I met Sr Iris SSND for lunch today. I took along my photo album from my time at Walter Reed and introduced myself and my family. I told her of how pivotal that time was. Jason's injury changed my life and who I am for ever.
While we were eating a little sparrow flew and sat on our table. He continued to do so probably for the hour we were eating and talking. He was asking for some of my bread which I placed on the ground. I have never had a bird do that before.
Since moving to KY I seem to becoming more at peace within myself and animals come to me. When I walked this evening, each time I passed this brown dog, he would come to me to be petted. His person said, "Found a new friend?" to him.
I had my neighbor cat come and see me today. She came in and checked the apartment out-her second time at this. I feed her catnip treats. She ate some and wanted me to scratch her ears and pet her. Although a very small cat, she sure can purr.
I felt like St. Francis and the animals and I like it. I can't have any of my own, so God's Providence gives me visits regularly. When I visit with Connie I will be taking care of her kitty who is a real sweetie. I bought cat treats and a toy to take with me.
Blessings on each of you and all the pets in your life.
May we come to know that we are all equal beings on this planet. We depend on each other. And we who know have the responsibility to care for the earth and for all our fellow beings who cannot do the work.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
Time to Listen to the Spirit
I have a friend who is searching for healing. I invited her over to take part in a meditation for healing. I would also participate. I prepared the space on the table, covered with plastic cloth. I had purchased 5 pounds of clay to work with. We each had about 1 pound and there was plenty if more was needed. She was hesitant as she had "never worked with clay." I reassured Mary that this is not a "project" but a way to concretize feelings and images that might arise from the unconscious, the Spirit within.
I put a Celtic harp CD on the player, softly so that it would block the noise of the day and yet be not intrusive on images that might come to mind.
We read from Mark's Gospel: the healing of the woman with hemorrhage of 12 years. My friend, I will call her Mary, has also been seeking healing. I led the meditation of meeting Jesus on the road, seeing the woman being healed, speaking with Jesus and listening to him respond. Then it was 30 minutes of silently working with the clay.
I will tell you of my piece. I had just begun to work with pastels, had done 3 pieces when my brother died in February 1991. The snow was deep in Michigan at his funeral and when I returned to Blacksburg, a purple crocus had opened up amidst a bank of melting snow in my flower bed. I thought, "A sign of resurrection." I knew I needed to paint this sign, to release me from my grief. I have never done it. I had done clay meditations before but not to really "create an image from memory." So I asked for healing and began to work the clay. It turned out perfect for me. I was amazed. "The crocus is open in the snow within a crevasse of melted water." New life from the frozen earth of winter death. Joe is alive in eternity at peace and I believe continuing to learn the lessons God intends.
After our meditation time was complete, I took both of us back to Jesus and let us speak to him. I saw Jesus laughing and holding both Mary and myself as young girls. I know I will create again.
Mary also had a good meditation and created three different images that had arisen from her silent reflection time, recognizable and filled with meaning for her. Mary wanted to meet again, but my day will be too busy tomorrow. She did take the clay home with her and I encouraged her to work with it if she desired. Mary can also dialogue with any image asking, "Who are you? what do you want from me? what do you bring me?" or any other question to open up the particular meaning of the image for her.
Both of us listened to the spirit and were blessed with meaningful images for our spiritual growth and healing. The ministry of priesthood, it is enough.
I put a Celtic harp CD on the player, softly so that it would block the noise of the day and yet be not intrusive on images that might come to mind.
We read from Mark's Gospel: the healing of the woman with hemorrhage of 12 years. My friend, I will call her Mary, has also been seeking healing. I led the meditation of meeting Jesus on the road, seeing the woman being healed, speaking with Jesus and listening to him respond. Then it was 30 minutes of silently working with the clay.
I will tell you of my piece. I had just begun to work with pastels, had done 3 pieces when my brother died in February 1991. The snow was deep in Michigan at his funeral and when I returned to Blacksburg, a purple crocus had opened up amidst a bank of melting snow in my flower bed. I thought, "A sign of resurrection." I knew I needed to paint this sign, to release me from my grief. I have never done it. I had done clay meditations before but not to really "create an image from memory." So I asked for healing and began to work the clay. It turned out perfect for me. I was amazed. "The crocus is open in the snow within a crevasse of melted water." New life from the frozen earth of winter death. Joe is alive in eternity at peace and I believe continuing to learn the lessons God intends.
After our meditation time was complete, I took both of us back to Jesus and let us speak to him. I saw Jesus laughing and holding both Mary and myself as young girls. I know I will create again.
Mary also had a good meditation and created three different images that had arisen from her silent reflection time, recognizable and filled with meaning for her. Mary wanted to meet again, but my day will be too busy tomorrow. She did take the clay home with her and I encouraged her to work with it if she desired. Mary can also dialogue with any image asking, "Who are you? what do you want from me? what do you bring me?" or any other question to open up the particular meaning of the image for her.
Both of us listened to the spirit and were blessed with meaningful images for our spiritual growth and healing. The ministry of priesthood, it is enough.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Needing Support on the Journey
One of the recommendations I heard by the analysts before I left Chicago for Lexington was, "You need to reach out for support from others. You are making a difficult move and you are subject to blue moods (depression)."
I have been thinking about emotional support but felt, like so many other things, I need to wait until after I return from taking care of my sister in Ann Arbor for the next two months as she recovers from surgery to replace her second hip joint. I lived 8 months at Walter Reed so I consider this healing time to be a "cake walk."
I attended the Friends meeting this morning. I find it a place of peace compared to the RC parish liturgies which are often an "occasion of sin" because of the language and focus of the sermon. After the meeting I reached out to two women who I will call M1 and M2 for privacy. M2 is a chaplain.
What struck me was how God put us together. For all three of us suffered abuse at the hands of our x-spouses. Mine was spiritual and emotional, both of the women suffered not only emotional but physical abuse also to the extent they had to get restraining orders, move to a different state, etc. Both were now in the process of healing and we had a good discussion for about 45 minutes, sharing the stories of our lives and emotional/spiritual growth.
