​Unless you have been hiding under a rock, you will have heard talk about God preparing to act in a great and mighty way. This expectation comes from many places and is clothed in all types of language. In Catholic circles we have 'In the end my Immaculate Heart will triumph', and talk of the Warning and the Chastisement. There is the 1947 Wigglesworth prophecy that when the Spirit and the Word come together, there will be the biggest move of the Holy Spirit that the world has ever seen. Others talk of a promised billion soul harvest.

As Peter Herbeck reminded us back in 2016, 'Did you know that the Church has an infinite capacity for regeneration? Did you know that? Did you know that the Church has right now all the power, every resource it needs, to conquer every enemy strategy the enemy brings against Her.' And it is precisely when the Church is looking the deadest and most bedraggled that we can expect the resurrection power of Jesus to come upon Her.
There are heightened expectations at the moment for something like this to begin before the end of 2019, with Brexit when it actually happens, as some form of a catalyst.

Consider:
https://lanavawser.com/2019/10/30/i-heard-the-lord-say-the-last-few-months-of-2019-are-going-to-be-explosive/
and https://www.openheaven.com/2018/07/10/three-waves-of-a-coming-baby-boom-and-strategies-for-preparation-by-christy-johnston/

Now for the chicken and the egg paradox: Are we in the 'if and when it happens we will deal with it then' camp or are we in the 'is some of this dependent on us being like Noah and taking God at His word and doing some practical stuff in preparation' camp? Is our lack of preparation part of the delay problem?

Consider the following scenario: an act of God causes 1000 consciences to awaken and they all rush to your church community to get themselves right with God. What do you do?

And what if it is 10,000 people? That's a lot of people who will expect us to know what to do to help them all.

When the active presence of God manifests itself in a place, people have life-changing encounters with God, and no one, but no one, wants to leave a place that is experiencing divine visitation. So expecting people to go down the shops to get supplies just isn't going to work, you need to have the supplies stockpiled already. Call it 'The Noah Storeroom' or the 'When God Shows Up Cache' or similar, expect to get laughed at like Noah was, but do it anyway. Also think long term, God is wanting to add these people to your community permanently. There is also no guarantee that you won't be overwhelmed by God and unable to function as a leader, marshal or administrator, so talk to your teams and make them aware of what your strategy is for when the Flood of Grace comes. Ask God what that strategy should be.  

So here are some thoughts, just looking at things from a practical perspective and a decidedly Catholic one because we need to do more preparation than anyone else.

The number one thing people will want is the sacrament of penance, and lengthy confessions. There might be a humungous crowd, but they each need to hear the blessed words of absolution personally. While they wait for their turn they are going to need some refresher teaching on how the sacrament works, how to prepare, what to confess, why the given penance is important etc. Many of them will be in a blubbering mess, before, during and after they get into the confessional.

A practical thing to do is for dioceses and parishes to audit how many non-active priests are within their diocesan and parish boundaries, get in contact with them, and have them on some kind of group alert system. They may be retired, if so, keep in regular contact with them. They may have been laicised for various reasons, but in emergencies, and this would qualify for an emergency, they can exercise priestly faculties. You are going to need them hearing confessions. If you are a bishop, then you should start working out what needs to be done canonically now to get laicised priests as sacramentally active as possible, as quickly as possible, in such a scenario.

The best people to do the refresher teaching on the sacrament of penance will be those who are already on the parish sacramental preparation teams. Parish priests should talk with the parish sacramental preparation co-ordinator about how to handle such a scenario. They would already have some experience in ushering primary school children for their first confessions.

Do you have brochures for people returning to the sacrament of penance after a long absence? Start looking for good examples of them online, or get new ones written. Have them ready to print. Put all the links and files you need in a special folder on your computer, so that you can quickly find them all in one place. Have a back-up paper version in your filing cabinet.

Begin a stockpile of tissues, a stockpile of scripture booklets (like the ones they provide for World Youth Day pilgrims, with a Gospel, another book from the Bible and a Psalm or two) and a stockpile of toilet paper.

Talk to your parish team about setting up triage protocols, because you are going to need to quickly ascertain who has never been baptised, who can't remember if they were baptised, those baptised under other traditions, lapsed Catholics, fringe Catholics and committed Catholics. Baptism (and conditional Baptism), could reduce the strain on the confessionals, but you will need a diocesan approved video presentation on what living out the Nicene Creed means as a minimum preparation for the baptism of those who have reached the age of reason and beyond.

Purchase additional baptismal registers and baptismal certificates at both parish and diocesan levels.

Space is going to be at a premium, so as quickly as possible, get all the cars out of the parish car parks and make them pedestrian access only. You could have several groups learning from different group leaders across the car park - weather permitting. 

People are going to want Jesus. Setting up a monstrance with a consecrated host in the church will help with that. If you have a spare or secondary monstrance, set up an additional adoration space in the parish hall as well. You may need to set up wardens or guards from the ranks of acolytes and senior altar servers around those monstrances to keep order. People under the influence of religious zeal have been known to do some mighty crazy things, especially if that zeal is coupled with ignorance. 

People are going to need to learn how to pray. Having an area set aside with a Marian shrine/statue and a continuous Rosary being prayed with scripture meditations prior to each decade mystery will help. Stockpile inexpensive sets of rosary beads.

If the repentance is Holy Spirit genuine, then practical steps to change lives will be needed. Wherever you normally have the paschal fire for the Easter Vigil can be the place people can bring unholy objects to have them burned, bad magazines, bad books, crystals, occult items etc.

People in non-married relationships may come under the conviction of the Holy Spirit to get married. You will need teams of people to listen to them, to ascertain if they are free to enter into sacramental marriage, and then organise groups of couples for marriage ceremonies and renewal of vow ceremonies.

Purchase additional marriage registers and marriage certificates, at both parish and diocesan levels.

Under a move of God of such a magnitude, people are going to start manifesting the charismatic gifts of the Holy Spirit. Make sure you have literature and links on hand for them to be able to begin to understand what the Holy Spirit is doing in them, and how to co-operate with it. You are going to need protocols for how to discern and release prophetic words.

Some people may also manifest demonic influence. To deal with that, the diocesan bishop should have a plan in place. He is the chief exorcist of the diocese, and should have already appointed other exorcists. Training should begin now to enable more priestly exorcists to be appointed, and for all diocesan priests to be trained in what they are already authorised to do in such circumstances, and in what must be referred to those with specialist training.

Once the Holy Spirit activates hearts in repentance, then they will experience a hunger for catechesis. Start researching now to discover what good programmes are out there, and purchase or subscribe to them. Then when God's grace hits, get a quality video series set up for viewing in a large meeting room with automatic repeat.

Mobilise those who have been on team for RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation of Adults) to be the 'go to' people for those that have specific theological questions or hurdles that they need to overcome in order to take the next step on their journey of faith.

You will need printed and laminated lists of good books for people to download on their mobile phones and similar devices on topics such as prayer, sacraments, catechism, charisms, scripture, conversion testimonies that are highly recommended. The last thing you want is for people hungry for catechesis to find online teaching resources that contain doctrinal errors.

It is our duty to help people get to the best sources of teaching quickly. Many people have mobile phones with internet capability, help them use that technology to help them get the recommended teaching that they need.

People on fire with the Holy Spirit are going to want to be active in evangelisation, immediately. Remind them that even St Paul went off to pray, fast and study first. Work out in advance a way to get them into teams to do the necessary preparation, preferably each with an experienced evangelist as a leader, and then send them out in teams. Each sent out team should return together for debriefing, further teaching based on their experiences, and prayer for those they reached out to.

Real repentance will want to express itself in acts of penance, viz prayer, fasting, almsgiving, service to the poor. It will be far better to give people direction on how to respond to this call to penance and reparation, than to leave them without guidance. Think now about how best such holy responses could be channelled to the greatest good, and pray for divine wisdom as you work on that. Consider where the greatest needs in your community are, and which local service organisations are the best ones with track records of integrity and effectiveness. Some people will want to go beyond what prudence suggests, and they will need to be helped so that they bank that fire a bit so as to become sustainable rather than flaming out quickly.

People are going to need to tell their stories about how God's grace rescued them. So you will need teams of listeners and recorders. The better stories should be publicly told, as ongoing encouragement to the church community and in praise to God. Discernment will be needed for who, when, and how such stories are to be released, and whether his/her conversion has deepened enough for it to withstand notoriety.

When such moves of God happen, it can get very chaotic and messy in a good way. The more we can help people ground the profound God experiences they have had in daily prayer, reading of scripture, and frequent recourse to the sacraments, and in the accountability of regular sharing of experiences in small to medium groups, the more fruitful and lasting that grace will be within them. But it takes all hands on deck to steward extraordinary moves of the Holy Spirit like this, far more than just the priest and a handful of helpers. Training up people now who could be effective leaders of small to medium groups would be very prudent.

Many ministry teams will need to go on 24/7 rostering initially, in shifts, especially the music ministry teams. Whatever normal was will have to be suspended for a while until a new normal settles.

The chances of big increases in people asking questions about the validity of past marriages are significant. Beginning to train extra people for the diocesan marriage tribunals would be a wise thing to do.

What needs to be prevented is a decision making bottle-neck focused on the person of the parish priest. Start thinking carefully about what decisions can be devolved to trusted people in senior parish leadership positions and which decisions absolutely must go to the parish priest, and what kind of communication structures would facilitate that. For common requests maybe a pre-prepared checklist of requirements for approval could be very useful. 

The more preparation gets done, the fewer people will dissipate the extraordinary grace and slip through the cracks unchanged and without being incorporated into the parish community of faith and into the mission of Jesus.

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​I will add to this when I can, especially useful links and file downloads.
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​Examples of small booklets of scripture:

Act of Contrition
Three versions suitable for Sacrament of Penance
4 per A4 page

Prayer for a Good Confession
6 per A4 page

This Christian Writing seminar with Larry Sparks from Destiny Image Publishing on 16 Nov 2019 contained a lot of good content, since it is rare to hear a publisher tell us not only what he is looking for - but also why those criteria are so important.
While he was talking about non-fiction Christian publishing in the Christian Living genre, the same principles are largely applicable to secular publishing as well.

If you are considering submitting a manuscript or a book proposal to Destiny Image Publishing, make sure that your work fits their mission statement, viz.

Destiny Image has been called to publish biblically sound, prophetic words to the Body of Christ. To that end, we seek to create a community founded on content that has an anointing to direct, encourage and strengthen the church as a whole.

These notes are only edited summaries of this seminar. The way the day went, Larry gave us introductory comments on why writers write and publishers publish, and then went on to talk about the 7 non-negotiable things he looks for when signing up a new author. As he spoke about those 7 green flags he is looking for, he often digressed. Those digressions I have put at the end under General Writing Tips.

