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Expanding the Lectionary to Include Our Foremothers in Faith: A Synodal Discernment

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Why Expand the Lectionary to Include More of Our Foremothers in Faith?

During all the phases of the synodal process, faith-filled Catholics across the world concurred regarding the pressing need to re-envision women’s roles in the life, ministry, and governance of the Church. In the October 2023 synod synthesis, participants agreed it was “urgent to ensure that women can participate in decision-making processes and assume roles of responsibility in pastoral care and ministry” (Part II, Section 9, m).

It is urgent to ensure that women can participate in decision-making processes and assume roles of responsibility in pastoral care and ministry (Part II, Section 9, m).

Further, synod participants rightly perceived the relationship between women’s full participation in the Church and the language, images, and narratives that represent women in our liturgical life. Thus, synod participants also proposed changes so that liturgical texts, including the lectionary, include “a range of words, images, and narratives that draw more widely on women’s experience” (Part II, Section 9, q).

There is a need to ensure that liturgical texts and Church documents are more attentive to the use of language that takes into equal consideration both men and women, and also includes a range of words, images and narratives that draw more widely on women’s experience (Part II, Section 9, q).

There is something of consequence at stake for women and for the church as a whole in the choice of scripture passages which are heard in the regular Sunday morning assembly. The ways in which we understand and know God are formed within the liturgy of the church. What we pray and sing, as well as the stories we re-tell in public worship form and shape what we believe about God, ourselves, and our relationship to God and to each other.

Thus, we might ask, “Do the passages selected over the three-year cycle help or hinder us in dealing with what it means for women to have a full and equal role in both church and society? Do the lections chosen praise women for being subordinate or cast them as people who brought sin into the world? Are the stories about women which are in the Bible adequately represented in the lectionary, or does the choice of Sunday readings give the impression that the Bible, and thus our salvation history, is even more male-cemtered than it actually is?”

The insights of synod participants regarding the need to be more inclusive of women’s narratives in our lectionary have been noted by other prominent scholars and officials since the Second Vatican Council. They have raised awareness about the omission of women from the lectionary recognizing that, as Pope Benedict XVI stated, “without the generous contribution of many women, the history of Christianity would have developed very differently,” adding that the “female presence in the sphere of the primitive Church” was in no way “secondary.”

In 1993, the Pontifical Biblical Commission asked that lectionary readings be “more abundant, more varied, and more suitable” and in 2008, the participants at the Synod on the Word, in Proposition XVI asked that “an examination be carried out of the Roman Lectionary to see if the current selection and ordering of the readings is truly adequate to the mission of the church in this historical moment.”

The late Sr. Ruth Fox, OSB, in her respected analysis, “Women in the Bible and the Lectionary” wrote,

A careful analysis of the lectionary reveals that a disproportionate number of passages about the women of the Bible have been omitted. Women’s books, women’s experiences and women’s accomplishments have been largely overlooked in the assigned scripture readings that are being proclaimed in our churches on Sundays and weekdays.

Other prestigious Catholic scholars affirm Sr. Fox’s insights and have written extensively about the “woman gaps” in our Catholic lectionary showing how biblical passages that feature women as prophets, leaders, co-workers, apostles, disciples, deacons, patrons, and ministers in the New Testament and the Hebrew Scriptures are excluded on Sundays and holy days, relegated to weekdays when few will hear the readings, or made optional. In referring to the omission of readings about women in our lectionary, Professor emerita Katherine Tillman of Notre Dame further notes that “if women’s stories are omitted from the readings, they are not likely to appear in homilies.”

While the Church has honored the contributions of women in important ways, there is a lacuna when it comes to proclaiming their stories of faith, courage, and leadership at mass depriving the faithful of the inspirational narratives of our foremothers in faith whose courage, ministry, sacrifice, and tenacity expanded Christianity throughout the world and shaped our tradition in essential ways. These overlooked stories have the effect of silencing the voices of our foremothers in faith whose voices are indispensable in our broken world today.

