Ash Thursday's Poem

United Methodist minister, writer, and artist Jan Richardson wrote this beautiful poem below as a blessing for Ash Wednesday. But I didn't come across it until "Ash Thursday" (the day after Ash Wednesday). The blessing still holds. 

"Blessing the Dust"

All those days

you felt like dust,

like dirt,

as if all you had to do

was turn your face

toward the wind

and be scattered

toward the four corners.

or swept away

by the smallest breath

as insubstantial--

Did you not know

what the Holy One

can do with dust?

This is the day

we freely say

we are scorched.

This is the hour

we are marked

by what has made it

through the burning.

This is the moment

we ask for the blessing

that lives within

the ancient ashes,

that makes its home

inside the soil of

this sacred earth.

So let us be marked

not for sorrow.

And let us be marked

not for shame.

Let us be marked

not for false humility

or for thinking

we are less

than we are

but for claiming

what God can do

within the dust

within the dirt

within the stuff

of which the world

is made

and the stars that blaze

in our bones,

and the galaxies that spiral

inside the smudge

we bear.

~Jan Richardson

Catnip: Egress to Oblivion?

Here Cat must share something catty every now and then. A friend on Google-Plus hipped me to this short film. Make sure to share it with your cats, especially if they are nipsters.

A Prayer for the New Year

Included in an e-mail from Catholic Relief Services --

There's a prayer on my lips that the world cannot hear.
     Lord, hear our prayer.
There's a prayer in my mind that my lips cannot speak.
     Lord, hear our prayer.
There's a prayer in my heart that my mind cannot form.
     Lord, hear our prayer.

You, who know our hearts' deepest longing,
You, who lit the flame of love within us,
You, who long to share of yourself.
     Lord, hear our prayer.

There's a sin on my soul that my heart cannot shed.
     Lord, hear our prayer.
There's a man in the night and my eyes looked away.
     Lord, hear our prayer.
There's a child shedding tears that my love couldn't stop.
     Lord, hear our prayer.

You, who know our hearts' deepest longing,
You, who lit the flame of love within us,
You, who long to share of yourself.
     Lord, hear our prayer.

There's a cry in a land that my feet have never walked.
     Lord, hear our prayer.
There is pain in a place that my hands cannot touch.
     Lord, hear our prayer.
There is arming for war and the innocent are threatened.
     Lord, hear our prayer.

You, who know our hearts' deepest longing,
You, who lit the flame of love within us,
You, who long to share of yourself.
     Lord, hear our prayer.

So I give you my feet that they may walk upon your pathways.
     Lord, hear our prayer.
And I give you my hands that you might touch the world around me.
     Lord, hear our prayer.
And I give you my tongue that it may sing your songs of gladness.
And I give you my mind that it may dream a dream of newness.
And I give you my soul that it may burn to see your justice.
And I give you my heart that it may burst upon creation.

You, who know our hearts' deepest longing,
You, who lit the flame of love within us,
You, who long to share of yourself.
     Lord, hear our prayer.

Ordain a Lady

Hello folks. Yes, although I had several thoughts I wanted to get down in words here, I posted nothing during the Advent-Christmas season in 2012 because I got buried in BUSY-ness. Why is it that we often find ourselves at our busiest during winter, when the rest of nature is hunkering down and hibernating?

At any rate, today is New Year's, and I wanted to share this new video I just received in my in-box from Women's Ordination Conference. Favorite image: a woman holding a baby wearing a shirt that says "Mommy for Pope." Favorite You-Tube comment: "The age demographics of those in the video sort of disarms the argument that this is just a movement of aging people stuck in the 1960s."

Cheers, and Happy 2013!

Belated Happy Thanksgiving

I offer a warm fuzzy here-cat for your belated Thanksgiving awww-ness. 

Vatican Expels Roy Bourgeois from the Priesthood

I'm saddened at this news today:  Fr. Roy Bourgeois has been laicized and canonically dismissed from the Maryknoll Order for his open support of women's ordination. (A move initiated by the Vatican, not Maryknoll).

These days, it seems that any "good news" about the hierarchy of the Catholic church is immediately followed by some heavy-handed, obtuse, and regressive pronouncement from the Holy See. (I am tempted to call them the Wholly Blind, but that would be an insult to blind people).