We plan to get together "for lunch" when I return, they may do so before I return. What M2 said that struck me was, "My son, who this spouse was his step dad, when I told him the truth about the divorce he had a mental and emotional turn around." He was very supportive of M2 and their relationship was much improved. For M1, she only had step daughters but could no longer be in contact because doing so would provide info to her x as to where she was and she fears for her life.
For me, I was filled with hope that I might be friends with either or both of these women. We walk the same road to healing for ourselves and hopefully for our children as well. God/the Source of Life does provide for our needs, we only need to be open to the opportunities.
I was also pleased that M2 is a chaplain and said she would check about my possible part time work as a chaplain with her health care system. I do not know if I will need finances, but I might and I do love being a chaplain. I see it as a central "being a priest" for myself. In a hospital setting I could focus on healing prayer for my patients which is different than hospice where the prayer is for letting go and accompanying the loved ones in their grief. I will see what God has in store for me as I walk the path to the formal recognition: ordination of my priesthood.
I still have not gotten over how peaceful I feel inside since leaving Chicago. I needed to put physical distance between all that occurred there and within me. I feel released from the prison of an abusive relationship that lasted for 30 years. Each of the women talked about trying to discover the "why did I stay in the relationship so long?" It gave me much solace; victims cannot "overcome the abuse" on their own. It seems there has to be an event which clearly forces the choice "to live differently."
I have been thinking about emotional support but felt, like so many other things, I need to wait until after I return from taking care of my sister in Ann Arbor for the next two months as she recovers from surgery to replace her second hip joint. I lived 8 months at Walter Reed so I consider this healing time to be a "cake walk."
I attended the Friends meeting this morning. I find it a place of peace compared to the RC parish liturgies which are often an "occasion of sin" because of the language and focus of the sermon. After the meeting I reached out to two women who I will call M1 and M2 for privacy. M2 is a chaplain.
What struck me was how God put us together. For all three of us suffered abuse at the hands of our x-spouses. Mine was spiritual and emotional, both of the women suffered not only emotional but physical abuse also to the extent they had to get restraining orders, move to a different state, etc. Both were now in the process of healing and we had a good discussion for about 45 minutes, sharing the stories of our lives and emotional/spiritual growth.
We plan to get together "for lunch" when I return, they may do so before I return. What M2 said that struck me was, "My son, who this spouse was his step dad, when I told him the truth about the divorce he had a mental and emotional turn around." He was very supportive of M2 and their relationship was much improved. For M1, she only had step daughters but could no longer be in contact because doing so would provide info to her x as to where she was and she fears for her life.
For me, I was filled with hope that I might be friends with either or both of these women. We walk the same road to healing for ourselves and hopefully for our children as well. God/the Source of Life does provide for our needs, we only need to be open to the opportunities.
I was also pleased that M2 is a chaplain and said she would check about my possible part time work as a chaplain with her health care system. I do not know if I will need finances, but I might and I do love being a chaplain. I see it as a central "being a priest" for myself. In a hospital setting I could focus on healing prayer for my patients which is different than hospice where the prayer is for letting go and accompanying the loved ones in their grief. I will see what God has in store for me as I walk the path to the formal recognition: ordination of my priesthood.
I still have not gotten over how peaceful I feel inside since leaving Chicago. I needed to put physical distance between all that occurred there and within me. I feel released from the prison of an abusive relationship that lasted for 30 years. Each of the women talked about trying to discover the "why did I stay in the relationship so long?" It gave me much solace; victims cannot "overcome the abuse" on their own. It seems there has to be an event which clearly forces the choice "to live differently."
Synchronicity
On Saturday I went to work out at Curves. The morning before I had read in the newspaper about the Lexington community chorus holding a Pop's Concert with selections made by fans via computer. I love hearing songs,I can understand and was thinking, "This would be a nice evening out and reasonable ($18 a ticket). I didn't have the go-to to pursue a ticket however.
I headed to Curves and one of the staff told of how her neighbor had purchased four tickets to the concert and found she couldn't use them. Gail and her husband Hal were going and she offered "Would anyone like to purchase a ticket?" I tried to find a person for the fourth but couldn't find one.
I couldn't believe the synchronicity-an event over which I have no control but which affirms how I am feeling (Jungian concept). So...I raised my hand, wrote a check and was delighted to be entertained for 2.5 hours in the beautiful Lexington Opera house now used for such venues.
Music by a chorus of 150 magnificent voices included (I can't list them all) Broadway medley: There's No Business Like Show Business, More, That's Amore, Moon River, You Raise Me Up, Beach Boy Medley, Seasons of Love, Mac The Knife.
The Universe is loving and kind, and will oblige by fulfilling our life nourishing needs. We but need to ask.
I headed to Curves and one of the staff told of how her neighbor had purchased four tickets to the concert and found she couldn't use them. Gail and her husband Hal were going and she offered "Would anyone like to purchase a ticket?" I tried to find a person for the fourth but couldn't find one.
I couldn't believe the synchronicity-an event over which I have no control but which affirms how I am feeling (Jungian concept). So...I raised my hand, wrote a check and was delighted to be entertained for 2.5 hours in the beautiful Lexington Opera house now used for such venues.
Music by a chorus of 150 magnificent voices included (I can't list them all) Broadway medley: There's No Business Like Show Business, More, That's Amore, Moon River, You Raise Me Up, Beach Boy Medley, Seasons of Love, Mac The Knife.
The Universe is loving and kind, and will oblige by fulfilling our life nourishing needs. We but need to ask.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Jason and I Talked Today
I received the invitation to Jason's and Jodi's wedding. I had a question about seating on the boat-yes, they will be married on a Disney cruise to the Bahamas. Jason was home and picked up the phone when I called.