Resources

Women in the Bible and Lectionary by Sr. Ruth Fox, OSB (text)

Amnesia in the Lectionary by Regina A. Boisclair (audio) (text, Women in Theology)

We Must Restore the Powerful Witness of Women Leaders to the Catholic Lectionary by Sr. Christine Schenk, CSJ (text)

Lectionary Readings that Subordinate Women by FutureChurch (text)

Mary Magdalene: Witness, Leader, Disciple, and Apostle to the Apostles by Sr. Christine Schenk, CSJ (text)

Rereading Biblical Women by Dr. Jamie Waters (video, Boston College)

We Need More Women in the Lectionary by Jean Kelly

Restoring John 20: 1 – 18 to our Easter Sunday Lectionary – (With comparison between U.S. reading and Canadian reading) (text)

Reading the Bible in the Lectionary: Gift and Challenge by Sr. Eileen Schuller, OSU (text) (video)

The Feast of St. Phoebe by Sr. Carolyn Osiek, RSCJ (text) (video)

Women Erased from the Lectionary by Michael Peppard, Ph.D. of Fordham University (video)

Women’s Prophetic Leadership Changed the Face of the Roman Empire by Sr. Christine Schenk, CSJ (text, Vatican News)

It’s Not All About Eve: Rediscovering the Feminine Faces in the Bible by Sr. Christine Schenk, CSJ (text, America Magazine)

 

How the Lectionary was Formed and Revised

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Vatican II’s 1963 “Constitution on the Sacred Liturgy” called for a wider selection of biblical texts to be used at Mass thus opening the Bible to Catholics in brand new ways. On Palm Sunday in 1970, as a result of the mandated changes, a new, three-year cycle lectionary was instituted introducing a greater number of books and passages from the Bible to Catholics, as well as, many more sources for preaching.  As a result, Catholics are much better informed about scripture and the stories of faith that form the foundation for the work of the Gospel today.

The current Lectionary (book of those readings) was prepared by an international committee of experts and went into use on Palm Sunday, 1970.  It has been minimally revised twice.  It includes three-cycles of readings (A, B, C ) for Sundays with the majority of readings coming from Matthew (A), Mark (B) and Luke (C) respectively while the Gospel of John is used for the Easter season, some Sundays in Cycle B, and other times.  Weekday readings were organized into a two-year cycle.

The Lectionary cycles present 14 percent of the Old Testament and 71 percent of the New Testament. In contrast, the readings in the 1963 Roman Missal used 1 percent of the Old Testament and 17 percent of the New Testament.

Generally, Catholics believe that the stories they hear proclaimed at mass are, in fact, the “heart” of our foundational faith stories – the stories we need to hear most to nurture and inspire us to carry out the work of the Gospel for today’s world.  Determining what would be included in the lectionary was a deliberative process conducted by male.  In that process, stories were included and others were left out. Further, an examination of the lectionary reveals that many of the stories of prominent foremothers in faith have been left out.

 

Sources

Liturgy Reflections:  Who is Responsible for our Current Lectionary?  

How Are Mass Readings Chosen? by Pat McCloskey, OFM

Main Differences Between 1970 and 1998 Lectionary by Felix Just SJ

The Scandalous (but true) Story Behind ICEL’s 1969 Lectionary for Mass by Paul Innwood

Lenten Fasting and Body Hatred with Jessica Coblentz, Ph.D.

Written on . Posted in Respect Women Series, Women In Church Leadership.

Jessica Coblentz joins FutureChurch to present on her article “Catholic Fasting Literature in a Context of Body Hatred: A Feminist Critique” in which she argues that the social conditions of misogynistic body hatred and the culture of fasting during Lent perpetuates disordered eating.

Jessica Coblentz, Ph.D. is an associate professor in the Department of Religious Studies and Theology at Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame, Indiana, where her research and teaching focuses on Catholic systematic theology, feminist theologies, and mental health in theological perspective. She is a graduate of Santa Clara University and Harvard Divinity School, and received her PhD from Boston College. She was previously a resident scholar at the Collegeville Institute in Collegeville, Minnesota, and has taught at Saint Mary’s College in Moraga, California.

Conversations in the Spirit: FutureChurch Interim Stage Listening Sessions for the Synod on Synodality

Written on . Posted in Justice In the Church, Synod on Synodality.

Please Note: These sessions have now concluded
and our Interim Stage Synthesis was submitted to the US Synod Team
and to the General Secretariat of the Synod of Bishops in Rome
on April 8, 2024. 

Join FutureChurch as we engage together in “Conversations in the Spirit” to deepen our engagement with one another and continue our journey toward the October 2024 Assembly of the Synod on Communion, Participation, and Mission.