Around Jan-Feb 2020 Larry is releasing a course that goes into far more detail than a seminar can accomplish. https://larrysparksministries.com/ or https://www.facebook.com/LarrySparksMinistries/ will soon have information about how to access that new course.
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Introduction
When people are looking for a book they are seeking a tangible solution to a problem.
Your written testimony about how you partnered with God and saw His power to bring breakthrough into your circumstances is valuable because:
•it reveals that God is a good father
•it releases hope to people who previously had no hope
•it contributes to filling the earth with His glory.
Books rarely become key revenue generators, but they are an opening up of a funnel that has the capacity to launch careers and brands.
Readers will want to know what the next step is to take after reading a book. They want to be on the journey with the author.
You must have a clear idea what your book is for and who it is for. Some books deliver nations from evils, some books redeem family bloodlines. Be OK with that, if God's purpose in calling you to write a book, is primarily to help a descendant of yours learn how to partner with God at some point in the future.
Psalm 101 (102):18 'Put this on record for the next generation, so that a race still to be born can praise God.'
Do not be afraid of niches, because you need to know what audience your book is written for. Your niche can be far bigger thank you think it is.

There are 7 green flags that a publisher needs before committing to publishing a Christian book.

1st Flag: The message has God's burning fire upon it.
It has to be in a subject area that you have authority in, that you come alive in, which contains the core message God is speaking through your life. It has to be a message that you have finished the journey on, and can show someone else the path to the same results. You only have permission to share the process if you also share the solution.
How do you know you have a burning message?
•It may be in your gifts, talents and expertise.
•It may be where you are experiencing a holy irritation as a catalyst/motivator.
•It may be something God has been speaking to you for some time but you are unaware of. To find it, take some unscheduled time with the Holy Spirit, several hours, a weekend, no longer than that, (because if it is a burning message from God it will carry some urgency) and intentionally ask Him to walk through your history with Him, your journals, your writings, your experiences of Him. Ask Him, what are the 4 most common themes? Pay attention to the memories that have a fire/weightiness upon them. As you ponder them, let the Holy Spirit renew those past encounters with Him in you, and lead you into deeper encounters with Him.
Also ask Him, 'What is the problem I am seeking through writing to solve'? Write down the answers that come to mind and get feedback on them from truth tellers you trust.

2nd Flag: You have identified your core message.
This is what you are most called to write about. Be very true to what God has called you to do, and stick with it. There is grace in your lane. If God decides to open up additional lanes, that is His job, not yours.
Consider what you talk about the most, what you blog about the most, and what most resonates with your readers as expressed through likes and comments.
It is possible to express the one message in many ways e.g. Renew your mind: in family, in business: in relationships.
Even if there are many books on your topic, there is only one you, and how you dealt with that topic is unique to you. However you must study the others in your market, and demonstrate that you present a unique angle and perspective on this topic.
Don't try to be someone else. God gives unique assignments and messages.

3rd Flag: Know your audience.
Learn to be content with the audience God gives you, and let Him grow it.
Visualise in as much detail as possible the type of people who will read your book. Is it primarily for Christians? Is it primarily for non-Christians.
Does it go on the Christian shelf in the bookstore or on the Self Help shelf?
If you try to write for 2 different audiences in the same book, you lose both of them.
If you are on social media or blogging, study what types of people are already in your audience. Ask others you trust to give you feedback on who they think is the best audience for your writing.
Do not despise the day of small beginnings nor the small niche. Often you will find that small niche is bigger than you expect.
Write for the benefit of your audience and be clear about what the features, advantages and benefits of your book are.
Eg Features: This book has 25 chapters on prayer and reflection questions at the end of each chapter. Advantages: What will this book help the end user to do, eg pray with specificity. Benefits: Where this book connects with the reader's life: what it promises to add to the reader's life.
Your blurb must clearly articulate the benefits to potential readers. If you read this book will it change your family? Will it give you a new vision for the possible? What new way of living the Christian life will it give you?
Believe it or not, the primary reason a person picks up a book is not to seek God.
In order of importance, these are the reasons a person picks up a book:
•Does it speak to their current predicament, the immediate problem in their lives (marriage, teens, dieting...)?
•Does it connect with something bigger, more transcendent, reveal the bigger picture?
•Is it concretely applicable? Does it give me the next step/show me how to change the world?
A book like 'The Purpose Driven Life' by Rick Warren covers all three reasons.
Remember: Some books solve the problem of 'I want to learn more about ……….', and that could be the life of Winston Churchill or how to be a better gardener.
Avoid 2 common ditches:
•The desire to make your book into an autobiography
•To give all teaching and no story or case studies.
Be a practitioner not just a theorist. Aim for a story per chapter, but the story must illustrate the transferable teaching of that chapter.

4th flag: Alignment (Character)
You can't be a lone ranger, and you do need to learn how to activate your endorsements in a healthy way. Identify 3-5 people who will stand with you, and help you get your message out to others, and vice versa.
At all costs protect your heart from opportunism, from relationships for the sake of gain.
I want to publish works from people who have vouch-able characters, subject mastery and theological protection.
There are 4 levels of alignment that I look for, in order of importance:
•Spiritual accountability to mothers and fathers in faith which includes ministry covering.
•The ministry networks with whom you are affiliated.
•Who your spiritual peers are, the people you do life and ministry with, and
•Endorsements from well-known names.
If you are in the right lane, blessing and favour from God will be upon it.

5th flag: Marketing and Building a Platform.
Find the 3 areas where people are currently engaging with you, and build there.
Use your social media accounts to funnel people to those online places you have control over (email list, website, podcast).
Make sure where you build is where your audience is.
Consistency in content builds a voice.
Find out how your audience likes to engage with you: do they prefer audio, video, visual, written? Start with online media where you feel most comfortable first.
Ask for feedback on your social media effectiveness from truth tellers.
Read the 3 star reviews of books in your field of expertise. They will give you very good ideas and help you avoid many pitfalls.
Some messages create demand where previously there was none e.g. James Goll and 'The Seer'. It called many people with the prophetic seer gifting 'out of the cave' and gave them and others language to talk about that gifting and realise that they weren't alone.
God may want you to write for the 3% who are early adopters. It won't sell as well as one written for the 70% adopters. Do it anyway. It may be God's plan for your work to open a breach for others to come through after you.

6th flag: Teachability
This has 2 dimensions:
•The ability to receive open and honest correction.
•The ability to be open to co-operation.
Being immovable on things like title and subtitle (eg 'God told me the title has to be …….') prevents you from getting the best solutions through the collaboration of a team of experts. Make it your goal to produce the best book possible, even if that means relinquishing control over the parts that currently matter most to you or having to re-write your favourite chapter from a different angle.

7th flag: Clear vision of a product funnel
Do you have a vision of the end result of someone reading your book?
What is the journey that you want to take them on?
These days a book functions a lot like a business card, as a way of introducing people to you, your message and your ministry.
Even if you don't yet have a vision for a product funnel, keep communication channels open about it.
A funnel can be broken down into price points:
The entry point is a freebie, something useful to your audience in exchange for their contact details.
The 2nd level is your book, with a price $9.99-$26.99.
The 3rd level is a course, an e-course, a coaching programme, anything to keep the conversation and engagement going, at a higher price, at least double the book price.
The 4th level is one-on-one consultations, at the highest price.

General Writing Tips
Become familiar with the traditional and the self-publishing processes.
If you self-publish go as excellent as you can on book cover and editing.
Avoid generic words in your title (e.g. faith, hope, love).
Your first book is often your experimental book, expect to improve in your subsequent books.
Covers need to be visible and clear at thumbnail level.
Traditional publishing normally takes 9-12 months. If you have a shorter than book length message that needs quick release, consider self-publishing, especially if you are a pastor or have a ministry. A 60-70 page message on a single topic that is currently relevant lends itself very well to self-publishing.
•Highly recommended reading:
Building a Story Brand by Don Miller
Platform by Michael Hyatt
and Tribes by Seth Godin
Complexity is the enemy of execution.
Seek to get your elevator pitch down to 90 seconds or less.
Study the top 50 books on Amazon and their subject matter, it will give you valuable insight in to what problems people are seeking solutions for: metrics like that don't lie.
On social media people want to feel like they connect with you.
Research until you find a publisher's mandate that matches your message: and send your manuscript/ book proposal there.
Embed links to your e-books for your website and freebies that feed your email list.
Keep your Introduction short.
Chapter 1 lays out the vision for your book.
Chapter 2 lays out the mission for your book.
Each chapter should have a problem-solution blue-print; even consider treating each chapter like a keynote speech.
Don't let your voice be edited out of the book, keep its unique parts intact.
Pique curiosity in your title.
Check with others that your title does not confuse about its content e.g. Happy Strife has connotations of marriage and wife about it, if that isn't your message, get a more effective title.
Be open to the possibility that you have only been given 1/4 of the book and that you might need to seek testimonies and case studies from others to compile into the book.
Ask God for whether His strategy for the book is just to produce that book, or whether He wants it to be stewarded into a brand.
Ask God to release the discernment you need.
Do not shy away from doing due diligence research, it is part of being faithful to your calling. Ask Him to release graces of fresh presentation and fresh language for ancient revelation. God is raising up people who will evangelise through writing; 'writing evangelists'.

'If you want to get published with Destiny Image' Tips
My publishing speciality is in Christian Living books, the kind you find at Cornerstone bookstores. Books I publish must have both testimony/stories of grace AND transferable teaching.
Harrison House is an imprint of Destiny Image that publishes rarer niche messages and shorter ones especially in the charismatic/pentecostal genre.
If your book doesn't fit our publishing mandate, and I believe it will do much better with a different publisher, I will refer your book to them.

Conclusion
Every assignment from God carries with it significance.
If you want to break writer's block, know that the times you write under obedience and cannot feel the flow of grace are just as sacred and blessed as when you do feel that anointed flow.
Be faithful; write the 1st chapter if that is all you have, the other chapters will come.
The outcome of a book is God's business; our task is to be faithful to the assignment He gives us.

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​A printer friendly version is available below (6 x A4 pages)

Remember, this is only an edited summary of what was given in the seminar.

Firstly a rough transcription of the prophetic words given that night; some prior to the talk, some afterwards:

•Find your shout and declaration again. Angels are putting trumpets to our lips. Declare what God is saying and not what anything else is saying. The truth of God is being rewritten over minds and hearts. God: 'But what do I say?' Pay attention to that and not to your circumstances. Echo what God is saying over us.
•(sung) There is a mighty echo. Come up higher. Can you hear the echo? See His angels all around. Let the trumpets sound. Let the people gather round. The Lord is coming on the clouds. Holy, holy, holy is the Lord. Holy ones I am calling You to Myself. Re-sound the sound of the trumpet sound. Holy mantles. Holy mandates. High and holy ones, you are My hope.