We talked about the wedding and his "in process" for a position in National Security in DC. Sounds like they may be moving to DC in the summer/fall depending on clearance. Jodi will attend graduate school as the assignment is for 3 years if all goes well.
I think it would be amazing if Jodi gets into VT in Blacksburg where Jason grew up. They built their Vet school while we lived there probably during the early 80's. It is a very beautiful part of Virginia. I was very sad when Dow moved us to Chicago. But now I have the Bluegrass, rolling hills and this too is a beautiful part of the world.
I found two new saints this week:
St. Jason from Acts who offered St. Paul hospitality. I had looked for a patron saint for Jason all his life. Dow named Jason and I always felt badly that he was named after a Greek myth and not a Saint. Now Jason has one and I feel so good that I can pray to him for Jason. I will do this everyday-for health, for his upcoming marriage and for our reconciliation.
I also met a new saint St. Rita of Casio Italy. She was married to a brutal man who was murdered. Their twin sons wanted to commit a vendetta but were stopped by dying themselves before they could carry it out. St. Rita argued with them not to seek revenge as was the response in Medieval Italy. St. Rita is the patron saint of impossible causes. We learn to seek reconciliation, not revenge. Would that we had done this after 9/11. Our country and the world would be a much different place. So I will pray to St Rita as my patron saint of peacemaking and being peace.
For fun this evening I went to the movies and saw "The Battle in the Smithsonian" Lots of high tech adventure and Amelia Earhart was the very best. It is so neat to see the "historical characters" come alive. Of course, Abe Lincoln had a leading role as did Einstein.
We talked about the wedding and his "in process" for a position in National Security in DC. Sounds like they may be moving to DC in the summer/fall depending on clearance. Jodi will attend graduate school as the assignment is for 3 years if all goes well.
I think it would be amazing if Jodi gets into VT in Blacksburg where Jason grew up. They built their Vet school while we lived there probably during the early 80's. It is a very beautiful part of Virginia. I was very sad when Dow moved us to Chicago. But now I have the Bluegrass, rolling hills and this too is a beautiful part of the world.
I found two new saints this week:
St. Jason from Acts who offered St. Paul hospitality. I had looked for a patron saint for Jason all his life. Dow named Jason and I always felt badly that he was named after a Greek myth and not a Saint. Now Jason has one and I feel so good that I can pray to him for Jason. I will do this everyday-for health, for his upcoming marriage and for our reconciliation.
I also met a new saint St. Rita of Casio Italy. She was married to a brutal man who was murdered. Their twin sons wanted to commit a vendetta but were stopped by dying themselves before they could carry it out. St. Rita argued with them not to seek revenge as was the response in Medieval Italy. St. Rita is the patron saint of impossible causes. We learn to seek reconciliation, not revenge. Would that we had done this after 9/11. Our country and the world would be a much different place. So I will pray to St Rita as my patron saint of peacemaking and being peace.
For fun this evening I went to the movies and saw "The Battle in the Smithsonian" Lots of high tech adventure and Amelia Earhart was the very best. It is so neat to see the "historical characters" come alive. Of course, Abe Lincoln had a leading role as did Einstein.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
My First Peace Vigil in Lexington
The Peace folks hold their vigil on Thursdays at 5:30PM downtown. We stood on the corner in the very warm-86 degrees afternoon and held our banners for 15 minutes. Then we prayed for peace for 15 minutes. Not much foot traffic but lots of autos drove by.
We are all very "gray heads" who had been peacemaking a long time! We discussed that nothing was planned for this Memorial Day weekend in Lexington. Louisville will have a vigil for peace remembering our soldiers and also the civilians who have died.
It was good to meet folks and be with them focusing on peace. I liked praying for peace in our small group. I remembered Ken Meredith and his mother Karen who will be at Ken's grave in Arlington cemetery this weekend as she has been each year since his death in Iraq five years ago. Jason and Ken were in the same tank commander class together. I met Karen because she contacted me during my stay with Jason at Walter Reed. It was good to be with Karen at the graveside remembrance and for dinner after.
Remember all the soldiers across the world who have lost their lives and their families. Remember all the civilians who have died during war: 1,000,000 in Iraq. Let us pray and work to end all wars. Let us relegate war to the dustbin of history.
Go to the site for fightingforlifethemovie.com. It is being shown on PBS stations all over the country this weekend/coming week. Jason and I appear in it as we were interviewed for it.
Have a good holiday weekend with family and friends or quietly resting as I plan to do.
We are all very "gray heads" who had been peacemaking a long time! We discussed that nothing was planned for this Memorial Day weekend in Lexington. Louisville will have a vigil for peace remembering our soldiers and also the civilians who have died.
It was good to meet folks and be with them focusing on peace. I liked praying for peace in our small group. I remembered Ken Meredith and his mother Karen who will be at Ken's grave in Arlington cemetery this weekend as she has been each year since his death in Iraq five years ago. Jason and Ken were in the same tank commander class together. I met Karen because she contacted me during my stay with Jason at Walter Reed. It was good to be with Karen at the graveside remembrance and for dinner after.
Remember all the soldiers across the world who have lost their lives and their families. Remember all the civilians who have died during war: 1,000,000 in Iraq. Let us pray and work to end all wars. Let us relegate war to the dustbin of history.
Go to the site for fightingforlifethemovie.com. It is being shown on PBS stations all over the country this weekend/coming week. Jason and I appear in it as we were interviewed for it.
Have a good holiday weekend with family and friends or quietly resting as I plan to do.
Housing Problems
I really, really tried to do the best housing research for apartments when I came down. I did not obviously do enough research on the "real costs." I was told by every apartment that electric (all apartments are 100% electric)"$60 on the budget plan."
As I spoke to my new neighbors this last week, I have heard winter bills between "$125 to $400" a month between December and April. These apartments built in the 60's obviously do not have any insulation. Because I am on the ground floor-heat rises, I have the coldest apartment of the three floors.