FutureChurch will host three stand-alone sessions at different times to allow for as much participation as possible. Each session will last approximately 2 hours. Pick the session that works best for you and your schedule:

  • Saturday, March 9 at 9 -11am ET
  • Monday, March 11 at 7-9pm ET
  • Saturday, March 16 at 12N – 2pm ET

Please note: Small breakout groups engaging in conversations with others will be integral to these sessions. If you are unwilling or unable to participate in a breakout group, these aren’t the sessions for you. Instead, we invite you to fill out our questionnaire. Your input, regardless of whether or not you attend a listening session, will be incorporated into our report, which we will send to the USCCB Synod Committee and post to our website.

In this interim phase, the USCCB Synod Committee has posed two questions which will guide our conversations and subsequent synthesis report:

  1. Where have I seen or experienced successes—and distresses—within the Church’s structure(s)/organization/leadership/life that encourage or hinder the mission?
  2. How can the structures and organization of the Church help all the baptized to respond to the call to proclaim the Gospel and to live as a community of love and mercy in Christ?

Resources for Preparation:
To prepare for these Conversations in the Spirit we encourage you to spend some time reviewing the following resources:

Please Respond to Our Questionnaire

https://futurechurch.org/interim-stage-questionnaire/

We have developed a questionnaire based on the questions posed by the USCCB Synod Committee. Your responses to the questionnaire will serve two functions 1. Preparing you to make your contributions to your small group if you are joining one of our listening sessions and 2. Providing data to us as we develop our written report, which we will send to the USCCB committee.

Reflection of stained glass on the ceiling of cathedral

How to Have a Conversation in the Spirit

Written on . Posted in Justice In the Church, Synod on Synodality.

The 2021-2024 Synod on Communion, Participation, and Mission has introduced Catholics to a way of discerning together called “Conversations in the Spirit.” This is the method was used by delegates at the October 2023 Assembly and is a method that the entire Church is being invited into, particularly during the interim phase of the Synod leading to the October 2024 Assembly. More than exchange of ideas, it is a spiritual journey to help discover and name convergences and overcome divergences and to uncover steps the Holy Spirit is revealing. The method is meant to draw participants closer to one another as they listen to one another and together for what The Spirit is calling forth from the Church.

Below are the steps in having a Conversation in the Spirit.

Step One: Personal Preparation

Each person begins on their own by entering into prayer to meditate on the question(s) being asked and to consider their own future contributions to the larger group.

Step Two: Taking the Word and Listening

The communal discernment begins with a silence, prayer, and listening to the Word of God. Then each participant takes turns speaking from his or her own experience and prayer while also listening attentively to the others. This initial exchange is followed by a time of prayerful silence.

Step Three: Making Space for Others and The Other

Then after having listened to what others have said and prayed with it, each individual shares what has resonated most with him or her or what has aroused the most resistance in him or her, allowing himself or herself to be guided by the Holy Spirit: “When, listening,
did my heart burn within me?” After each has shared there is another moment of prayerful silence.

Step Four: Building Together

Together we dialogue on the basis of what emerged earlier in order to discern and gather the fruit of the conversation in the Spirit: to recognize intuitions and convergences; to identify discordances, obstacles and new questions; to allow prophetic voices to emerge. It is important that everyone can feel represented by the outcome of the work. “To what steps is the Holy Spirit calling us together?”

Step Five: Final Prayer or Song of Thanksgiving to God

Additional Resources

Fr. David McCallum, SJ, Executive Director of Discerning Leadership and facilitator at the XVI Ordinary General Assembly of the Synod leads a webinar on Conversations in the Spirit

View

 

 

 

From Unfathomable Grief to Unsurpassed Joy: Women of Lent and Easter with Rev. Lindsay Hardin Freeman

Written on . Posted in Women Erased, Women In Church Leadership.

Rev. Lindsay Hardin Freeman joins FutureChurch to offer this beautiful time of reflection on the Women of Lent and Easter: Mary and Martha of Bethany; Mary, the mother of Jesus; and Mary Magdalene.  Accompany them as they each offer gifts: sheltering Jesus, standing with him at the Cross, and witnessing the greatest miracle of all — the Resurrection.