(the talk took place, see below)

•This council of the Lord is not just for church services, it is a realm that God is inviting us into as parents, and business leaders throughout the week, an invitation that doesn't require a building or a worship CD as access points. I am training My people to be supernatural in a very natural way.
•There are so many angels here. We have so much authority because we are in Jesus and He is the supreme authority over everything. In the story of Daniel it says, 'As soon as you prayed a command was given'. The angels are waiting for us to pray and declare so that they can be given their assignments.
•We were in the throne room, all of us, with Jesus on the throne. The four beasts with wings were there and the lampstands. The angels were singing, and we were singing with them. The elders bowed down and worshipped Him, and all their crowns came off because they were so bent before Jesus. When we come before Him in worship we are to be like them and bow down so low before Him that our crowns come off. As we walk closer and closer to Him we are bowing further before Him. We need to be bare before Him in order to receive from Him and give to Him.
•In a similar way to how native American wind-talkers were used in WW2, God wants to give us messages that the enemy cannot decode.
•God is repositioning us into different levels and areas of our lives e.g. spiritual warfare, intimacy, intercession, spiritual realms. We need to do something in the natural to co-operate with, appropriate and come into agreement with this action of His. (It was suggested that as a sign of our Yes we swap places with the person beside us).
•Isaiah 51:16 'I put My words into your mouth. I hid you in the shadow of My hand, when I spread out the heavens and laid the earth's foundations and said to Zion, 'You are My people.'' It is time for rain. Contend with Him for the promised rain. The rain will be a sign in the natural of what He is doing in the supernatural. God wants us to be reminded of the prophetic words that have been planted. He is raising up blueprints and strategies and He was a holy 'DO' partnership, people who don't just listen but who act upon His word. This is a multigenerational thing. A time when newer generations pick up the neglected/forgotten/as-yet-undiscovered destinies embedded in their families and run with them; to take on the family legacies given by God and to see them happen.
(This was primarily for the Central Coast, but for people all over the world as well.)
 
Secondly a rough transcription of the talk given by Larry Sparks, international speaker and publisher at Destiny Image  Publishers who studies how God has acted in past movements of the Holy Spirit and who seeks out the prophets God is raising up in our day in order to help relay the messages of God to the people of God. He is an American, married, and has a much loved daughter:
 
Australia is a testimony nation to the earth.
(speaking to the HopeUC worship team): Worship teams have the capacity to be key leaders in the council of the Lord, places that are reserved for His friends. He invites you there, and desires to share His secrets with you there. Songs birthed in the council of the Lord release the thunder of Heaven. We want those songs. They carry God's active power. The gift and inspiration of those songs belong to those who want to be a friend of God far, far more than they want to be professional, successful musicians.

This message is for Australia, but also for the nations.
Be obedient.
God is reforming or language a bit, explaining what standing in the council of the Lord means.
'Holy, Holy, Holy' is the song of Heaven that never gets stale, tired or old.
New encounters with God often occur when we tap into the ancient songs.
You can tell that someone has had a genuine encounter with God if they tremble with the awe and reverence of God upon their lips.
In this atmosphere tonight there is a sense of reverence.
At a recent prophetic roundtable I met a young woman named Hannah Brim, granddaughter of Dr Billye Brim, and she said, 'I see myself as a friend of Jesus, not as a prophet'.

Our identity in God has three levels.
First identity: friends of God, those who see and hear the Word of God in the council of the Lord.
Jer 23:16-18 'The Lord God of hosts says this: Do not listen to what those prophets say: they are deluding you, they retail visions of their own, and not what comes from the mouth of the Lord; to those who reject the Word of God they say, 'Peace will be yours', and to those who follow the dictates of a hardened heart, 'No misfortune will touch you'. But who has been present at the council of the Lord? Who has seen it and heard His Word? Who has paid attention to His Word in order to proclaim it?'
Second identity: intercessors with God, who know what to do with what they see and hear - including who to share it with, and when, and how. They ask Him, what you have revealed to me, is it for me alone? There are some secrets that God wants to share with us personally that are for us alone. Is it something I should share with four crazy faith-filled friends to help me process and steward this revelation? Is it for someone else, of for a group? Or is it for me primarily, and shareable with others later on?
Third identity: prophet of God, declaring what God authorises you to declare.
In our times we have great need of people secure in these three identities who can reliably and reputably receive God's messages for our region, our city, our church community, our nation, and who are in right relationships with church authorities and not itinerant lone rangers.

The realm of the council of the Lord is available to everyone, but highly exclusive, because it belongs only to those who prize their relationship with God above everything else.
Study Abraham and Moses, who are friends of God. Their bold prayers were actually high reverence because they knew the character of God so deeply. They were able to 'be confident then, in approaching the throne of grace, that we shall have mercy from Him and find grace when we are in need of help' Heb 4:16.
Friends of God are invited to know what is coming. If it happens to be negative, then they pray for that situation not to happen or for it to be mitigated, because they know God's delight is to show mercy. They appeal for mercy, even when judgment is deserved, eg Abraham concerning Sodom and Gomorrah, Moses concerning God's repudiation of Israel after the golden calf incident. If no one ever finds out that their prayers for this potentially negative situation were effective, then that doesn't bother them at all. They remind God what He has promised until that promise is fulfilled, no matter how long that 'until' takes. They contend for those promises with supernatural grit. They know that God has not forgotten the promises He made, even if it feels completely otherwise.

The Hebrew word for council means 'a circle of familiar friends'.

What distinguishes a true prophet of the calibre of Isaiah, Ezekiel etc from the rest of the prophets are their throne room encounters with God and their ability to stand in the council of the Lord where He reveals His plans. What qualifies prophets like this, are the encounters with God that leave a person completely undone.

For friendship with God obedience is necessary viz John 15: 14-15 'You are My friends if you do what I command you. I shall not call you servants any more, because a servant does not know his master's business; I call you friends because I have made known to you everything I have learnt from My Father.'
Amos 3:7 'No more does the Lord God do anything without revealing His plans to His servants the prophets.'
God wants us to know, 'You are welcome in My room'.
Heb 12:22-23 'What you have come to is mount Zion and the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem where the millions of angels have gathered for the festival, with the whole Church in which everyone is a 'first-born son' and a citizen of heaven.'
​
All of us are invited, but responding to that invitation requires much from us, including that we seek Him solely for the prize of the pleasure of His company.

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Remember, these are but rough notes that give the gist of the content of that night.

The following notes were compiled from various official Ehlers Danlos Syndrome websites, medical journal extracts, and blogs by people living with this genetic condition.

They were compiled to assist a friend, because many of the available websites are either too difficult to navigate or too full of precise medical terminology.

But the notes remain useful for anyone with this condition who needs to bring a new medical service provider up to speed quickly, and as a way of spreading awareness of the condition.

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Ehlers Danlos Syndrome
This syndrome belongs to a group of genetic connective tissue disorders.

Connective tissue is any type of biological tissue with an extensive extracellular matrix that supports, binds together, and protects organs.

In biology, the extracellular matrix is a three-dimensional network of extracellular macromolecules, such as collagen, enzymes, and glycoproteins, that provide structural and biochemical support of surrounding cells.

These tissues form a framework, or matrix, for the body, and are composed of two major structural protein molecules: collagen and elastin. There are many different types of collagen protein in each of the body's tissues.

Connective tissue diseases can have strong or weak inheritance risks, and can also be caused by environmental factors.

Collagen is the main structural protein in the extracellular space in the various connective tissues in the body. It is mostly found in fibrous tissues such as tendons, ligaments and skin.

Depending upon the degree of mineralization, collagen tissues may be rigid (bone), compliant (tendon), or have a gradient from rigid to compliant (cartilage). It is also abundant in corneas, blood vessels, the gut, intervertebral discs and the dentin in teeth.

A group of genetic disorders cause Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, which results in a defect in collagen production.

In most cases EDS is an inherited condition. The minority of cases are not inherited. This means that they occur via spontaneous gene mutations. Defects in the genes weaken the process and formation of collagen.

All of the genes listed below provide instructions on how to assemble collagen, except for ADAMTS2. That gene provides instructions for making the proteins that work with collagen. The genes that can cause EDS, while not a complete list, include:

• ADAMTS2
• COL1A1
• COL1A2
• COL3A1
• COL5A1
• COL6A2
• PLOD1
• TNXB

 
People with EDS may initially be misdiagnosed with hypochondriasis, depression, PoTS (postural tachycardia syndrome) or chronic fatigue syndrome.
  
What are the symptoms of EDS?

•Fragile tissue:
 Skin tearing,
 small blood vessels bursting,
 easy bruising,
 osteopenia (weaker than normal bones)

•Pain:
 Joints and muscles affected,
 loss of elasticity,
 disrupted signalling
    (e.g. proprioceptive dysfunction (difficulties in sensing where body parts actually are, clumsiness),
    dysautonomia (malfunction of the autonomic nervous system, which is responsible for maintaining a constant internal temperature, regulating breathing patterns, keeping blood pressure steady, and moderating the heart rate. It is also involved in pupil dilation, sexual arousal, and excretion),
    and dystonia (a movement disorder where muscles contract uncontrollably. The contraction causes the affected body part to twist involuntarily, resulting in repetitive movements or abnormal postures.))

•Other major symptoms:
 Fatigue,
 haemorrhaging (bleeding),
 constipation,
 gastro-oesophagal reflux,
 dyspnea (shortness of breath/ 'air hunger') ,
 respiratory and sleeping disturbances,
 random bradypnea (abnormally slow breathing rate),
 tachycardia (heart rate exceeding normal rate)
 bradycardia (heart rate slower than normal rate),
 unstable blood pressure,
 cognitive difficulties (eg brain fog)

Collagen holds the body together, so it's no wonder EDS patients' symptoms can be so diverse. With numerous medical specialities, it's easy to miss a collagen defect presenting in various ways within potentially every bodily system.
 
Not all EDS patients suffer from frequent dislocations.
A subluxation is an incomplete or partial dislocation of a joint or organ.

People with EDS may be constantly subluxing joints, and not be aware of it because to them it is normal. Subluxations in EDS involve the joints easily sliding in and out of position.

Treatment and management of EDS
There is no known cure.
Treatment is supportive in nature.

Physical therapy and bracing may help strengthen muscles and support joints.

While some forms of EDS result in a normal life expectancy, those that affect blood vessels generally decrease life expectancy.

The genetically non-typical collagen causes no degeneration in the body.

It is the damage that accumulates from the body compensating for the non-typical collagen which results in degeneration.

Collagen is stretchy-gluey stuff so a rubber band analogy may aid understanding.

