, Guyana, Perú,Venezuela and Surinam.

The main purpose of theAmazon gathering, Francis said,will be to identify new paths forthe evangelization in the region.Particular attention, he added,will be paid to the indigenouspeople, “often forgotten andwithout the prospect of a serenefuture,” and to the crisis of theAmazonian rain forest,considered one of the world’s“lungs” because of the amountof oxygen produced by itsabundant vegetation.Read more

Young Catholics will beauditors at 2018 Synod

Ines San Martin reports thatyoung Catholics won’t just be atopic at the 2018 Synod, butprotagonists.

“Through every phase of thisSynod, the Church wants again

to state her desire to encounter,accompany and care for everyyoung person, withoutexception,” a preparatorydocument released by theVatican on Friday says.

“The Church cannot, nor doesshe wish to, abandon them tothe isolation and exclusion towhich the world exposes them.”The lives of young people,struggling againstlosing themselves in violence ordeath, and hopingthat disappointment doesn’talienate them, are issues thatshould be of great concern forall those who have been“baptized in the faith,” the textsays.If the document is anyindication, young people will bemore than mere study subjectsfor the bishops.Read more

The Church must listen

Cindy Wooden writes that PopeFrancis said he is prepared torisk listening, because it is thebest way to know and respondto people's real concerns.

"I know this can make mevulnerable, but it is a risk I wantto take," the pope wrote in theintroduction to a new bookcollecting transcripts ofquestion-and-answer sessionshe has held all over the world.The collection in Italian, "AdessoFate le Vostre Domande" ("Now,Ask Your Questions"), wasedited by Jesuit Father AntonioSpadaro and scheduled forrelease Oct. 19. The pope'sintroduction was published Oct.

17 in the Italian newspaper LaRepubblica."I want a church that knows howto enter into people'sconversations, that knows howto dialogue," Pope Franciswrote.Read more

Catholic doctrine evolves inlight of the death penalty

Robert Mickens shows how theCatechism's teachings are beingchallenged by Pope Francis whenit comes to the death penalty.

According to Pope Francis, “Itmust be clearly stated that thedeath penalty is an inhumanemeasure that, regardless of howit is carried out, abases humandignity. It is per se contrary tothe Gospel because it entails thewillful suppression of a humanlife that never ceases to besacred in the eyes of its Creatorand of which – ultimately – onlyGod is the true judge andguarantor.”

The 80-year-old pope added thatthe Catechism needed to give a“more adequate and coherenttreatment” of capital punishmentto reflect this.

Currently, the CCC says that“the traditional teaching of theChurch does not excluderecourse to the death penalty”,though stressing that “the casesin which the execution of theoffender is an absolutenecessity are very rare, if notpractically nonexistent”.

Pope Francis has gone a stepfurther. Capital punishment, he

said, is never an absolutenecessity. Nothing can justify it.Read more

The Perils of Popewatching

Massimo Faggioli wonders howthe new age of Pope watchingshapes our view of the Vatican.

He writes that there’s somethingabout that coverage, in therepackaging and presentation ofpapal activities, that reminds himof the phenomenon of foodporn, defined by Wikipedia asfollows: “a glamorizedspectacular visual presentationof cooking or eating inadvertisements, infomercials,blogs, cooking shows or othervisual media, foods boasting ahigh fat and calorie content,exotic dishes that arouse adesire to eat or the glorificationof food.”Read more

More women are sharing their story of being called to thediaconate. Share your story at our 100 Women Deacons

campaign!

You won't want to miss theseFutureChurch events!

Please support this work!

Join us for our Fall Event Join our teleconference

October 27, 2017Sr. Sandra Schneiders

The Gospel of John: ABlueprint for Parish Life

Come to the eventor buy a live stream/virtual

ticket!

October 18, 2017Ed Hahnenberg

Emerging Models of Ministryfor Today's Church2nd in the series

Emerging Models of Parishand Community Life

Be inspired! Catholic Women Preach!

Add your name to our 100women deacons list!

Start a conversation withDeaconChat

Write a letter to our U.S.cardinals asking them tosupport Cardinal AndersArborelius' idea of a Collegeof Women advisors to PopeFrancis

Honor the Mary of Magdala in your life by having hername added to our list on Catholic Women Preach!

Learn what you can do to saveyour parish community

New! International priestsstatistics!

U.S. Priest statistics

New! Emerging Models ofParish and Community Life2017 - 2018 SERIES