About our leader: Writer, storyteller, mother and Episcopal priest, the Rev. Lindsay Hardin Freeman is committed to freeing Bible women and other Bible characters from the dusty, dry literary caskets in which they seem to have been trapped for centuries. A North American Ministerial Fellow and Cox Fellow, she received her Master of Arts in Theological Studies and Master of Divinity from the Episcopal Divinity School in Cambridge, and is the author/co-author/editor of ten books and over 100 articles on faith and church life. She and her team of researchers were the first to count and profile all the women whose words are recorded in the Bible, resulting in the publication of Bible Women: All Their Words and Why They Matter (Forward Movement). Learn more at https://www.lindsayhardinfreeman.com/ 

Chat Transcript: Rev. Hardin Freeman made use of the chat to interact with participants throughout our time of reflection. Women Of Lent And Easter Chat.

Co-Creating Beauty: Queer Bodies and Queer Love with Craig Ford, Jr.

Written on . Posted in Justice In the Church, Respect Women Series, Women In Church Leadership.

Dr. Ford’s presentation, “Co-Creating Beauty: Queer Bodies and Queer Loves Beyond the Anathemas” explores how our roles as co-creators with God allows for new ways to understand the truth revealed by sexuality and gender identity beyond the boundaries of heteronormativity. Such redeployment of this theological status as co-creator, Ford argues, may provide a pathway beyond the impasse currently experienced at the level of official church teaching with respect to these topics.

Craig A. Ford, Jr., Ph.D. is Assistant Professor of Theology and Religious Studies at Saint Norbert College, where he teaches courses in Christian Ethics, Ecclesiology, and on Race, Gender and Sexuality while also serving as Co-Director for the Peace and Justice Interdisciplinary Minor. He is also on the faculty at the Institute for Black Catholic Studies—hosted at Xavier University of Louisiana, the nation’s only Catholic HBCU— where he teaches courses on Black Theology as well as on Topics in Moral Theology from a Black Perspective. A graduate of the University of Notre Dame, Yale Divinity School, and Boston College, Dr. Ford writes on topics at the intersection of queer theory, blac studies, and the Catholic moral tradition. His most recent book project, All of Us: The Future of Catholic Theology From the Perspectives of Queer Theologians of Color is a co-edited volume with Bryan Massingale and Miguel Diaz, drawing scholars and activists from North and South America, the Pacific Islands, Australia, and Europe who seek to chart new directions for Catholic theology when the oppressive realities of racism, heteronormativity, and sexism within church and world are engaged equally and fiercely. This volume is currently under contract with Fortress Press.

Mary Magdalene Goes to the Synod: Raising Awareness about Women Omitted from the Lectionary

Written on . Posted in Mary of Magdala, Women In Church Leadership.

Mary Magdalene is a saint for our times.  Her vision, courage, ministry, and faith are a model for all Catholics, but especially Catholic women who are excluded in the life, ministry, and governance of the Church is so many ways.

FutureChurch’s “Mary Magalene Goes to the Synod” project seeks to build synodal dialogue and discernment around the need to expand the lectionary so that more of our foremothers in faith are represented in the Sunday readings.

The Synod Synthesis calls the entire Church to dialogue and discernment with a particular, “urgent” focus on the role of women in the Church.

Proposal “q” in Part II, Section 9 entitled, “Women in the Life and Mission of the Church” asks that liturgical texts be more inclusive of women’s narratives.

There is a need to ensure that liturgical texts and Church documents are more attentive to the use of language that takes into equal consideration both men and women, and also includes a range of words, images and narratives that draw more widely on women’s experience (q).

As the faithful work together to bring forth a synodal church, we urge renewed dialogue and discernment that will lead to an expansion of the lectionary, especially the Sunday lectionary, so that the inspiring stories of our foremothers in faith will be better represented and proclaimed to all Catholics.

Supporting Synod Synthesis Convergences 

Expanding the lectionary to include more stories of our foremothers in faith is one critically important way to address some of the concerns voiced in the Synod Synthesis.

Many women expressed deep gratitude for the work of priests and bishops. They also spoke of a Church that wounds. Clericalism, a chauvinist mentality and inappropriate expressions of authority continue to scar the face of the Church and damage its communion. A profound spiritual conversion is needed as the foundation for any effective structural change (Part II, Section 9, f).

Further synod participants acknowledged:

Women make up most of those in our pews and are often the first missionaries of the faith in the family. Consecrated women, both in contemplative and apostolic life, are a fundamental and distinctive gift, sign and witness in our midst. The long history of women missionaries, saints, theologians and mystics is also a powerful source of nourishment and inspiration for women and men today (Part II, Section 9, d).