I plan on doing some more research "talk to the neighbors on the higher floors" this evening and then I will speak to management about a possible move "on up."
Janice is my mentor for the RCWP program and I will be meeting with her regularly. There are two gatherings planned this summer, one in Cleveland area and one in Chicago. I am really happy for this support given me. I do not feel isolated and with all that is going on in my life I can't imagine it being any busier. For the first couple of weeks I was exhausted from the move and the stress of my lifestyle in Chicago. Now I feel into the "rhythm of Lexington" life.
I will be away for two months to Ann Arbor tending to my sister Connie who will undergo hip replacement surgery next Tuesday. I plan to wash, clean, cook and tend to the needs of this good woman. She had her first hip done last year and it took 8 weeks for her to recover enough to go back to work, I am praying all goes well and it will be the same this surgery and recovery.
Then home to Lexington to begin to write and study and support peace and justice ministries locally. I am also in need of a spiritual director, Janice never had a SD as she prepared for ordination which shocked me as I have always had one.
I hope to meet with a Sister who has done SD in the past next week before I go to Ann Arbor to see if we would like to meet from there on at least once a month.
As I spoke to my new neighbors this last week, I have heard winter bills between "$125 to $400" a month between December and April. These apartments built in the 60's obviously do not have any insulation. Because I am on the ground floor-heat rises, I have the coldest apartment of the three floors.
I plan on doing some more research "talk to the neighbors on the higher floors" this evening and then I will speak to management about a possible move "on up."
Janice is my mentor for the RCWP program and I will be meeting with her regularly. There are two gatherings planned this summer, one in Cleveland area and one in Chicago. I am really happy for this support given me. I do not feel isolated and with all that is going on in my life I can't imagine it being any busier. For the first couple of weeks I was exhausted from the move and the stress of my lifestyle in Chicago. Now I feel into the "rhythm of Lexington" life.
I will be away for two months to Ann Arbor tending to my sister Connie who will undergo hip replacement surgery next Tuesday. I plan to wash, clean, cook and tend to the needs of this good woman. She had her first hip done last year and it took 8 weeks for her to recover enough to go back to work, I am praying all goes well and it will be the same this surgery and recovery.
Then home to Lexington to begin to write and study and support peace and justice ministries locally. I am also in need of a spiritual director, Janice never had a SD as she prepared for ordination which shocked me as I have always had one.
I hope to meet with a Sister who has done SD in the past next week before I go to Ann Arbor to see if we would like to meet from there on at least once a month.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
How it all began...
I wanted to begin the blog so I can write when I need to.
I will include my application for the program Roman Catholic Women Priest
Application for the
RCWP Preparation for Ordination
Submitted April 1, 2009
Question 1 Autobiographical details.
1.1 Facts:
I was born January 3, 1943 in Detroit MI. Both of my parents were first generation born in America children of Polish immigrants. I am the third child of a family of seven; I have three brothers and three sisters ages 52 to 72. One of my brothers, Joseph is deceased (1991). Both of my parents are deceased my father in 1987 and my mother in 1998.
I grew up in rural Michigan about an hour away from Detroit. I spent the first half of my life living in various suburbs around Detroit attending undergraduate school in Detroit and a Masters from Michigan State at East Lansing, MI. After my marriage in 1976 to Dow we moved to Blacksburg VA and lived there for 17 years. In 1996 we moved to Chicago where I have lived for the last 13 years. I plan to move to Lexington KY on May 1 of this year.
I am a “cradle Catholic” and experience myself as one of the Vatican II generation coming of age when the Council was called by Blessed Pope John XXIII.
I have two grown children Rose Lisa age 42 married to Charles Ryan parents of three children. My marriage to Lisa’s father was annulled on April 3, 1974 by the Tribunal of the Diocese of Lansing Michigan. Jason Scott age 32 is engaged to Jodi Bower and is to be married October 31, 2009. I am divorced from Dow Scott, the father of Jason as of September 8, 2008.
After moving to Blacksburg in 1979 I became a MBTI management consultant and practiced as part of Dow’s consulting practice. I was active in the founding of a hospice for the New River Valley covering 5 rural counties and was the volunteer coordinator for 10 years working with about 100 families and patients during that time. Moving to Chicago I entered the CPE program to become a hospice chaplain after completing a second Masters in Theology from Loyola University in New Orleans. I have ministered as a hospice chaplain for the last 7 years after completing the CPE program in 2002. I work 3 days a week with a case load of 20 patients. I plan to retire before I move to Lexington KY and to focus my energy on studies to be a RCWP and to work for Justice (especially for women in the RCC) and Peace.
1.2 Personal Journey toward priesthood.
I remember “being priest” with my brothers using the St. Andrew missal as our sacramentary and a towel as the chasuble. At the time I was probably 10 years old in the early 1950’s. They were older, my brother Joe an altar boy, but I do not remember them dissuading me. This is my earliest memory of being called to the priesthood.
In the 1960’s Vatican II began and the Roman Catholic Church was alive with the Spirit of change. Vatican II was God’s calling to the People of God challenging every member to bring Christ to the world through works of justice and peace making. As the changes were introduced I immediately took on the roles of Eucharistic Minister and Lector in each parish where I worshiped. I was active on the parish councils in Michigan and later Virginia. I knew I was called to help build my faith community.
After moving to Virginia I chose to participate in the Ministries Formation Program (MFP) a three year program of study. Under the auspices of Bishop Walter Sullivan who is very supportive of women, the program followed the structure of the preparation for the deaconate but permitted women to be “commissioned as leaders” in their faith communities. I then took up the position of Minister for Justice and Peace at St. Mary’s in Blacksburg VA. I was also active with the Neuman RC ministry on VT’s campus and ministered as part of their RCIA program for a number of years.