Most of the time when you stretch a rubber band, it goes back to its original shape and position. However, as the rubber band ages the time taken for it to return to that original shape and position lengthens. Then eventually either the rubber band stretches and stays stretched or it breaks.

Collagen is affected by hormones, so its natural strength waxes and wanes. This means someone with EDS will have good days, bad days, and truly horrible days. Collagen is definitely impacted in a woman by her menstrual cycle, strongest at ovulation, weakest at pre-menstruation.

If you have seen a puppet or marionette on a set of strings, it is a useful image for describing EDS. Because the usual connective tissue is weak (tendons, ligaments etc), the muscles have to do extra duty to keep the body in alignment. With weak connective tissue the default is for the body to slump, so it takes extra effort from the muscles (and consequently extra energy) to stop the body from slumping.

Someone with EDS has to tread a fine line between not doing too little and not doing too much. Keeping still isn't an option because that reduces muscle tone. At the same time doing anything that over-stretches the muscles risks a subluxation, dislocation or muscle damage. This is why getting into and out of a vehicle can be very troublesome and why carrying anything remotely heavy is risky.

For the same reason keeping away from crowds, where the risk of being bumped out of alignment is high, is a good thing.

Anything that can be done to prevent a person with EDS from being pushed or pulled beyond what they know his/her body can take is important. They know what pace is within their limits, so any request for them to hurry is ultimately counter-productive.

Soft flexible braces to help the muscles keep the body in alignment and prevent major subluxations and dislocations are good, but can often be beyond the person's ability to put the braces on by themselves.

Mobility aids can be helpful on bad days, or when traversing distances beyond what energy levels can tolerate. However, if by using the walking stick or activating the wheels on the wheelchair too much pressure goes on the various parts of the upper limbs, any benefit can be negated. It is all a very fine balancing act to get the optimum mix of aids and effort.

The pain levels a person with EDS experiences are similar to or worse than rheumatoid arthritis.

Non-typical collagen has a big impact on the digestive system because collagen is a major component of the valves that open and shut in the various parts of the digestive tract, and in connecting the muscles that push what is inside the digestive system along. So if the valve between oesophagus and stomach isn't working well, gastric reflux happens (heartburn); if the stomach doesn't empty properly then bloating happens; if the contents move too slowly then pooling happens, the contents get harder and constipation results. With this kind of scenario for constipation you can also get the situation where there are spurts of watery leakage around hardened stools.

The jaw is also subject to subluxation and dislocation which can impact upon chewing and speech.

Surgery for someone with EDS is very risky due to how fragile and prone to tearing his/her connective tissue is. Recovery times are also longer than average post-surgery. In particular, orthopaedic surgeons need to be reminded that their EDS patients have non-typical muscle function.

Extreme caution should be exercised in helping get someone who has EDS up from a fallen position. Anyone likely to face such a task (eg family) should study and get training in how to help someone with EDS up from a fall correctly and/or be familiar with how to call for an ambulance and inform them how prone to subluxation and dislocation the patient is.

Getting in to and out of chairs and beds and vehicles is always something a person with EDS is cautious in doing. Should they begin to experience sudden changes in blood pressure when doing these activities, then they will need someone to watch over them carefully when they attempt these activities for the purpose of preventing falls.

If at all possible, exposure to infectious people should be reduced. The last thing a person with EDS wants is the extra worry of getting neck and jaw out of alignment due to sneezing or coughing.

Advancing stages of degeneration may see trouble with swallowing, voicing and speaking. To suddenly not be able to call for help is a frightening thing, so plans should be put in place to minimise this eg. Small bell to ring; ICE button on mobile phone set up, someone else within line of sight, one of the various Vital Call or Medical Alert systems in place.

When swallowing becomes troublesome, dental care becomes crucial due to food parts remaining in the mouth that didn't get swallowed. Mouth washes and similar may be needed. Dentists need to be informed why a patient cannot open mouth as wide as others and why their dentin is more fragile.

Physiotherapy with someone who understands the need for gentle exercise to maintain muscle tone, and can give guidance as to how to exercise gently at home, will be beneficial and help maintain quality of life.

Anything that can be done to help a person with EDS to keep their body in good posture is beneficial.

Even a regular person tires of holding a phone to the ear for too long. Some kind of blue-tooth ear piece for phone calls would make receiving anything longer than a short phone call more comfortable for a person with EDS.

Sometimes a person with EDS will experience bouts of 'brain fog' and disorientation. It is something they have no control over.
Rearranging a bathroom so that it is possible to shower while sitting down, can reduce levels of muscle fatigue in people with EDS.

Headaches and migraines are rather common, and sensitivity to light (photophobia) caused by dry eyes is also frequently reported by people with EDS.
​
Advancing stages of degeneration will see people with EDS deciding to no longer drive vehicles. This is because the fast and sudden requirements to put on the brakes or to swivel the head to check for danger become more difficult, and the increasing risk of having a dislocation that takes time to fix (which produces the fear 'Will I be able to get home?')
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Please offer up a prayer for all of those living with this condition and their families:

Dear God,
Please grant to all of those living with this medical condition the gift of swift and accurate medical diagnosis.
Their sufferings are normally silent and unseen, but very debilitating, and we know that You see what others do not,
that they are called by You to be imitators of the hidden life of Your Son Jesus who offered up prayer and entreaty, aloud and in silent tears on behalf of us all.
Please grant them special strength to deal with the uncertainties they face every day, and the pains and discomforts that attend those uncertainties.
Please send them assurance that they are loved by You, and that they have a special part in Your loving plan, and that You will always provide for what they need, down to the smallest details, and as lavishly as only You can. Amen. 

​In my roving internet travels I came across a post that grabbed by attention. The gist of the post was that an intercessor wanted a seat at the leadership team table, and the response was 'No', with the major argument being all leaders are intercessors but not all intercessors are leaders.
 
It struck me that the situation was handled poorly, when it could have had quite positive outcomes if handled better. The context seemed to imply that the leadership felt a bit threatened and weren't too keen on the personality of the intercessor.
 
So I want to come at this situation from 2 angles. The first angle is where intercession sits in the body of Christ, and the second angle is 'Why would a request like this be made in the first place?'
 
Each believer in Jesus Christ who has been incorporated into His Body through baptism shares in the priestly, prophetic and kingly ministry of Jesus. The priestly ministry is offering up prayer and sacrifice for others, the prophetic is telling of God's good news of salvation, and the kingly is service of the needy and vulnerable (eg traditionally widows, orphans and strangers).
 
We know that Jesus is continually interceding for us. Heb 7:25 'His power to save is utterly certain because He is living forever to interceded for all who come to God through Him'. We know that we are to follow Him and to imitate Him, our leader and Head.
 
This means that intercession for others is an expected and normal part of being a Christian. But just as with the prophetic and kingly ministries of Jesus, we share in them in various degrees according to the call of God upon our lives.
 
There is the ordinary call as given in 1 Tim 2:1-2, 'First of all, there should be prayers offered for everyone – petitions, intercessions and thanksgiving – and especially for kings and others in authority so that we may be able to live religious and reverent lives in peace and quiet'.
 
To some the Holy Spirit gives a charism of intercession, which can take the form of a gift, ministry or office.
 
The gift normally manifests itself in an impulse or nudge from God to pray for a certain person or situation, and that impulse or urge lifts when the breakthrough is obtained. These tend to be short in duration and carry a degree of urgency eg You get woken up in the night with the need to pray for your nephew, you pray until peace comes, and the next day you find out he had been in a life and death situation. God can operate a gift like this in anyone at any time. You have a certainty that God wants you to pray for this person or situation, to pray right now, and even an understanding of how you are to pray – including what tools in your prayer arsenal you are to use in prayer. This is far beyond sitting in a circle and praying one after each other for your best guess at what the greatest needs are and your best guess at what prayers are aligned with God's will.
 
The ministry is the next level of charism where the Holy Spirit places prayer burdens upon a person, with some regularity and frequency, and involves responding with fasting and commitment and can include the experience of travailing in prayer. Generally the community catches on that when this person prays, God seems to answer quickly and powerfully, and those with a ministry of intercession get invited to intercessory prayer meetings.
 
The office is the next level of charism where it becomes increasingly obvious to the person and to the community that there is a special anointing upon their lives to pray for 'big stuff', think John Sanford and his intercessory metron for weather patterns and natural disasters. Other metrons could be for a city, a region, a nation or for particular groups of people (law enforcement, catechists) or particular situations or causes (cessation of abortion, conversion of teenagers, prayer partnering a ministry of the community). Those with an office like this usually develop mentoring and impartation roles to others less experienced in being used by the Holy Spirit with this charism.
 
If we recall the parable of Jesus about the persistent widow and the unjust judge, Luke 18: 1-8, then you can expect those with this charism to be people of perseverance, 'pester power', a bit intense at times, and maybe even a little pushy (think Abraham in Genesis 18:22-33). But if you remember that God made them this way for His special intercessory purposes, then you won't take too much offence at them, and give them a bit of leeway because you don't know just how heavy a burden God has placed upon them, and such a burden makes a person less able to see the big picture and wider perspectives. That is why they need good and understanding leadership which takes time to really listen to them - when the temptation is to fob them off at the first opportunity because they feel like an annoyance.
 
All leaders have a duty to intercede and pray for those who have been entrusted to their leadership. It is part of the job of a leader. Often those prayers are at the ordinary level unless there is a major threat or opportunity coming towards the community, when the charism at gift level will manifest. Leaders with prophetic gifts will have associated intercessory gifts because many times the promises of God require long term intercession in order to come to fruition.
 
Frequently a prophetic charism will lead to growth in intercessory charisms and an intercessory charism will lead to growth in prophetic charisms.
 
Why would a request like this be made in the first place?
 
It could be a genuine request according to the Will of God.
It could be a symptom of something lacking in the way leadership is conducted.
Or a bit of both.
 
A good leader will know whether the person claiming to be an intercessor has the charism of intercession and at what level he/she has it. If you don't know, then you will have to ask questions, listen carefully, and pray for discernment. It is part of the task of a leader to see the beginnings of ministry level charisms, to notice them, to nurture them, and to put boundaries, protections and communication channels in place to enable them to grow safely.
 
A wise leader will have communication channels in place so that regular updates of what God is doing in and through the prophets and intercessors in the leader's community are received. If independent reports from your intercessors show a shift to several intercessors praying for unmarried mothers, then that's probably a heads up from God about where He wants to develop the community's next outreach ministry.
 
If your leadership pipeline has stalled, and there have been no changes in senior leadership team in the last 5 – 10 years, then this request could be a symptom of not raising up the next generation of leaders.
 
