Orphaned at birth
McCloskey, Liz Leibold
OF SEVERAL HMDS Liz Leibold McCloskei ORPHANED AT BIRTH WOMEN IN THE CHURCH Periodically I have an identity crisis: I wonder if I can or want to claim my Catholicism. I was smack in the middle of...
...It is a gift to see faithful women in the courtroom, the classroom, the board room, the hospital room, and the family room...
...early church leaders, Phoebe and Claudia...
...Finally they came to a barn...
...A month later, I was one of four American Catholic delegates at the World Conference on Religion and Peace (about which I will write in a future column...
...I felt a little like I was sneaking in...
...And when the story is told, the language should be inclusive...
...Women should be at that altar as a visible symbol that we are part of that story...
...Everyone gave what he or she loved best...
...I want to hear women preaching...
...And I know it has been written about exhaustively in the pages of Commonweal and elsewhere, but I also want to add my voice to those who have expressed their utter disbelief in John Paul II's definitive ruling on women priests...
...When Jane Dixon became the first woman Episcopal bishop in Washington, D.C., a Catholic friend and I attended that consecration...
...Brian would bring a tiger, Collin a "binkie," Jack a truck, Kate a picture, and so on...
...And I know that women have not been ignored in the life of the church...
...I am tired of hearing people say at Mass "For us men and our salvation," and "Jesus became Man...
...Unlike many other church statements to and about women, this one does not talk about the "role" of women, as if there were only one, but calls for a celebration of women's diverse gifts and talents...
...his close friend, Mary...
...his aunt, Elizabeth...
...And I think the bishops have restored some confidence by their adoption last November of "Strengthening the Bonds of Peace: A Pastoral Reflection on Women in the Church and in Society...
...So maybe we should take our cues from the children...
...bishops, having a "typical dinner conversation" in front of a ballroom full of people...
...and the modern-day saints-Dorothy Day, Mother Teresa...
...So my husband Peter and I came up with a different story: Brian and our other son Collin and all of their cousins were taking a walk in a faraway land on a clear, cold winter night when they saw a bright, shining star...
...This Christmas it became crystal clear to me how best to keep a child's interest in a story...
...I was smack in the middle of one when my family had the peculiar honor of being on stage at the National Lay Forum, a conference sponsored by the U.S...
...I dwelt a little too long on my discomfort with the notion that really good Catholics should have a lot of children, on the lack of guidance and models for Catholic women trying to balance family and career, and on how I have yet to feel at home in my adult life in any Catholic parish...
...And Brian and all of his cousins wanted to give a present to the baby...
...As we left the church, my friend Lucy said, "Don't you feel like an orphan...
...There's nothing better than a gift carefully chosen and freely given...
...When I attended the ordination of an extraordinary woman friend in December, I felt incredible pride and joy to be participating in that celebration...
...Sister Marjorie Keenan, the highest ranking Catholic sister in the Vatican, pointed out that fact to me...
...It is still not enough for me...
...It is definitely part of my story...
...I do not always believe that I am a part of the church's story...
...I commend their approval of the inclusive language lectionary, even though it was reversed by the Vatican...
...But I also know that the stories and statements about women are always about women and not by women, and they don't tell the whole story...
...And all their favorite animals were there...
...I know, I know- I grew up after Vatican II and I know that the people of God are lay and clergy...
...The American Catholic bishops learned how difficult it is to try to speak for women when they were unable to produce an adequate pastoral letter on women...
...Now, the family joke is that when my parents received a complimentary copy of the Catechism of the Catholic Church (Loyola University Press, 1994) to thank us for our appearance, it was a hint that we all might want to read up on the whole thing...
...I kept trying to tell my son Brian the Christmas story, and after the third or fourth try, he stuck his lips out and said "I hate Jesus...
...Jesus did not just become a man, "Jesus became one of us...
...Each gift was totally fitting...
...Opponents of women priests argue that one should not be too focused on who can or cannot be a priest, because the church is much more than that...
...There are many women who are integral to the Catholic story-Jesus' Mom, Mary...
...Then Brian got to talk about what everyone would give...
...They followed the star...
...My co-delegates were a bishop, a monsignor, and a staff person from the National Conference of Catholic Bishops...
...When I see the faith, the spirituality, the grace, the strength, the generosity, and the intelligence of some of the women that have been called to priesthood and are free to answer that call in other churches, I am sad for what the Catholic church is missing...
...An eagle helped fly them over a mountain and an alligator let them ride on his back across a river...
...I want to see women presiding at the Eucharist...
...And I am appreciative of the papal declarations that celebrate the dignity and worth of women...
...All the animals were singing "Happy Birthday" to a little baby named Jesus...
...the spiritual and intellectual giants-Clare, Teresa, Catherine...
...But for those women who wish to bring the gift of the gospel and the Eucharist, the message is that there is no room...
...And I knew exactly what she meant...
...Yes...I have some of the credentials: born and raised Catholic, fairly up-to-date on the sacraments, a priest in the family...
...If that doesn't change, some may start listening to a different storyteller.storyteller...
...Jesus did not come down from heaven "for us men," but "for all of us and our salvation...
...The Mass is the telling and the retelling of our story of faith...
...The Catholic church is blessed with many women who have dedicated their lives to ministry, particularly those who have chosen religious life, but it burns me up that they are considered laypeople...
...I take it seriously that God wants us to be like children if we are to enter the Kingdom of God...
...Their statement affirms the demanding leadership positions that Catholic women hold both outside and within the church, and calls for careful study of canon law to divine which authority positions (such as cardinal) women might legally hold...
Vol. 122 • January 1995 • No. 2