Thus they proposed:

There is a need to ensure that liturgical texts and Church documents are more attentive to the use of language that takes into equal consideration both men and women, and also includes a range of words, images and narratives that draw more widely on women’s experience (q).

 Working to Raise Awareness and Expand the Lectionary

While Church texts have honored the contributions of early Christian women, there is a lacuna when it comes to proclaiming their inspirational stories at the Eucharist, especially on Sundays. Therefore, Catholics who hear the Word of God at Sunday Mass, are deprived of the “Good News” of the faith, courage, sacrifice, and ministry of our foremothers in faith, a precious offering for Catholic women and girls, as well as Catholic men and boys.

In light of the Second Vatican Council, prestigious Catholic scholars such as Sr. Carolyn Osiek, RSCJ[i], Sr. Ruth Fox, OSB[ii], Michael Peppard, Ph.D.[iii], Regina Bosclair, Ph.D.[iv], Sr. Eileen Schuller, OSU[v], Sr. Christine Schenk, CSJ[vi] and others have written about the “woman gaps” in our Catholic lectionary noting that many of the biblical passages that feature our foremothers in faith who served as prophets, leaders, co-workers, apostles, disciples, deacons, patrons, and ministers in both the Hebrew Scriptures and New Testament are not proclaimed on Sundays and Holy Days.

Prominent omissions to consider

Below is a sampling of the foundational stories about our foremothers in faith that are missing in the Sunday Lectionary or consigned to weekdays where most Catholics do not hear them.  Scholarly articles listed at the end of this page offer a more comprehensive understanding of the ways the lectionary could be expanded to offer more stories of women’s faith, courage, leadership, and ministry in the Early Church and in the First/Old Testament.

The Story of Mary Magdalene’s proclamation of the Resurrection is never heard on Easter Sunday 

Easter is the most holy celebration of the year. Yet, when Catholics gather for Mass on Easter Sunday, they do not hear the full story of the Resurrection.[i]  They do not hear the inspiring story of Mary Magdalene’s witness of the Risen Christ or Christ’s commission to Mary Magdalene to proclaim the Resurrection to the other disciples. Only John 20: 1 – 9 is proclaimed eclipsing her faith filled actions. John 20: 11 – 18 is not proclaimed until the Tuesday after Easter when few Catholics hear it.  And finally, John 20:10 is omitted on both Easter Sunday and Easter Tuesday, part of the pericope that makes it clear that Mary Magdalene alone remained at the empty tomb while the others went home.

In 2016, Pope Francis raised the memorial of St. Mary Magdalene to a feast day with the official title, “Apostle of the Apostles”, and yet, Catholics do not know her story because they do not hear it on Easter Sunday.  Thus, are deprived of one of the most important moments in Christian history.

The Eleven Women St. Paul names in Romans 16 whose faith stories are not heard on Sunday

Pope Benedict XVI[ii] noted that St. Paul worked closely with women leaders such as Phoebe, Junia, Lydia and Prisca. Unfortunately, Romans 16, a passage that names 11 women and identifies some as deacons, apostles and co-workers, is never proclaimed on a Sunday. As a result, most Catholics never hear about prominent women who carried out important ministries alongside Paul.

Courageous Women of the Hebrew Testament

The story of two brave Hebrew midwives, Shiphrah and Puah, is deleted from the lectionary reading describing the enslavement of Israel. The weekday reading of Exodus 1:8-22 (Lectionary #389, Monday of the Fifteenth Week in Ordinary Time, Year I) skips from verse 14 to verse 22, thus eliminating the story of these valiant women who put their own lives at risk to uphold God’s law of life.

Our Request for the Synod Participants 

In the lead up and during the October 2024 Synod on Synodality we are requesting that synod participants:

  • Dialogue about the women omitted from our Sunday lectionary as part of the discernment process in the lead up to the synod gathering.  This effort will raise awareness about the women omitted, and allow the whole Church to discern its importance as one way we can bring women into authentic co-partnership.
  • Recommend that action be taken to make the lectionary more inclusive so that all Catholics, but especially women and girls will see themselves more clearly in the life, faith, leadership, and ministry of the Church and be inspired to be ministers of the Gospel for our world today.
  • Propose the possibility of a supplemental lectionary or another interim step until the main lectionary can be updated to be more inclusive.