Throughout the 80’s I also worked to create the New River Valley Hospice with other dedicated volunteers making presentations to churches and community organizations. We created a network to sustain this work of compassion and I discovered I was drawn to this ministry. After its creation I oversaw the provision of hospice services, except medical care, to our patients and families. At the same time I joined WOC the only woman from the New River Valley to be on its membership list.
In the early 90’s I attended a healing workshop in No VA at an Indian Spirituality Center. In the closing ceremony I was to choose a stone and reflect on its meaning for me. I chose a green stone that sits on my desk today. As I chose the stone from a large bowl, the words were given me, “I accept my femaleness and my maleness. I am the servant of the servants of the Lord.” I pondered these words after the weekend closed. Who is called to be servant of the community? I wrestled with understanding and its meaning for me. In prayer I asked the Sacred Heart (my icon of our Loving Godde from my Polish Catholicism), “Was I called to be a priest? How could this be? Rome will never agree.” Jesus replied, “You are a priest, in pectore meum.” Later I returned to prayer and asked the Sacred Heart, “Were my prayers and my understanding of my priesthood acceptable to God?” Given to me was the image of myself on bended knee offering the robes of priestly function to God at the altar.
In the early 90’s Bishop Sullivan introduced the long-distance learning program from Loyola New Orleans leading to a Masters in Theology: Pastoral Studies. For three years we gathered weekly as a learning circle with each theological reflection deepening my understanding of Sophia present to and in the faith community.
From 1991-1995, I facilitated The Word Program, a jointly Episcopal-Catholic Scripture Study. We met weekly and each year one subject was covered. These included The Hebrew Testament, the Christian Testament, Church History and the Theology of the 20th Century. The group process was Theological Reflection on events from the daily lives of the members. This educational and leadership opportunity permitted me to minister with others of the Catholic and Christian faiths.
For worship I attended monthly meetings of Women Church which met in homes. Our small circle came together to share faith as revealed through our ministries, we blessed and broke bread together. After my first time with Women Church, I experienced the validation of “laity gathering to bless and break the bread of our lives.” The next time I attended Sunday Mass I entered into two worlds; the one before me with the priest in his role and simultaneously living the experience of Women Church, a small gathering of women consecrating the bread and wine. I became nauseated and disoriented as both scenes and times were held in my soul. After a few minutes I regained my equilibrium but I will never forget the experience “outside of time and in eternity.” This experience confirmed for me that gathering for Eucharist occurs in many settings and all are equal in God.
During this same time period, Bishop Sullivan was approached by Catholics in Christiansburg VA who wanted to open a parish. I was selected to be the founding Pastoral Coordinator and held the position until I left the New River Valley. This was my introduction to the daily management of a faith community and also deepened my experience as a priest for the 75 families that gathered together weekly for worship in the Lutheran Church. I also learned that my understanding of the role of women within the Roman Catholic Church is an impediment to ministering in a “traditional parish.”
I graduated with my Masters in Theology in 1997 after I moved to Chicago. I wanted to be in active ministry but no longer wanted to work for the institutional church. I could not compromise my own truth. My spiritual director proposed that I take CPE and become a hospice chaplain as this was my desire after we discussed future ministry and discerned my call. What better place to be a priest than to accompany families and their loved one who is moving into her/his final stage of life. As a hospice chaplain I have attended spiritual and emotional healing among family members, listened to past mistakes and spoke words of God’s forgiveness. I have provided Eucharist for patients and family members all through their journey of loss and grief. I have presided at many funerals/wakes/graveside services and helped others preside at their loved one’s service.
I have facilitated the healing process by leading grief groups and facilitating the annual memorial service for families offered by hospices. Over and over family members have affirmed my priesthood and ministry with them.
In Chicago I began to attend an intentional inclusive Eucharistic community in Chicago and volunteered to be a presider for liturgy once a month as the community calls forth members as in the earliest Christian churches. I have done so for the last thirteen years and my faith has deepened and my priesthood affirmed by the worshiping community. This community grounded me in the priesthood of the faithful and I was blessed to have this community of justice and peacemakers to nourish my priesthood.
In 1999 I was asked to serve on the board of Women’s Ordination Conference which exposed me to the larger work for ordination in the United States and beyond. I would serve 2 terms as a Board member and be part of the discussion and affirmation of the ordinations of the Danube 7 and the following herstory. I have attended seven ordinations and have been on the planning committee for the first ones in Chicago in the fall of 2008.
Early in 2000 WOC held a meeting at my home with Rosemary Radford Ruether as speaker. We questioned how to respond to the Archdiocese’s call for men to be priests. The famous WOC billboard campaign originated at that meeting. Eventually the campaign was taken to Ireland and to Rome. Versions of the billboard campaign calling for women’s ordination were created throughout the United States.
After 9/11/01 my son Jason joined the US Army and in 2005 was deployed to Iraq where he sustained life-threatening injuries. Jason was to live at Walter Reed for 1 year. See www.captjason.blogspot.com for a journal I kept at Walter Reed as I lived there for eight months while Jason was recovering. It also relates my priestly peacemaking ministry while I lived on post at Walter Reed. My priesthood was again affirmed as I ministered especially to all the grieving family members I met at WRAMC. This experience was truly life changing for me.
I returned to Chicago from Walter Reed in June of 2006 and I became more deeply involved in the anti-war movement. Reflecting on my experience theologically, I spent 2007 speaking across the US for peacemaking while being active with local efforts in Chicago. I was a spokesperson for Pax Christi National at the SOA Vigil at Ft. Benning GA in 2007. I know I want to speak for peace as a Roman Catholic priest answering the call of Vatican II within the much larger dimension of church reform. I feel called to be a priest building the Beloved Community for Justice and Peacemaking. I say of the prophetic obedience of women priests “We are enfleshing the Dream of Sophia for the People of God.”
As I attended the ordinations of many other women my friends kept asking, “Katy when are you going to be ordained?” After attending Janice’s ordination in Kentucky last August and having Roy Bourgeois MM participate and give a reflection, I knew that now is the time for me to join RCWP. I want to support the vision of the Roman Catholic Church lived by Roy and Janice. I do believe as part of the Vatican II generation, I am called to live the inclusive priesthood for the People of God.