If there has been a leadership emphasis and community culture of honouring those in visible positions of ministry leadership (preachers, pastors, worship leaders, youth leaders, administration) and not giving honour to the invisible positions of ministry (intercession, street evangelism, caring for the infants, sick and elderly, hospitality), then there is going to be various levels of frustration and not feeling valued among those in invisible positions of ministry and corresponding desires to be seen and appreciated. There is a human tendency for this imbalance to happen, and it has to be consciously fought against on a regular basis.
 
The request could be a disguised plea for help in discerning where God wants them to serve and/or the manifestation of a desire to be more involved and committed.
 
Therefore the first thing to do when a request like this comes to your leadership is to see it as a gift and opportunity, and not as a hassle.
 
Then you do your due diligence and work out whether at what level of charism the person is experiencing God's action in his/her life. The higher the level, the more likely God is in the request.
 
Then you do your due diligence and determine whether there are other charisms of the Holy Spirit regularly active in his/her life. The more there are, the more likely God is in the request.
 
Then you obtain some objective assessment of leadership potential. The StrengthsFinder questionnaire is a very good tool for this. The presence of influencing themes means that he/she should be in some form of leadership. Your task is then to work out where that should be happening, and the other theme results will give good clues to that answer. For example if the person is high in empathy and harmony, and has a theme from the influencing domain, then leadership of a hospital visitation or aged care visitation group might be the answer.
 
However the absence of influencing themes doesn't let you off the hook. You then need to look at the mix of themes of everyone on your senior leadership team and compare them with your intercessor requester. If the themes of the intercessor requester fill in the domain weaknesses of your senior leadership team, then God is in the request and you need to at least give it a 3 month trial and see how it goes.
 
If there no influencing themes and the themes they do have will not bring greater balance to the senior leadership team, then that's not where they are called at the moment. But there could be other ministry teams in the community for which they are a perfect fit. Work out where that is and plug him/her into it, reminding them that every leader is only as effective as the team they have around them, and every 'supporting the leader' role is important.
 
The bottom line is that if a person comes to you with a request to join your leadership team, you do them, yourself and the community a grave disservice unless you help get them into the ministry role that God has uniquely equipped them for.

On the evening of 16 September our family piled into the local independent cinema to watch the movie 'Unplanned'. It was the only local showing of the movie, made possible by the Fan Force website (it is something similar to crowd funding for special interest movies to prove to the cinema that there are enough movie patrons to make a showing worthwhile).
 
I had followed the build up to the movie, and its release in the United States through Instagram, and the buzz had been very positive. I had been especially impressed from comments made by people working in abortion clinics about how realistically and sensitively abortion workers had been portrayed. Also noted were the comments from mothers that it was safe to bring children of high school age to the movie.
 
Apart from knowing that it was the story of how a former Planned Parenthood clinic director had an experience that changed her into an incredibly effective pro-life activist, and that it had been one of the fruits of the 40 Days for Life campaigns, I really didn't know the details of the story.
 
Before the movie started we were warned that the first 15 minutes of the movie would be the toughest part of the movie to watch. There is some truth to that if you are only counting scenes where there is depiction of blood, but not if you are counting moments of moral horror.
 
I am grateful for the opportunity to have seen the movie for many reasons.
•to understand the many good yet misguided motivations of those who work in the abortion industry
•to begin to understand how horrendous a chemical abortion (RU486) actually is
•to rejoice in this modern day Damascus Road conversion experience and the story of God's grace, providence and bigger-than-could-have-been-imagined plans
•to be reminded that God does answer long term 'will it ever happen?' prayers in a spectacular manner
•to see the background of the story that I had experienced in real time at broad-brush level through the 40 Days for Life emails during the post World Youth Day 2008 campaigns
•to add another layer of determination and commitment to eradicating abortion from our world
 
I have no reservations about recommending the movie to anyone:
https://www.amazon.com/Unplanned-Ashley-Bratcher/dp/B07VGKNQLV
 
At the first opportunity after the movie, I read the book which was the source for the screen play. The book is even better than the movie, but I am glad I saw the movie first; and the movie is very faithful to the book.
https://www.amazon.com/Unplanned-Dramatic-Planned-Parenthood-Eye-Opening/dp/1414396546
 
Since then I have watched the two Journey Home episodes that interviewed Abby Johnson about part of her story that the movie and book do not touch upon, ie her conversion to Catholicism. The first one is from 2014 soon after the release of the book, and the other is from 2019 not long before the movie was released. Both are worth watching.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=khSiL9pwLhU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItYF1jJ4tLg
 
Her website is worth browsing:
http://www.abbyjohnson.org/
 
Abby Johnson has a subsequent book of compiled stories from former abortion workers. I have yet to read further than the first 10% of it, but that has been enough to get it onto my purchasing wish list.
https://www.amazon.com/Walls-Are-Talking-Abortion-Workers/dp/162164250X
 
This latter book is one of the fruits of Abby's ministry to those who want to leave the abortion industry. The 2019 Journey Home episode talks about how that ministry came to be.
​Here is the website for it:
https://abortionworker.com/
 
For another redemption story of God's mercy following the experience of abortion:
https://chnetwork.org/story/a-fathers-forgiveness/
This story depicts how much coercion plays a part in abortion.
 
Something that strikes me about these stories is how often women are put in the role of Pontius Pilate, faced with an innocent life that influential people and the crowd are insisting receive the death penalty; and yet the greater guilt is found with those who put the women in this role. What of the boyfriends, husbands, sexual opportunists and sexual predators who have been either active or passive in this coercion? What of their souls? Is there anyone calling them to redemption and conversion?
 
Dear God, please may we soon see abortion as illegal and unthinkable as slavery. Amen.

Towards the bottom of this blog-post is the 43 x A4 page document that contains the combined reference material from the Plenary Council Theme 6 cycle of blog-posts.

The links for each part of the cycle of blog-posts are here
Vision, Interview List and Pre-Requisite Reading
Open to Conversion
Open to Renewal
Open to Reform
Topics of Controversy
Sample Response re Women in the Church
Sample Response re Women in ministry and leadership 

A few of the blog-posts prior to 12 Aug 2019 also refer to the Plenary Council and Theme 6.

My hope is that this gathering of reference material may assist those working on the Plenary Council for Theme 6: Open to Conversion, Renewal and Reform at national, diocesan, deanery and parish levels. 

This particular part of my Plenary Council journey is now done.
I place whatever happens next in God's hands. 

In the days between submitting ​my application for membership of the Discernment and Writing Group for Theme 6 and the cut off date for applications it seemed like a very good idea to produce a written answer to at least one of the questions that kept cropping up in the Listening phase submissions. After all, if I were on the other side of the fence sorting through applications and interviewing short listed people, I would want to know where they stood on these issues and whether they had thought them through.

As the days of waiting lengthened to learn the results of that application it seemed like a good idea to begin a second written response. It got interrupted by the the need to fight the late term abortion bill before state parliament with both prayer and words. But it finally got finished today.  

Example of a written response to a Plenary Council Theme 6 submission (2)

Excerpt from a parishioner in Parramatta Diocese:
"The exclusion of women from ministry and leadership roles cannot be supported theologically and should be one of the first changes introduced."

Women by virtue of the gift of baptism are as much children of God and heirs to the promise of eternal life as baptised men are, and upon them the promised outpouring of the Holy Spirit applies, 'In the days to come-it is the Lord who speaks-I will pour out My Spirit on all mankind. Their sons and daughters shall prophecy, your young men shall see visions your old men shall dream dreams. Even on the slaves, men and women, in those days, I will pour out My Spirit.' Joel 3:1-2, Acts 2:17-18

The outpouring of the Holy Spirit has a double impact upon us; to make us grow in holiness that we may love God with all of our hearts, minds, soul and strength; and to make us grow in missionary service that we may love our neighbour as ourselves. The purpose of the diversity of charisms that the Holy Spirit gives for missionary service are 'so that the saints together make a unity in the work of service, building up the body of Christ' Eph 4:12

The forms that missionary service takes are full of variety, catechists, healers, hospitality, preaching, teaching, evangelising, intercession, administration, musicianship, works of mercy, service to the poor, service to the sick, discipleship, prophecy, deliverance, miracles, and many others. Of those many forms service in ordained ministry is only one, one that holds the others in unity, but only one out of a vast multiplicity.

If you walk into an average parish you are likely to see women in the music ministry as organists, cantors and choir members; women doing much of the behind the scenes sacristy work (preparing for and cleaning up after Masses, baptisms, funerals etc, ironing vestments and altar linens, flower arranging, making sure the place has enough altar wine, altar breads, charcoal, incense, toilet paper etc), women doing the 1st reading or 2nd reading at Mass, women as part of the welcoming teams, women in the piety stalls, women involved with children's liturgy of the word ;women taking Holy Communion to the sick and house-bound. In an average parish if all the women went on strike things would be very dire indeed. This doesn't even take into account all the 'non-visible-at-Mass' ways that women serve, for example in baptismal preparation classes and sacramental programs for confirmation, penance and first Holy Communion, in RCIA teams (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults) and RCIC teams (Rite of Christian Initiation for Children), on parish councils, in church cleaning teams, as catechists in schools, in counting the collection teams, in folding the parish bulletin teams, in praying the Rosary in common before or after Mass, and in providing food for all the 'bring a plate to share' social events, and in various fund raising events for the upkeep of parish buses and sending the youngsters off to World Youth Day. And that is only some of the 'non-visible-at-Mass' ways that women are serving God and neighbour through their parish communities.

Is this ministry, if you define ministry as service? Yes.
Is it ordained ministry? No.
Are women leading some of these non-ordained ministries? Yes.
Have they stepped up to these roles because the blokes didn't? Probably.

Do they get any real recognition for what they do? Maybe if they have served a long time and then retire (or die) there might be a small token of appreciation given, but otherwise they only get recognition (the negative kind) when they stuff up.

Above and beyond ministry to parish, is the calling of women to minister service in families, as daughters, wives, mothers, grandmothers and aunties. The majority of this is service hidden from public view, for which the fruits take a very long time to manifest. It is as slow and imperceptible as seeds turning into plants. It is full of work that is essential, because it invests in people, but there's nothing outwardly to show for it except that those under your care are still alive, more or less clean, more or less sane, clothed and fed; which is vastly different to men who can point to objective things as the fruits of their labour (houses built, contracts exchanged, machines repaired, holes dug etc). It is as Chesterton says, the call of women to be everything to someone, which balances the call of men to be the same thing (plumber, architect, banker, telescope maker) to everyone.

We do have to ask ourselves sincerely whether our homes are the domestic churches they are called by God to be, or have they become domestic airports where travellers flit in and out on their way to other destinations? If the latter, how to we get back on God's track? How do we stop the devaluation of ministry service in the home, and start publicly valuing it and honouring the self-sacrifice that it requires again?

