Vocations Newsletter

Robert Ellsberg sits down with Author, Carolyn Y. Woo, to discuss Rising, Learning from Women’s Leadership in Catholic Ministries. Through reflection on first-person narratives of a range of women involved in leadership positions in Catholic ministries (social justice, LCWR and religious congregations, educational, media, diocesan, NGOs, etc.), Rising examines the range of leadership roles that women play in the Catholic Church, explores the particular challenge that women face, as well their distinctive styles of leadership, while also pointing toward an expanded understanding of ministry and leadership in the church. The contributors represent a broad range of women in leadership positions, ranging from the conservative Becket Fund, to Sr. Simone Campbell, Kerry Robinson, Kerry Weber (America media), Sr. Carol Keehan (Catholic Health Association), Kim Daniels (staff for USCCB), etc.
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On Palm Sunday we begin our intimate Holy Week journey with Jesus. On this occasion I recall a moving experience from the Philippines, where I spent 52 years in mission. It was during the visit of Pope Francis in January 2015. He came to accompany the people who had been so badly devastated by a typhoon. In Tacloban City on January 17, 2015, the Pope said: “If today all of us are gathered here, fourteen months after the passage of Typhoon Yolanda, it is because we are certain that we will not be disappointed in our faith, for Jesus has gone before us. In his passion he took upon himself all of our sorrows.”
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I have observed a recurring theme among the different groups that I accompanied in mission: the inability to accept that God forgives us completely and has lifted the burden of guilt once we recognize our sins and repent. For many of us, it is easier to believe in a God ever-ready to punish us than to believe in a merciful God who goes the extra mile to forgive us. We condemn ourselves to constant “mea culpa behavior”.
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Martin Luther King and The Trumpet of Conscience Today wrestles with the parts of King’s vision that have historically been the most uncomfortable for white Americans. The lectures that comprise “The Trumpet of Conscience” are a powerful critique of the triple American evils of racism, the scourge of poverty, and the horrors of war. In light of today’s urgent social issues, Régine Michelle Jean-Charles offers a faith-based, justice-centered response to economic inequality, the refugee crisis, Black Lives Matter, and #MeToo, while asking questions similar to those King posed in his speeches: “If I do not stop to help families separated at the border what will happen to them?”; “If I do not stop to help those suffering as a result of income inequality, what will happen to them?” “If I do not stop to help survivors of rape and sexual abuse what will happen to them?”
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