I will retire in April and begin the formal process of preparation for ordination. I am energized and excited to be joining the most amazing and awesome group of women the Roman Catholic Church has nurtured through our faith foundation to follow the Way of Jesus our brother. Sophia gathers us to call all to the Oneness who is God.
1.3 Transcript of studies
Undergraduate: Business Administration-Human Resources, Wayne State Un. 1973
Masters of Labor and Industrial Relations, Michigan State University, 1975
Ministries Formation Program, Diocese of Richmond VA, 1980-1983
Program for Spiritual Directors, Benedictine Abbey at Pecos NM, 1991-92.
Masters of Theology, Loyola University-NO, 1997.
Courses include:
• Ministry in Context
• Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith
• Christian Origins
• Grace and Christ
• Church, Sacraments and Ministry
• Morality and Ethics
• The Cultural Context of Ministry
• Personal Context of Ministry
Ques. 2. Reflection:
“I stand before you with empty hands at the beginning of a path”
I would like to reflect with St. Theresa of Lisieux, the selection is from her “Story of a Soul”, pg 194 (emphasis is author’s):
I understood that if the Church had a body composed of different members, the most necessary and most noble of all could not be lacking to it, and so I understood that the Church had a heart and this Heart was BURNING WITH LOVE. I understood that it was Love alone that made the Church members act, that if Love ever became extinct, apostles would not preach the Gospel…I understood that Love comprised all vocations, that love was everything, that it embraced all times and places…in a word, that it was eternal.
For me as a Polish Roman Catholic, with parents first born generation in America, the icon of God’s love that Theresa writes about is carried most clearly by the image of the Sacred Heart which hung wall of my childhood home next to the matching Immaculate Heart of Mary.
So as I stand at the beginning of the path to ordination and formal recognition of my priesthood I created a sculpture of my hands holding Love, the burning heart of the Sacred Heart Image. On the Sacred Heart is myself as the words given to me “you are a priest in My heart.”
The still life revealed itself from inner truth as I was deciding how to take a photo of my art work. I call this piece “Love Revealed.”
I believe the Creator, the force behind the Big Bang of evolution is Love. This truth is revealed most clearly through the light of Jesus our brother and so the candles burn as witness to the presence of truth. Three candles are present for the Trinity of Christian faith.
The woman stands as the fourth member of the Trinity revealing a truth of God not yet accepted yet Love calls me to witness to through our priesthood. Woman is the feminine image of God. Resting on her left hand she carries the dove of peace symbol of Sophia and also the symbol of the peace of God which will come with wholeness for humanity as individuals and as the community. The masculine and feminine will be honored and integrated within the personal and collective community. Women will be accepted as images of God for the People of God and this truth calls me to the priesthood now in this time and place.
The rocks of the piece remind me of the timelessness of our creation even though each created life is very short. The rocks arise from the force of the Big Bang and are from the earth created about 14 billion years ago. After the Big Bang, first there was stardust which coalesced into a planet born in the week of creation (Genesis 1) which modern science has taught continues still. I too am of the stardust of creation destined to carry God’s love to all whom I meet.
The daffodils tell of the cycles of the year, the rhythms of the earth and my own spiritual, physical and emotional life. Winter, spring, summer, fall. The earth is in the season of spring; a time of new beginnings. For me especially this year spring is a new emotional and spiritual beginning as I publicly claim my priesthood as servant for the larger faith community.
Finally from clay is the imprint of my hands holding the burning heart of Jesus, the icon of God’s Love for each of us and all of creation. Clay again the material of the earth itself as my physical body is of the earth’s clay. Reminding me that I too, this bearer of God’s Love for the world, a witness to Love through my priesthood, one day will return to the earth. My spirit, my human love will return to the Source of all Love, the Mystery of existence and its reason for being.
Each of us is on the path living our part of human evolution into the fullness of God’s Love. This art is pleasing to me and brings me deep joy. I claim it as my emotional and spiritual position as I begin the path toward my ordination.
I thank RCWP for the opportunity for this meditation and creation of art that is “Love Revealed” to me.
I will include my application for the program Roman Catholic Women Priest
Application for the
RCWP Preparation for Ordination
Submitted April 1, 2009
Question 1 Autobiographical details.
1.1 Facts:
I was born January 3, 1943 in Detroit MI. Both of my parents were first generation born in America children of Polish immigrants. I am the third child of a family of seven; I have three brothers and three sisters ages 52 to 72. One of my brothers, Joseph is deceased (1991). Both of my parents are deceased my father in 1987 and my mother in 1998.
I grew up in rural Michigan about an hour away from Detroit. I spent the first half of my life living in various suburbs around Detroit attending undergraduate school in Detroit and a Masters from Michigan State at East Lansing, MI. After my marriage in 1976 to Dow we moved to Blacksburg VA and lived there for 17 years. In 1996 we moved to Chicago where I have lived for the last 13 years. I plan to move to Lexington KY on May 1 of this year.
I am a “cradle Catholic” and experience myself as one of the Vatican II generation coming of age when the Council was called by Blessed Pope John XXIII.
I have two grown children Rose Lisa age 42 married to Charles Ryan parents of three children. My marriage to Lisa’s father was annulled on April 3, 1974 by the Tribunal of the Diocese of Lansing Michigan. Jason Scott age 32 is engaged to Jodi Bower and is to be married October 31, 2009. I am divorced from Dow Scott, the father of Jason as of September 8, 2008.