What did the early Church do with regard to leadership, as defined by decision making? According to Acts 15:5-6 the apostles and elders met together to determine whether it was God's will that the pagan men who became Christians were required to be circumcised. This is the same book of the Bible that specifically mentions that women disciples and the Mother of Jesus were in the upper room praying with the apostles for the outpouring of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. This means that their non-mention in Acts 15:5-6 is significant because the writer of Acts goes to great lengths to name women as often as possible (for example Lydia, Sapphira, Tabitha/Dorcas, Mary the mother of John Mark, Rhoda, Damaris, Priscilla, Phillip's four daughters, Drusilla, Bernice). At the time of Acts 15:5-6 many of those women of the upper room would have still been alive and active in the Jerusalem community. What are we to conclude from this? That either Peter and the apostles based their leadership decision making model on the Jewish model – which was itself biblical, or Jesus had given specific post-Resurrection pre-Ascension instructions to the apostles about this, or both.

Thus the subsequent conclusion is that there is no theological basis for leadership (decision making) in the church for including women. It may offend our modern democratic sympathies, but when it comes to the kingdom of God, the will of God is supreme. We don't have to like it or understand it, but we do have to trust in it and accept it.

A very good resource for the scriptural basis of gender roles is Stephen B. Clark's 'Man and Woman in Christ: An examination of the roles of men and women in the light of Scripture and the Social Sciences'. It is expensive, but comprehensive and worth every penny
https://www.amazon.com/Man-Woman-Christ-Examination-Scripture/dp/0892830840
One of the points he makes is that charisms are given to all, but the size of the arena for the use of those charisms are different between men and women. For women it is more likely to be one on one, or one on few; for men it is likely to be much larger.

What matters is that we are available to God for however He wants to work through us. A story, the origins of which I have been as yet unable to remember, may make this clearer. It goes something like this: A youth minister was doing preparation for a talk he was going to give at the next youth group meeting. He was really feeling the impetus of the Holy Spirit behind the preparation. But when it came time for the youth group meeting, only one person showed up. Not wanting to waste this great material on one person, he decided to shelve the talk until next time when there should be more youngsters to give it to. However a few days later he heard from other sources a bit of the background to the life of that one person who showed up, and realised that God had prepared that talk specifically for the one youngster that had shown up. This led the youth minister into a time of repentance, and a resolution to always give the talk God had given him to give, no matter if it was only for one. He concluded, sometimes God wants to do everything just to reach the one, and none of us should stand in the way of God's plans, and that the value of what we do in His name doesn't depend on the size of the audience we see but on our obedience to His promptings.

We read in the account of the garden of Eden (Gen 3:1-7) that God had given all the fruit of the trees in the garden for Adam and Eve to eat, all except one of them, and that eating of this forbidden tree would have very bad consequences. You could see in this account an analogy, where the trees are the various ministries of service that are possible, all except the tree of ordained ministry which the woman is instructed not to eat from. As in Eden, this is still a test of trust, love and obedience, and the temptations are many to eat of the forbidden tree. Just as in Eden we have two choices, we can focus on the forbidden tree and sit and mope and complain about the forbidden tree, or we can turn around and look at all the other trees, rejoice and thank God for their goodness and His providence, and perhaps while exploring them find some amazing gifts from God among those other trees that He has hidden for us to seek and find.

St Paul tells us in 1 Cor 12:22 that it is precisely the parts of the body of Christ that seem to be the weakest which are the indispensable ones. You could make the case that the external parts of the body mirror the ministry of men, and that the internal parts of the body mirror the ministry of women, because so much of the ministry of women takes place in hiddenness; cooking, cleaning, nurturing, listening, praying, offering up suffering, consoling etc. A body can still live if it is blind, lame, dumb, hard of hearing, unable to speak or smell, taste, feel or move. But a body cannot live if any of the heart, lungs, stomach, kidneys and intestines fail. So it stands to reason that if you want to destroy the body of Christ, then you work on the women and tempt them away from living out God's plan for them (Feminism). Conversely, if you want the body of Christ to return to health, getting the internal organs to function better is the essential first step. Do this and the rest of the body will get stronger and healthier.

However lest we glorify leadership too much, let us be reminded of Jotham's fable in Judges Chapter 9 of the trees meeting together to elect a king. In that fable the olive tree, the fig tree and the grape vine all refuse the kingship when they realise that to accept leadership they will have to give up the useful things they are actually good at. In the end the thorn bush accepts leadership because it wasn’t positively productive for anything else. Even in our own day we experience that to lead means to surrender the front line work to others, in order to serve the workers in the front lines. If you love the front line work, then you resist 'promotion' to leadership. If God wants to keep His women at the front lines, in hands on personal ministry to others, because that is where they are most effective, who are we to argue?

The only leadership that matters is the leadership of saying our personal Yes to whatever God wills for us. Doing that gives others permission to say their own tentative Yes to God.

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The next blog-post in this cycle will be the final one.
It seems like a good idea to spend some of tomorrow getting the promised printer friendly PDF of the whole cycle into quality shape, rather than rushing the task.
It also seems a good idea to have a single blog-post that contains the links to all the others in the cycle, and maybe a few thoughts about where to from here.

#PlenaryCouncil #PlenaryCouncilTheme6
#OpenToConversionRenewalAndReform
​

In the days between submitting ​my application for membership of the Discernment and Writing Group for Theme 6 and the cut off date for applications it seemed like a very good idea to produce a written answer to at least one of the questions that kept cropping up in the Listening phase submissions. After all, if I were on the other side of the fence sorting through applications and interviewing short listed people, I would want to know where they stood on these issues and whether they had thought them through.

So here is the first one I prepared. I began a second one, and hope to finish it tomorrow. 

Example of a written response to a Plenary Council Theme 6 submission

Excerpt from a parishioner in Parramatta Diocese:
"We can no longer have women as second or third class citizens in our church. They could become priests in our church and minister to the community."

Women by virtue of the gift of baptism are as much children of God and heirs to the promise of eternal life as baptised men are. Women are called to holiness and mission through baptism as much as men are. For the times we have not proclaimed this truth, as a church we beg forgiveness.

Through baptism and confirmation the charisms of the Holy Spirit are poured out upon the children of God for the building up of the kingdom of God. It is the responsibility of leadership in the church to notice, encourage, develop and co-ordinate the people upon whom the Holy Spirit has given charisms. For the times we have failed to this, as a church we beg forgiveness.

The vast majority of the miracles of Jesus, and the use of the charisms of the Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles (for the latter: 39/40), did not take place in the synagogue or temple but in the market squares, in homes, and while travelling. For the times that we have placed pre-eminence on what takes place inside church buildings, and neglected to celebrate how God is using His sons and daughters outside the church buildings in works of mercy, works of evangelism, works of healing, works of teaching, works of deliverance, works of intercession etc, as a church we beg forgiveness.

Family is important to God. The vocation of father and the vocation of mother have eternal consequences in the lives of their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. The ministry of father and mother in the life of a child has a far greater impact than any priest will ever have. For the times that we have not balanced the kudos we give to those to go into full time church ministry with the kudos given to the full time ministry of mother and father, as a church we beg forgiveness.

(The 2011 National Faith Life Survey reported that for Catholic newcomers the most significant people in their lives to show them what faith is about were mothers 77% fathers 48% followed by grandparents/spouses/other family all at 16% and teachers, friends, clergy, chaplains at lower levels.)

Secular life is important to God. The good a holy politician, a holy detective, a holy surgeon, a holy football coach, a holy artist, a holy novelist, a holy retailer, a holy hairdresser can do is incalculable, and can often have a longer positive impact than 40 years of priestly preaching can have. For the times that we have not balanced the kudos we give to those who go into full time ministry with the kudos given to those called to holiness in secular vocations, as a church we beg forgiveness.
https://www.thykingdomcome.global/resources/day-3-thanks-faith-frontline-emergency-service-workers-power-prayer-work

Whether male or female, you are important to God, and the calling He has placed upon your life cannot be filled by anyone else. Your value does not depend upon how visible your ministry is to others. Your value does not depend on how much decision making power and influence you have. Your value depends upon the quality of your 'Yes' in responding to God's call and your fidelity to that call through both good times and bad times. For the times we have not proclaimed this truth, as a church we beg forgiveness.

Parents know that at times the most loving thing to do is to set boundaries and to say 'no' to their children for the greater good of the whole family. To love like this is not an easy thing to do. More than once the Church has given this loving 'no' to the request for women priests. You can read the official documents Ordinatio Sacerdotis and Inter Insigniores below.

The argument goes something like this: despite surrounding cultures in Old and New Testament times having women priests, the priests of the Temple were male, and the apostles Jesus conferred ordination as priests upon were male. Jesus had extraordinary women in His life, His mother Mary, Martha, Mary Magdalene and others who never betrayed Him and who stood faithfully at His Cross, and yet He did not ordain them as priests. We see in this the will of God, and we must accept it as being an important element in His salvific plan.

http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1994/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_19940522_ordinatio-sacerdotalis.html 
​
http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_19761015_inter-insigniores_en.html

In the end what matters is helping each other get to heaven. If you compare the numbers of people converted through Mary, the mother of Jesus, to the numbers of people converted through the apostles, Mary is way out in front and she was never ordained a priest.

Caroline Chisholm, St Mary of the Cross McKillop, Eileen O'Connor, Dorothy Day, Mother Angelica of EWTN, Flannery O'Connor, St Edith Stein, Edel Quinn, Pauline Jaricot, St Mother Teresa of Calcutta, St Gianna Beretta Molla, St Therese of Lisieux, Gabrielle Bossis, Bl Susanna Cabioie are women with whom God has done great things, as lay women and as religious. In their lives much inspiration can be found.
 
Others are not household names, but the mother of St John XXIII, the mother of Archbishop Fulton Sheen, the mother of Archbishop Polding, the mother of Frederic Ozanam lived extraordinarily fruitful lives for God.

A loving parent will understand that the child who asks for lollies is actually hungry, and will steer the child away from the lollies towards food with high nutrition, and will ride out the protests until the child eventually develops a taste and hunger for what is beneficial. In the Apostolic Letter Mulieris Dignitatem by St John Paul II is an uplifting vision of the role of women in God's plan of salvation. No woman who reads it will ever feel like a second or third class citizen again.

http://w2.vatican.va/content/john-paul-ii/en/apost_letters/1988/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_19880815_mulieris-dignitatem.html

From time to time movements spring up, and it takes careful discernment to work out whether they are movements of the Holy Spirit, movements of the Holy Spirit that got hijacked by the enemy, movements of the enemy or movements of the enemy that got hijacked by the Holy Spirit.

