COMMENTARY – A Report from VOTF Bridgeport CT
Agency, Community
and Spirituality
[Sister Theresa Kane spoke at VOTF in the Diocese of Bridgeport on March1,
2007. Her subject was a vision of Church in the 21st century and is recapped
below.
This is the same Sister Theresa Kane who made front-page
news twenty-eight years ago. At St. Patrick’s Cathedral in
New York City in October 1979 Sr. Theresa Kane addressed Pope John Paul
II on behalf of women in the Catholic
Church. Her brief remarks were a surprise to the Pope and garnered international
attention. Her statement is the Quote for our time in this issue: "As
women we have heard the powerful message of our church addressing the dignity
and reverence of all persons. As women we have pondered these words. Our
contemplation leads us to state that the church in its struggle to be faithful
to its call for reverence and dignity for all persons must respond by providing
the possibility of women as persons being included in all ministries of
the church."
Sr. Theresa never sought the limelight and has spent the
last quarter century as a Sister of Mercy in a variety of ministries including
the presidency
of her order. For a little more information about Sr. Theresa, click
here.]
Sister hailed VOTF as a new movement which, along with other organizations,
has responded to the stirrings of the Holy Spirit and has created a new
consciousness of what it means to be Church.
In her talk, “ A Vision for the 21st Century: Our Church as a Community
of Equals and a Community of Disciples,” Sister emphasized the need
for all of us to keep struggling to create this new community whose roots
are in the tradition of the early Church.
Three qualities essential to this new vision are: agency, community, and
spirituality. Agency, Sister explained, entails the recognition of all
members as equal directors of their own lives. At the present time, women
are not given the opportunity to be agents of change within the Church.
Sister alluded to Rev. Robert Drinan’s last article in the National
Catholic Reporter in which he expressed the need for women to be equal
partners with men in the shaping of the Church of our time.
In order to achieve community, the second quality needed for change, we
need to confront the injustice that excludes women and thus prevents true
community in our Church. When our institution does not support community,
God’s very own design, it must be reformed.
Finally, the quality of spirituality, holiness of life, needs to be personal
and communal. Questions we might ask ourselves are: How do I develop my
spirituality? And, Is my religion helping my spirituality? We need to look
at our image of God, an image we find helpful to the development of our
spirituality.
At the conclusion of her talk, Sister Theresa suggested we look to Mary,
the Mother of Jesus, who was a strong woman praying her beautiful prayer,
the “Magnificat,” in which she spoke of God being revealed
through her. We, like Mary, need to be a people of vision.
Sister asked us to consider these questions: What is my vision?, What
would I like to do to better our world?, and What would I like to do for
myself? In reflecting on these questions all of us can contribute to a
new vision for our Church in the 21st Century that, hopefully, will become
a community of equals and a community of disciples.