After moving to Blacksburg in 1979 I became a MBTI management consultant and practiced as part of Dow’s consulting practice. I was active in the founding of a hospice for the New River Valley covering 5 rural counties and was the volunteer coordinator for 10 years working with about 100 families and patients during that time. Moving to Chicago I entered the CPE program to become a hospice chaplain after completing a second Masters in Theology from Loyola University in New Orleans. I have ministered as a hospice chaplain for the last 7 years after completing the CPE program in 2002. I work 3 days a week with a case load of 20 patients. I plan to retire before I move to Lexington KY and to focus my energy on studies to be a RCWP and to work for Justice (especially for women in the RCC) and Peace.
1.2 Personal Journey toward priesthood.
I remember “being priest” with my brothers using the St. Andrew missal as our sacramentary and a towel as the chasuble. At the time I was probably 10 years old in the early 1950’s. They were older, my brother Joe an altar boy, but I do not remember them dissuading me. This is my earliest memory of being called to the priesthood.
In the 1960’s Vatican II began and the Roman Catholic Church was alive with the Spirit of change. Vatican II was God’s calling to the People of God challenging every member to bring Christ to the world through works of justice and peace making. As the changes were introduced I immediately took on the roles of Eucharistic Minister and Lector in each parish where I worshiped. I was active on the parish councils in Michigan and later Virginia. I knew I was called to help build my faith community.
After moving to Virginia I chose to participate in the Ministries Formation Program (MFP) a three year program of study. Under the auspices of Bishop Walter Sullivan who is very supportive of women, the program followed the structure of the preparation for the deaconate but permitted women to be “commissioned as leaders” in their faith communities. I then took up the position of Minister for Justice and Peace at St. Mary’s in Blacksburg VA. I was also active with the Neuman RC ministry on VT’s campus and ministered as part of their RCIA program for a number of years.
Throughout the 80’s I also worked to create the New River Valley Hospice with other dedicated volunteers making presentations to churches and community organizations. We created a network to sustain this work of compassion and I discovered I was drawn to this ministry. After its creation I oversaw the provision of hospice services, except medical care, to our patients and families. At the same time I joined WOC the only woman from the New River Valley to be on its membership list.
In the early 90’s I attended a healing workshop in No VA at an Indian Spirituality Center. In the closing ceremony I was to choose a stone and reflect on its meaning for me. I chose a green stone that sits on my desk today. As I chose the stone from a large bowl, the words were given me, “I accept my femaleness and my maleness. I am the servant of the servants of the Lord.” I pondered these words after the weekend closed. Who is called to be servant of the community? I wrestled with understanding and its meaning for me. In prayer I asked the Sacred Heart (my icon of our Loving Godde from my Polish Catholicism), “Was I called to be a priest? How could this be? Rome will never agree.” Jesus replied, “You are a priest, in pectore meum.” Later I returned to prayer and asked the Sacred Heart, “Were my prayers and my understanding of my priesthood acceptable to God?” Given to me was the image of myself on bended knee offering the robes of priestly function to God at the altar.
In the early 90’s Bishop Sullivan introduced the long-distance learning program from Loyola New Orleans leading to a Masters in Theology: Pastoral Studies. For three years we gathered weekly as a learning circle with each theological reflection deepening my understanding of Sophia present to and in the faith community.
From 1991-1995, I facilitated The Word Program, a jointly Episcopal-Catholic Scripture Study. We met weekly and each year one subject was covered. These included The Hebrew Testament, the Christian Testament, Church History and the Theology of the 20th Century. The group process was Theological Reflection on events from the daily lives of the members. This educational and leadership opportunity permitted me to minister with others of the Catholic and Christian faiths.
For worship I attended monthly meetings of Women Church which met in homes. Our small circle came together to share faith as revealed through our ministries, we blessed and broke bread together. After my first time with Women Church, I experienced the validation of “laity gathering to bless and break the bread of our lives.” The next time I attended Sunday Mass I entered into two worlds; the one before me with the priest in his role and simultaneously living the experience of Women Church, a small gathering of women consecrating the bread and wine. I became nauseated and disoriented as both scenes and times were held in my soul. After a few minutes I regained my equilibrium but I will never forget the experience “outside of time and in eternity.” This experience confirmed for me that gathering for Eucharist occurs in many settings and all are equal in God.
During this same time period, Bishop Sullivan was approached by Catholics in Christiansburg VA who wanted to open a parish. I was selected to be the founding Pastoral Coordinator and held the position until I left the New River Valley. This was my introduction to the daily management of a faith community and also deepened my experience as a priest for the 75 families that gathered together weekly for worship in the Lutheran Church. I also learned that my understanding of the role of women within the Roman Catholic Church is an impediment to ministering in a “traditional parish.”
I graduated with my Masters in Theology in 1997 after I moved to Chicago. I wanted to be in active ministry but no longer wanted to work for the institutional church. I could not compromise my own truth. My spiritual director proposed that I take CPE and become a hospice chaplain as this was my desire after we discussed future ministry and discerned my call. What better place to be a priest than to accompany families and their loved one who is moving into her/his final stage of life. As a hospice chaplain I have attended spiritual and emotional healing among family members, listened to past mistakes and spoke words of God’s forgiveness. I have provided Eucharist for patients and family members all through their journey of loss and grief. I have presided at many funerals/wakes/graveside services and helped others preside at their loved one’s service.
I have facilitated the healing process by leading grief groups and facilitating the annual memorial service for families offered by hospices. Over and over family members have affirmed my priesthood and ministry with them.
In Chicago I began to attend an intentional inclusive Eucharistic community in Chicago and volunteered to be a presider for liturgy once a month as the community calls forth members as in the earliest Christian churches. I have done so for the last thirteen years and my faith has deepened and my priesthood affirmed by the worshiping community. This community grounded me in the priesthood of the faithful and I was blessed to have this community of justice and peacemakers to nourish my priesthood.
In 1999 I was asked to serve on the board of Women’s Ordination Conference which exposed me to the larger work for ordination in the United States and beyond. I would serve 2 terms as a Board member and be part of the discussion and affirmation of the ordinations of the Danube 7 and the following herstory. I have attended seven ordinations and have been on the planning committee for the first ones in Chicago in the fall of 2008.