For example in hindsight and with the benefit of Humanae Vitae we can see that the push for oral contraceptives was not of God and of great detriment to humanity. The dissatisfaction with the first English translation of the Mass has eventually given us a much better translation that is slowly bearing good fruit. The #MeToo movement has brought a lot of necessary things into the light, but it has been hijacked whenever false accusations have been made.

http://w2.vatican.va/content/paul-vi/en/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae.html

The movement of women into more visible arenas of ministry may be a work of God, but it is still too jumbled up with various ideologies for definitive discernment to be made. We can hope and pray that the Holy Spirit hijacks this one.

G. K. Chesterton argued that there were four things wrong with the world to the detriment of family: big business, big government, public education and feminism.

For a modern analysis of feminism Mary Pride's 'The Way Home: Beyond Feminism Back to Reality' is recommended reading:
https://www.amazon.com/Way-Home-Beyond-Feminism-Reality/dp/1453699309  

The push for equal pay for equal work had positives, but it did stop employers being able to pay the fathers of families more than single women, the net result of which is both parents needing to be in the workforce to provide for a family.

The push for voting rights for women had positives, but it has ended up with us voting as individuals, whereas in former times a man voted with the understanding that he was voting as the representative of his family and for the welfare of his family.

We currently see a push for women to be directly included in the decision making processes of the Church.

One reason given is that it would prevent further child abuse. @noplaceforsheep has this response: 'The notion that more women in positions of authority in churches will somehow prevent child sexual abuse is not borne out by the experience of victims in non-institutional and familial settings. There are women aplenty in these settings, mothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, friends, grandmothers, the majority of whom are unable or unwilling, for very many complex reasons, to prevent a child being sexually abused. The notion that parachuting women into middle management in the churches will stop any paedophile in his tracks is insultingly ludicrous. It will not.'

Interviews to obtain the input of mothers of the victims of child sexual abuse will be needed, as by and large their stories have not yet been told.

To understand the next counter argument, reading 'Dressing with Dignity' by Colleen Hammond is necessary:
https://www.amazon.com/Dressing-Dignity-Colleen-Hammond/dp/0895558009

In it she makes the valid point that women are unaware of how frequently a man's thoughts are occupied by sex. One of her conclusions is that if women decide to dress modestly then there will be more space in the thought lives of men to think of God and to receive the grace of conversion. By and large women have a blind-spot about this, and need to talk to a man they trust who can verify the truth of this argument to them.

When you introduce the presence of a woman into the deliberations of a group of men, two things happen. The presence of the woman is distracting: those pesky thoughts of sex arise. The men enter into riskier and more competitive behaviour to attract her attention and approval. Neither assists the deliberations of a group of men on weighty matters.

The Church is a theocracy, and not a democracy. Our popular world view of 'no regulation without representation' does not apply. In biblical Israel decisions were made with an anointed leader and the heads of tribes and clans, and elders of the people. Each one represented and made decisions on behalf of his whole tribe, clan or family or village as the situation required. https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/elder

When Jesus comes along we have the new Israel of God, with the Apostles symbolically representing the 12 tribes as heads of those tribes. With the bishops as successors to the Apostles, they represent each diocese and speak for each diocese just like the heads of tribes and clans did. There is a biblical basis for this.

Even a Mother Superior or Abbess does not represent as many people as a bishop does.

But only a fool does not consult with his people before he goes to represent them in decision making, the ones he trusts are close to God and have experience and insight into the situations under discussion. In the history of the Church whenever God raises up men and women of outstanding wisdom and holiness, you see bishops making their way to consult them. St Hilda of Whitby, Marthe Robin, Blessed Anna Maria Taigi, St Hildegard of Bingen are some of the women in those ranks, St Bernard of Clairvaux, St Martin de Porres, St Nicholas of Flue, St Charles of Sezze are some of the men in those ranks.

If we took this whole idea that family is important to God, and that God's preferred method is for leaders to seek counsel from elders, then that has ramifications for parish councils and similar bodies. Currently when it comes to parish councils there is an emphasis on people volunteering and seeking a demographic microcosm of the parish in the resulting parish council. What if, instead, membership was for those whom the community recognised as elders because they were men with long standing roots in the community, whose children had all kept the faith, and due to grandchildren were now leaders of a considerable tribe. It would keep to the biblical principle, that if you are faithful in smaller things (family) then God will trust you with greater things (community) and would provide motivation for men of all ages to take a more active interest in the formation of their children. The beauty of such a model is that it makes someone qualified to be an elder, and potential elders of the future, easy to spot.

Studies have shown that the highest predictor for the faith outcomes for a child is the faith level of the father. If the father takes the things of God seriously, so will his children. If the father is ambivalent about the things of God, then his children will be so too.
https://www.christianpost.com/news/fathers-key-to-their-childrens-faith.html

Which is better, to be a hero, or to be a hero maker?  Hero Maker by Dave Ferguson explores this question. 'Everyone wants to be a hero. Yet only a few understand the power in being a hero maker.' 'A hero maker is a leader who shifts from being the hero to making others the hero in God's unfolding story.'

Every woman, through physical maternity and/or spiritual maternity, has the raw material to be a hero maker. That is where her gifts and talents can really shine, even if they may not bear visible fruit in her children and spiritual children until those children and spiritual children are much older. Any woman like Priscilla who sees the increased potential a preacher like Apollo could have, and sets about investing the time and energy and prayers of her family to making that happen, is a hero maker (Acts 18:26). Likewise, who can measure the impact of St Hilda of Whitby into whose care God entrusted the formation of five future bishops?

'Vive la difference!' God has created us uniquely as men and women, with distinct inbuilt differences designed for our mutual enrichment. It is only our differences that we have to offer in our relationships. It is our differences that make teamwork worthwhile, because tasks can be assigned to the relative strengths of the team members. If a team needs to accomplish task A and task B, and both team members are only good at task A, they will have a lesser outcome that if one team member is good at task A and the other is good at task B. The gifts proper to masculinity and femininity matter. A man acting like a woman and a woman acting like a man is beneficial to no one.

We are naturally attracted to differences not to similarities. It can be easier to see why differences are attractive from a tutorial in what makes art more visually interesting, exemplified in the work of Nicholas Wilson and his Art2Life video tutorials eg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAGhJZ70JSY

In March 2019 Bishop Barron and Jordan B. Petersen had a wide ranging conversation that was recorded: https://www.wordonfire.org/peterson/
Of the many things they spoke of, two of them stand out:
The first is Bishop Barron talking about the necessity of right order for right worship, and when there is right worship the blessing of God flows. It means that getting the whole priesthood-laity, leadership-decision making, male-female, family relationship stuff right, and getting it right God's way, really matters.
The second is Jordan B. Petersen speaking about the antipathy his daughter is facing on many fronts because she has a desire to become a wife and mother. This is a huge eye-opener to how far we have fallen from the command of God 'to be fruitful and multiply' and to how anti-family our western world has become. This is the real battlefield.

The following is not an easy article to read due to the events it describes, but it is an accurate description of what many women have lived through and are living through:
https://www.mamamia.com.au/losing-virginity-at-14/

It is women like this that we as a Church need to reach with the Gospel. Seeking God's wisdom in how to do this will be crucial, but one thing is clear; only other women will be able to get through to them, and only women will be able to accompany them through the healing and forgiveness process. This is another aspect of the real battlefield.

The flip-side is that there are many men that we need to reach with a radical call to repentance.

The final word belongs to St John Paul II:
'The personal resources of femininity are certainly no less than the resources of masculinity: they are merely different. Hence a woman, as well as a man, must understand her "fulfilment" as a person, her dignity and vocation, on the basis of these resources, according to the richness of the femininity which she received on the day of creation and which she inherits as an expression of the "image and likeness of God" that is specifically hers.' Mulieris Dignitatem 10e

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The next blog-post in this cycle will be the second of two sample answers to questions raised in the submissions to the Listening phase of the Plenary Council for Theme 6: Open to Conversion, Renewal and Reform.
#PlenaryCouncil #PlenaryCouncilTheme6

​At the very end of the cycle I will put it all together in a printer friendly PDF.

This is the resource material I had collected for the expected Topics of Controversy for Theme 6. Much of it has to do with the role of women in the Church, which probably deserves a whole theme on its own - although whether it could be done justice in so short a time frame as the Plenary Council has is questionable.

I seem to have collected more in the way of counter arguments to popular thought, than supporting arguments, but that might be a good thing, since some of these counter arguments haven't crossed our minds in decades. 

The resource material should be useful for choosing people to interview and lines of inquiry for research, and providing common language to talk about these ideas.

NB. I have not repeated the relevant material from the pre-requisite reading list which you can find here 

Topics of Controversy

https://www.smh.com.au/opinion/celibacy-isnt-the-cause-of-sexual-abuse-20160725-gqd7g4.html
25 July 2016 Jack Green
This is a very useful article for developing responses to the requests for married clergy as an antidote to child sexual abuse.

https://www.mercatornet.com/above/view/clerical-sex-abuse-in-australia-can-you-believe-the-statistics/19332  
9 Feb 2017  Michael Cook
A rare and detailed look at the Royal Commission's statistics on child sexual abuse in the Catholic Church, showing that it was a much wider problem than priests only. It is actually a family problem, and priests come from families.

https://thembeforeus.com/marriage-isnt-about-god/ 
12 Jun 2017 Katy Faust
Therefore, every community throughout history has wrestled with the same problem: 
How do you require of men what biology makes optional? 
Interestingly, nearly every religion has come up with the same answer: society-wide expectations that a man commit to a woman prior to sex and remain committed to her, and only her, throughout his life. And up until the last ten minutes of history, we have all called this “marriage.”
 