Important Scholarly Resources

Women in the Bible and Lectionary by Sr. Ruth Fox, OSB (text)

Amnesia in the Lectionary by Dr. Regina A. Boisclair (audio) (text from her chapter in Women in Theology)

We Must Restore the Powerful Witness of Women Leaders to the Catholic Lectionary by Sr. Christine Schenk, CSJ (text)

Dialogue and Discern in Your Parish, Diocese, Community!

Want to raise awareness about the “women gaps” in the lectionary in your parish?

Here are some ideas.

  1. Sign our Petition requesting that all of John 20: 1 – 18 be proclaimed on Easter Sunday.
  2.  Gather people at your parish/community and read and discuss this resource.
  3. Contact your delegate
  4. Write or call your bishop, and ask for a meeting to dialogue about the women missing from the lectionary with ideas of how to make our foremothers in faith more visible during our Sunday Eucharist and throughout the liturgical year.

 

 

 

 

Sources for this page

[i] USCCB Lectionary reading for Easter Sunday:  https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/033124.cfm

John 20: 1 – 9

On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, “They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don’t know where they put him.” So Peter and the other disciple went out and came to the tomb. They both ran, but the other disciple ran faster than Peter and arrived at the tomb first; he bent down and saw the burial cloths there, but did not go in. When Simon Peter arrived after him, he went into the tomb and saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered his head, not with the burial cloths but rolled up in a separate place. Then the other disciple also went in,
the one who had arrived at the tomb first, and he saw and believed. For they did not yet understand the Scripture that he had to rise from the dead.

USCCB Lectionary Reading:  https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/040224.cfm

John 20: 11-18 is read on Tuesday in the Octave of Easter when few Catholics hear it.

Mary Magdalene stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been. And they said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken my Lord, and I don’t know where they laid him.” When she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus there, but did not know it was Jesus. Jesus said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you looking for?” She thought it was the gardener and said to him, “Sir, if you carried him away, tell me where you laid him, and I will take him.” Jesus said to her, “Mary!” She turned and said to him in Hebrew, “Rabbouni,” which means Teacher. Jesus said to her, “Stop holding on to me, for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to my brothers and tell them, ‘I am going to my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.’” Mary went and announced to the disciples, “I have seen the Lord,” and then reported what he had told her.

John 20:10 which shows the actions of the male disciples leaving is never read.

10 Then the disciples returned home.

[ii] https://www.vatican.va/content/benedict-xvi/en/audiences/2007/documents/hf_ben-xvi_aud_20070214.html

[i] This is an example of Sr. Carolyn Osiek’s scholarship on Phoebe from Romans 16: 1-2 at https://www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/09032021.

[ii] Sr. Ruth Fox, OSB on “Women in the Bible and Lectionary” at https://futurechurch.org/women-in-church-leadership/celebrating-women-witnesses/women-in-the-bible-and-the-lectionary-by-ruth-fox-osb/.

[iii] Michael Peppard, Ph.D. from Fordham University speaks about the women who are not represented in the lectionary at https://futurechurch.org/women-in-church-leadership/women-erased-from-the-lectionary-with-michael-peppard-ph-d/

[iv] Dr. Regina Bosclair speaks about the women missing from the Lectionary at https://futurechurch.org/women-in-church-leadership/women-missing-from-the-lectionary-with-regina-boisclair-ph-d/  She has written a foundational chapter on the topic,  “Amensia in the Lectionary.”

[v] Sr. Eileen Schuller, OSU on “Reading the Bible in the Lectionary” for Boston College at https://www.bc.edu/bc-web/schools/stm/sites/encore/main/2022/reading-the-bible-in-the-lectionary.html

[vi] Schenk,  Christine CSj “The Prophetic Leaders of Women” – 4 part series in L’Osservatore Romano at https://www.osservatoreromano.va/en/news/2024-01/ing-004/the-prophetic-leadership-of-women.html

Other useful resources

https://futurechurch.org/women-in-church-leadership/celebrating-women-witnesses/women-in-the-bible-and-the-lectionary-by-ruth-fox-osb/

https://www.ncronline.org/opinion/signs-times/reforming-catholic-liturgy-should-be-updating-software

https://uscatholic.org/articles/201903/we-need-more-women-in-the-lectionary/

https://www.thesacredbraid.com/2016/07/22/a-non-traditional-blessing/

https://futurechurch.org/women-in-church-leadership/mary-of-magdala/hidden-sisters-recovering-the-stories-of-our-foremothers-in-faith/