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This week, as you know, we are recognizing women witnesses in the Church. Why is it important to bring special attention to these women and what can we learn from them? After all, their lives were very different from ours. Mary Magdalene lived two thousand years ago, and was an actual disciple of Jesus. And St. Brigid, whose feast day is today, lived in the fourteenth century and founded a religious congregation called the Brigittines. What can our lives possibly have in common with theirs? I propose the following observations.

Observation #1: These women witnesses had a deep and abiding faith in God. I think it is Father Dibble who often points out that he knows that we, the congregation, have faith in God or we wouldn’t be here at Mass, much less at 8 a.m. So, why do we come? I can only speak for myself and I realize that I don’t come to this Mass as often as the majority of you out there do, but I do come periodically. One reason that I come is because when I do, I feel that I begin my day in connection and in relationship with God. I can come to church with my worries, my prayers of thanksgiving, and my prayers for friends and relatives, and I know that I am heard. Another reason that I come to Mass is because it is here that I can participate in and experience what it means to be part of a Catholic community because, you see, all of you by your presence here today are examples of what it means to be Catholic and share a deep abiding faith in God. I can’ t tell you how many times over the past year I have come to this particular Mass, worried about various life issues, and been heartened by all of you who come every day to worship in this community. I remember one particular mother, who I believe moved away this year, who came to daily Mass first when she was pregnant and then with her baby and, as the years passed, I saw her come with a second pregnancy and, even when she had two toddlers to contend with, she came almost every day. I thought to myself, “If she can come here every day and show such deep faith and commitment to our church, then so can I.”

Observation #2: These women witnesses had an active relationship with God. In other words, it wasn’t a passive, one-way relationship. As we have heard this week, Mary Magdalene was an active disciple of Jesus and was a witness to His crucifixion and resurrection. And St. Brigid experienced visions and believed that Christ appeared to her. She wrote down the revelations she received and conversed with Church theologians of her time.

We also have active relationships with God. For example, at this Mass, we have parishoners who are Eucharistic Ministers, lectors, social justice workers, ministers to the sick, members of St. Vincent de Paul, religious education teachers, music ministers, and those who stay after Mass and pray the rosary, and many many more. So, not only do we have deep faith in God and come together in community to worship, but we take our faith another step and we bring our Catholic beliefs out into our communities and the world. We have active relationships with God.

Observation #3: These women witnesses contributed to the life of the Church in their time. I find this point really remarkable because both Mary Magdalene and St. Brigid lived during times when women’s voices were often not heard or valued. How did it happen that these particular women’s voices and the voices of so many other women witnesses in the Church such as St. Theresa of Avila, St. Catherine of Siena, St. Hildegarde of Bingen, to name just a few, how did their voices come to be heard and their contributions to the Church accepted? I’m not a Church scholar and I don’t claim to have a definitive answer to this question. But I bring it up because I think that it is important to recognize that one reason they were heard could have been because they had the support of others in their community. For example, Mary Magdalene was an actual disciple of Jesus. She literally could not have been a disciple without Jesus’ support. And St. Brigid shared her visions and revelations with prominent theologians of her time. She must have been supported by others in her community because she was able to found a new religious order, the Brigittines. This week, Father Joyce has shown his support for women’s voices by bringing our attention to the feast of Mary Magdalene and other women witnesses in the Church. He has also given Trish Brown, Cindy Novello, Joan Zamolo, and myself the opportunity to voice our beliefs and share our views with all of you. Thank you, Father Joyce, for this very special blessing.

In closing, by examining the lives of women witnesses in the Church, we can see that it is through their deep faith, their active relationship with God, and the support of others in their communities that they were able to bring their gifts and ideas out into the Church and make positive contributions to the world. In this time, when our Church faces many difficulties, it is my fervent hope and vision that all of us, both the men and the women of the Catholic Church, will be able to come together in mutual support and effort and create solutions that will benefit not only our Church, but create a better world for all.