Here's an excerpt from the e-mail I received from Erin Saiz Hanna, director of the Women's Ordination Conference:

"Fr. Bourgeois' dedication to social justice, his unwavering conscience, and his personal friendships with women called to priesthood compelled him to bravely speak out against the inequality of women in our Church. As a Maryknoll priest for forty years, he has consistently followed the gospel of Jesus by speaking out against injustice, risking everything for what he knows to be right.

Perhaps no longer a priest in the eyes of the Vatican or Maryknoll community, Fr. Roy will remain a prophet in the eyes of the marginalized. Fr. Roy joins a much larger Church - the Church of the people of God - who understand that men and women are equal in the eyes of God. History is on our side, and someday, as they are canonizing him, the Vatican will apologize for this painful mistake.

I spoke with Fr. Bourgeois this morning. While he is devastated to lose his community, and saddened by the harshness of this final step, he remains steadfast in his faith and conscience. He has asked for solitude and prayers during this time of transition.

Supporters are encouraged to mail letters of support to the WOC office (P.O. Box 15057 Washington, DC 20003). In addition, Fr. Bourgeois, the dedicated activist, recommends supporters order or download a copy of his story My Journey from Silence to Solidarity and use the book as a tool to break the silence on women's ordination. Please watch for further actions to support Fr. Roy."

Here is Fr. Roy's statement about his dismissal from Maryknoll --

"I have been a Catholic priest in the Maryknoll community for 40 years. As a young man I joined Maryknoll because of its work for justice and equality in the world. To be expelled from Maryknoll and the priesthood for believing that women are also called to be priests is very difficult and painful.

                 

The Vatican and Maryknoll can dismiss me, but they cannot dismiss the issue of gender equality in the Catholic Church. The demand for gender equality is rooted in justice and dignity and will not go away.

As Catholics, we profess that God created men and women of equal worth and dignity. As priests, we profess that the call to the priesthood comes from God, only God. Who are we, as men, to say that our call from God is authentic, but God's call to women is not? The exclusion of women from the priesthood is a grave injustice against women, our Church and our loving God who calls both men and women to be priests.                

When there is an injustice, silence is the voice of complicity.  My conscience compelled me to break my silence and address the sin of sexism in my Church. My only regret is that it took me so long to confront the issue of male power and domination in the Catholic Church.

I have explained my position on the ordination of women, and how I came to it, in my booklet, My Journey from Silence to Solidarity. Please go to: www.roybourgeoisjourney.org."  

In Solidarity,

"A Humbler, Quieter Church"

From the Pastor's Column in our weekly church bulletin:

I share with you this information taken from "News.VA -- The Vatican Today." The article gives the comments of Cardinal-designate Luis Antonio Tagle, the Archbiship of Manila in the Philippines.

In my opinion, many statements of religious leaders today are conveyed in a very triumphal fashion. I find this unfortunate.

I resonate with Cardinal-desginate Tagle's words. I find them refreshing and hopeful!

(Vatican Radio) -- Cardinal-designate Luis Antonio Tagle of Manila in the Philippines is one of just six Church leaders named by Pope Benedict to receive the red hat in a consistory to take place on November 24 [2012].

Archibishop Tagle is currently here in Rome taking part in the Synod of Bishops on the new evangelization which comes to a conclusion this weekend.

Reacting to the announcement of the consistory on Wednesday, the new Cardinal said he was grateful to the Pope for his trust and confidence in the Church of the Philippines, spread throughout the world with the many migrant workers who take their Christian faith with them.

He also spoke of his message to the Synod fathers calling for a humbler, quieter Church that is not afraid to admit its mistakes but is able to share more deeply the sufferings of the people today:

"The Church of Asia is often a minority Church, like John the Baptist crying in the wilderness ... even in the Philippines, if the Church is a majority, I realize that the sufferings of the people and the difficult questions they ask are an invitation to be first in solidarity with them, not to pretend that we have all the solutions ... they can resonate and see the concrete face of God in a Church that can be silent with them [and] as confused as they are ... it becomes a home for them ... I believe that the Church should contribute in the public square, but we in Asia are very particular about the mode ... so you may be saying the right things but people will not listen if the manner by which you communicate reminds them of a triumphalistic, know-it-all institution ... I know that in some parts of Asia the relative silence [and] calmness of the Church is interpreted as timidity, but I say 'no' -- it makes the Church more credible."