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Our Lady of Guadalupe Resource

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

Our Lady of Guadalupe calls those with political and ecclesiastical power to leave their palaces, move to the periphery and standd with the poor and the marginalized. Like Jesus, her presence and those of her followers are signs of God’s healing and justice. In this packet you will learn about the history of Mary from the early Church to the twentieth century and discover the empowering traditions of Our Lady of Guadalupe.

This resource download includes:

  • Mary Through History — An easy-to-read examination of Marian thought and art from the Early Church through Today
  • Outline and Discussion Questions to host your own four-session series on Mary of Nazareth
  • Articles examining the history, tradition, art, and symbolism of Our Lady of Guadalupe
  • Slide Presentation on Our Lady of Guadalupe
  • Prayer Service Celebrating Our Lady of Guadalupe
  • Ideas for celebrating Our Lady of Guadalupe in your community

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Tell us, Mary, what you saw on the way – with Elizabeth Johnson

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

On April 14 and 21, 2015, long-time FutureChurch member and Mary Magdalene advocate, Rita Houlihan, organized and sponsored two lectures at Fordham University by none other than Dr. Elizabeth Johnson, CSJ, who went about setting the record straight about Mary of Magdala.

Sr. Johnson immediately got to the heart of the  issue stating, “Mary of Magdala was one of Jesus’ most influential apostles-and she was not a prostitute. Mary kept vigil at the cross throughout Jesus’ crucifixion, discovered the empty tomb after Jesus’ resurrection, and was then commissioned to ‘go and tell’ the good news.”

The problem began in 591 when Pope Gregory characterized Mary of Magdala as a repentant prostitute, a label that “stuck” eclipsing her important leadership and apostolic roles, even today.”Making her a prostitute has allowed her leadership role among the disciples to be generally forgotten,” said Dr. Johnson.  “For those who prefer a Church with an exclusively male hierarchy, it is easier to deal with her as a repentant sinner than as an apostolic woman who had a voice and used it.”

To that we say, “Amen, Sister.”

View on Fordham’s Site

Download the handout from this event.

Easter Gospel Restoration

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

Our Easter Sundays will be complete only when we hear and receive the full Resurrection message and recover women’s leadership along the way.

Currently, the Standard Roman Catholic Lectionary calls for only the first half of John’s resurrection narrative (John 20:1-9) on Easter Sunday morning. Verse 10 is never read and the rest of the narrative (verses 11-18) is not read on any Sunday — but instead is read on Easter Tuesday. And so, the vast majority of Roman Catholics never hear John’s full resurrection narrative as told in 20:1-18 and therefore never hear the story of Mary of Magdala’s witness of Jesus’ resurrection nor Jesus commissioning her to deliver the news of his resurrection to the community.

In Canada, the entire narrative is read on Easter Sunday. In 1992 the Canadian Catholic Bishops updated their lectionary to include John’s full resurrection story. This amendment restored the story of the Apostle to the Apostles to its prominent role in the lectionary. Thus Canadian Catholics hear the whole story and learn from Jesus’ example of inclusive ministry and his faith in the leadership of women.

John 20:10-18 is significant because it makes clear that only Mary of Magdala was in the garden with Jesus and that she was directly commissioned as the primary apostolic witness to the community. It is John’s account of Jesus’ inclusive model of leadership that most strikingly and without reservation portrays Mary of Magdala, a woman, as the primary witness of the resurrected Jesus and the first one commissioned by him to “go to my brothers and say to them, ‘I am ascending to my Father and yourFather, to my God and your God’ (Jn 20:14-17).”

Download our Gospel Restoration Project to help bring the whole Easter story to your community!

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