Early in 2000 WOC held a meeting at my home with Rosemary Radford Ruether as speaker. We questioned how to respond to the Archdiocese’s call for men to be priests. The famous WOC billboard campaign originated at that meeting. Eventually the campaign was taken to Ireland and to Rome. Versions of the billboard campaign calling for women’s ordination were created throughout the United States.
After 9/11/01 my son Jason joined the US Army and in 2005 was deployed to Iraq where he sustained life-threatening injuries. Jason was to live at Walter Reed for 1 year. See www.captjason.blogspot.com for a journal I kept at Walter Reed as I lived there for eight months while Jason was recovering. It also relates my priestly peacemaking ministry while I lived on post at Walter Reed. My priesthood was again affirmed as I ministered especially to all the grieving family members I met at WRAMC. This experience was truly life changing for me.
I returned to Chicago from Walter Reed in June of 2006 and I became more deeply involved in the anti-war movement. Reflecting on my experience theologically, I spent 2007 speaking across the US for peacemaking while being active with local efforts in Chicago. I was a spokesperson for Pax Christi National at the SOA Vigil at Ft. Benning GA in 2007. I know I want to speak for peace as a Roman Catholic priest answering the call of Vatican II within the much larger dimension of church reform. I feel called to be a priest building the Beloved Community for Justice and Peacemaking. I say of the prophetic obedience of women priests “We are enfleshing the Dream of Sophia for the People of God.”
As I attended the ordinations of many other women my friends kept asking, “Katy when are you going to be ordained?” After attending Janice’s ordination in Kentucky last August and having Roy Bourgeois MM participate and give a reflection, I knew that now is the time for me to join RCWP. I want to support the vision of the Roman Catholic Church lived by Roy and Janice. I do believe as part of the Vatican II generation, I am called to live the inclusive priesthood for the People of God.
I will retire in April and begin the formal process of preparation for ordination. I am energized and excited to be joining the most amazing and awesome group of women the Roman Catholic Church has nurtured through our faith foundation to follow the Way of Jesus our brother. Sophia gathers us to call all to the Oneness who is God.
1.3 Transcript of studies
Undergraduate: Business Administration-Human Resources, Wayne State Un. 1973
Masters of Labor and Industrial Relations, Michigan State University, 1975
Ministries Formation Program, Diocese of Richmond VA, 1980-1983
Program for Spiritual Directors, Benedictine Abbey at Pecos NM, 1991-92.
Masters of Theology, Loyola University-NO, 1997.
Courses include:
• Ministry in Context
• Jewish Roots of the Christian Faith
• Christian Origins
• Grace and Christ
• Church, Sacraments and Ministry
• Morality and Ethics
• The Cultural Context of Ministry
• Personal Context of Ministry
Ques. 2. Reflection:
“I stand before you with empty hands at the beginning of a path”
I would like to reflect with St. Theresa of Lisieux, the selection is from her “Story of a Soul”, pg 194 (emphasis is author’s):
I understood that if the Church had a body composed of different members, the most necessary and most noble of all could not be lacking to it, and so I understood that the Church had a heart and this Heart was BURNING WITH LOVE. I understood that it was Love alone that made the Church members act, that if Love ever became extinct, apostles would not preach the Gospel…I understood that Love comprised all vocations, that love was everything, that it embraced all times and places…in a word, that it was eternal.
For me as a Polish Roman Catholic, with parents first born generation in America, the icon of God’s love that Theresa writes about is carried most clearly by the image of the Sacred Heart which hung wall of my childhood home next to the matching Immaculate Heart of Mary.
So as I stand at the beginning of the path to ordination and formal recognition of my priesthood I created a sculpture of my hands holding Love, the burning heart of the Sacred Heart Image. On the Sacred Heart is myself as the words given to me “you are a priest in My heart.”
The still life revealed itself from inner truth as I was deciding how to take a photo of my art work. I call this piece “Love Revealed.”
I believe the Creator, the force behind the Big Bang of evolution is Love. This truth is revealed most clearly through the light of Jesus our brother and so the candles burn as witness to the presence of truth. Three candles are present for the Trinity of Christian faith.
The woman stands as the fourth member of the Trinity revealing a truth of God not yet accepted yet Love calls me to witness to through our priesthood. Woman is the feminine image of God. Resting on her left hand she carries the dove of peace symbol of Sophia and also the symbol of the peace of God which will come with wholeness for humanity as individuals and as the community. The masculine and feminine will be honored and integrated within the personal and collective community. Women will be accepted as images of God for the People of God and this truth calls me to the priesthood now in this time and place.
The rocks of the piece remind me of the timelessness of our creation even though each created life is very short. The rocks arise from the force of the Big Bang and are from the earth created about 14 billion years ago. After the Big Bang, first there was stardust which coalesced into a planet born in the week of creation (Genesis 1) which modern science has taught continues still. I too am of the stardust of creation destined to carry God’s love to all whom I meet.
The daffodils tell of the cycles of the year, the rhythms of the earth and my own spiritual, physical and emotional life. Winter, spring, summer, fall. The earth is in the season of spring; a time of new beginnings. For me especially this year spring is a new emotional and spiritual beginning as I publicly claim my priesthood as servant for the larger faith community.
Finally from clay is the imprint of my hands holding the burning heart of Jesus, the icon of God’s Love for each of us and all of creation. Clay again the material of the earth itself as my physical body is of the earth’s clay. Reminding me that I too, this bearer of God’s Love for the world, a witness to Love through my priesthood, one day will return to the earth. My spirit, my human love will return to the Source of all Love, the Mystery of existence and its reason for being.
Each of us is on the path living our part of human evolution into the fullness of God’s Love. This art is pleasing to me and brings me deep joy. I claim it as my emotional and spiritual position as I begin the path toward my ordination.
I thank RCWP for the opportunity for this meditation and creation of art that is “Love Revealed” to me.
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