'12 Rules For Life' by Jordan B. Peterson, Rule 11, pages 298-299
'Girls will play boys' games, but boys are much more reluctant to play girls' games. This is in part because it is admirable for a girl to win when competing with a boy. It is also OK for her to lose to a boy. For a boy to beat a girl, however, it is often not OK – and just as often, it is even less OK for him to lose. Imagine that a boy and a girl, aged nine, get into a fight. Just for engaging, the boy is highly suspect. If he wins, he's pathetic. If he loses – well, his life might as well be over. Beat up by a girl.
Girls can win by winning in their own hierarchy – by being good at what girls value, as girls. They can add to this victory by winning in the boys' hierarchy. Boys, however, can only win by winning in the male hierarchy. They will lose status, among girls and boys, by being good at what girls value. It costs them in reputation among the boys, and in attractiveness among the girls. Girls aren't attracted to boys who are their friends, even though they might like them, whatever that means. They are attracted to boys who win status contests with other boys. If you're male, however, you just can't hammer a female as hard as you would a male. Boys can't (won't) play truly competitive games with girls. It isn't clear how they can win. As the game turns into a girls' game, therefore, the boys leave.'
Ed. Have we not seen this in action when female altar servers are permitted to serve?
Could this be one of the many reasons why Israel, Jesus and Catholicism have restricted priesthood to men?
 
https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/other-topics/cultural-climate-change.html
Sep 2017 Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks
This is an acutely perceptive analysis of modern culture, including the following gem:
'Having children or raising them involves enormous sacrifice of time, money, effort and energy. Religious people understand the concept of sacrifice.  We live by it.  It's part of our lives.  But people in a secular, consumerist, individualist culture find it much harder to live by sacrifice.  Nothing in the culture says sacrifice, and throughout history that is the reason why when a culture begins to lose its faith, its birth rate starts to decline.  This is not just happening now.  It has happened throughout history.  It happened in Ancient Greece in the second century BCE.  It happened in Ancient Rome.  It happened in Renaissance Italy.  The people who've done the research say there is no case on record in which a secular society has been able to maintain its birth rates.  Within a century, every society, when it becomes secularised, starts to decline demographically.  So the 21st century is going to be more religious than the 20th century even if not one person changes his or her mind from being non-religious to religious.  It will happen for a simple reason: throughout the world today the more religious you are, the more children you have.' 

https://noplaceforsheep.com/2017/12/17/notes-from-an-expert-survivor/
17 Dec 2017  @noplaceforsheep
The claim that celibacy is an indicator of paedophilia comes about as a result of the Catholic church winning hands down in the numbers of sexual abusers in institutions. People are, quite reasonably, searching for explanations and the most glaring difference between the Catholic church and other institutions is its demand that its priests are celibate. This demand, it is argued, leads to priests sexually abusing children because they have no other outlet for their needs. However. Hundreds of thousands of children are sexually abused in non-institutional settings, and by members of their families and family friends. The overwhelming majority of the male abusers in such situations have access to adult sexual partners, and they are not celibate. It is gravely misleading to peddle the suggestion that celibacy is an indicator of or a precursor to the sexual abuse of children. The Catholic church and its celibacy protocols enable paedophiles to enact their fantasies, however, they do not cause paedophilia.
Likewise, the notion that more women in positions of authority in churches will somehow prevent child sexual abuse is not borne out by the experience of victims in non-institutional and familial settings. There are women aplenty in these settings, mothers, sisters, aunts, cousins, friends, grandmothers, the majority of whom are unable or unwilling, for very many complex reasons, to prevent a child being sexually abused. The notion that parachuting women into middle management in the churches will stop any paedophile in his tracks is insultingly ludicrous. It will not.

https://www.firstthings.com/web-exclusives/2018/04/from-the-heart-of-a-young-father
18 Apr 2018 Archbishop Charles J. Chaput, excerpt from letter by a young father:
'We crave the truth, no matter how blunt or difficult it is for us to swallow or for the shepherds of our flock to teach. Our culture is roiled in confusion concerning the basic tenets of human nature: From a very young age, we’re deluged with propaganda that distorts basic scientific truths about gender, paints virtue and chivalry as “toxic masculinity,” denigrates the family, and desecrates the nature of sex and its fruits, especially the unborn child. We urgently need the Church’s clarity and authoritative guidance on issues like abortion, homosexuality, gender dysphoria, the indissolubility of matrimony, the four last things, and the consequences of contraception (moral, anthropological, and abortifacient). My generation has never, or rarely, heard these truths winsomely taught in the parishes. Instead, we hear most forcefully and frequently from our bishops' conference and our dioceses regarding the federal budget, border policy, net neutrality, gun control, and the environment.'

https://www.patheos.com/blogs/throughcatholiclenses/2018/12/hiding-priestly-misconduct-makes-problems-worse-2-anonymous-priests-share-their-experience/
18 Dec 2018 Fr Matthew L Schneider LC
Excellent analysis on why serious priestly misconduct gets covered up:
'Some time ago, I was in a similar situation and discussed it with a friend who had also found himself tied into an abusive situation in his place of employment. He laughed and said, “You know what? You’ve got only three choices: 1. Tell them exactly what’s wrong. Shout it from the rooftops and demand change and prepare to be crucified 2. Smile, resign and walk away. 3. Accept your lot. Put up and shut up.”'

https://www.pbc2019.org/fileadmin/user_upload/presentations/23feb/23_Feb_3_Valentina_Alazraki_PBC_ING.pdf 
23 Feb 2019 Valentina Alazraki
Her extraordinary analysis:
As a journalist, as a woman and mother, I would like to tell you that we think abusing a minor is as contemptible as is covering up the abuse. And you know better than I that abuses have been covered up systematically, from the ground up. I think you should be aware that the more you cover up, the more you play ostrich, fail to inform the mass media and thus, the faithful and public opinion, the greater the scandal will be. If someone has a tumour, it is not cured by hiding it from one’s family or friends; silence will not make it heal; in the end it will be the most highly recommended treatments that will prevent metastasis and lead to healing. Communicating is a fundamental duty because, if you fail to do so you automatically become complicit with the abusers. By not providing the information that could prevent these people from committing further abuse, you are not giving the children, young people and their families the tools to defend themselves against new crimes.
I think it would be healthier, more positive and more helpful if the Church were the first to provide information, in a proactive and not reactive way, as normally happens. You should not wait to respond to legitimate questions from the press (or from the people, your people) when a journalistic investigation uncovers a case. In the age we live in, it is very difficult to hide a secret…. Report things when you know them. Of course, it will not be pleasant, but it is the only way, if you want us to believe you when you say “from now on we will no longer tolerate cover-ups”.  
If the accusation is shown to be credible, you must provide information about the ongoing processes, about what you are doing; you must say that you have removed the guilty party from his parish or from where he was practicing; you must report it yourselves, both in the dioceses and in the Vatican. At times, the Bulletin of the Holy See Press Office provides information about a resignation without explaining the reasons. There are priests who have gone immediately to inform the faithful that they were ill and not that they were leaving because they had committed abuse. I think that the news about the resignation of a priest who has committed abuse should be released with clarity, in an explicit way.

Excerpt from Instagram post from @jenny-uebbing around 25 Jul 2019
'I actually think it is up to us, the laity, to rise up to meet the biggest challenge facing the Church today: a deep and real understanding of God's plan for our sexuality, and a radical turning away from the toxic sexuality embraced by our culture'.

New book, 'Into the Deep: An unlikely Catholic conversion' by Abigail Rine Fayale
https://www.amazon.com/Into-Deep-Unlikely-Catholic-Conversion/dp/1532605013
And an interview with her about her conversion:
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2019/07/18/from-evangelicalism-to-feminism-to-catholicism-a-conversation-with-abigail-favale/
Now let me address the second accusation: that Catholicism is patriarchal. I grew up in a patriarchal religious setting, as mentioned above, where the feminine elements of Christianity were more or less blotted out. Feminist Christianity, in many ways, is the inverse twin of this approach; it seeks to root out and upend what is masculine, reading it as marked by domination. The Catholic cosmos, in contrast to both of these, is cosmos of harmonious synergy—masculine and feminine entwined together in fruitful spiritual union. When feminists look at Catholicism from outside, they look through the lens of temporal power, and all they see is a male priesthood and hierarchy, mistakenly thinking that is the Church. They see Mary as a passive, docile symbol, rather than the Mother of God, the representative human being and first Christian, who crushes the serpent underfoot. They see the male priest at the altar and overlook the gathered women who are living icons of Christ’s body and bride, a counterpart to the priestly iconography of the bridegroom. They misinterpret courageous female saints like Hildegard of Bingen and Catherine of Siena as rebels, rather than faithful daughters (and Doctors) of the Church. They disregard completely the profound insights on the question of gender from twentieth-century Catholic writers. I completed a doctorate in contemporary feminist theory and women’s writing and yet never encountered writers like Edith Stein, Prudence Allen, Adrienne von Speyr, Gertrud von le Fort, and John Paul II, because their contributions are completely ignored in the discipline of women’s studies. There, only one kind of conversation is allowed, and it happens in an echo chamber.
I first became a feminist because I was seeking an answer to this question: what is the sacred meaning of womanhood? Ironically, what I found within feminism was deep ambivalence toward the very concept of womanhood. I found a much more compelling answer in Catholicism. I have never had my dignity and purpose as a woman so celebrated and affirmed than under the mantle of Holy Mother Church.

Example of ministry of lay woman, formerly a prisoner in China
https://www.ncronline.org/news/people/once-imprisoned-chinese-woman-now-guides-others-catholic-faith 

https://www.amazon.com/Women-Rise-Up-Fierce-Generation-ebook/dp/B07F3BH55L
This book by Cindy Jacobs is about pathways for women gifted with charisms from God on more-than-ordinary levels and what light scripture gives to those pathways. Not everyone is called on that path, and it comes at a high cost. The method of exegesis used, 'interpret obscure scripture passages in the light of clear scripture passages', is of concern because very few people will agree on what is clear and what is obscure, so treat the conclusions with caution especially conclusions based on the interpretation on the meaning of a single word or name. The safeguarding measures she recommends are very good and of benefit to any woman who travels for speaking engagements.
 
An edited account of Fr Finet's first visit in Feb 1936 to Venerable Marthe Robin
from page 76 of Marthe Robin: The Cross and the Joy by Fr Raymond Peyret
https://www.amazon.com/Marthe-Robin-Cross-Raymond-Peyret/dp/081890464X
'She told me about the great events that were going to take place, some of which would be very bad, others very good. In particular she said there would be a New Pentecost of Love, that the Church would be renewed by an apostolate of the laity, even saying that the laity were going to play a very important role in the Church, many would be called to be Apostles. She said that the Church was going to be totally rejuvenated, and that there would be many methods for formation of the laity, but outstanding among them would be Foyers of Light, Charity and Love. https://www.lesfoyersdecharite.com/en/
 
Edited from the Introduction to 'The Way Home: Beyond Feminism Back to Reality' by Mary Pride https://www.amazon.com/Way-Home-Beyond-Feminism-Reality/dp/1453699309
'Feminism is self-consistent; the Christianity of the 1950s wasn't. Feminists had a plan for women; Christians didn't. Motherhood in the 1950s had been reduced to a five or ten year span, lasting until the youngest of the two or three 'planned' children was in kindergarten. With an empty house full of labour-saving devices and a family which no longer seemed to need her, it was understandable that a woman felt trapped at home. All the action seemed to be out there in the men's world, while she felt bored and useless. The sad truth is that the 'traditional' role which feminists attacked had already lost its scriptural fullness. Christian women were staying home out of habit, not out of conviction. The Christian churches had actually paved the way for feminism to succeed. Denominations endorsed family planning and 'therapeutic' abortion. Church meetings were scheduled for every night of the week, giving out a clear message that family life was unimportant. Ministry was considered more worthwhile than motherhood, as missionaries were expected to leave their children in boarding schools as a matter of course. Church life centred on the church building, not the home. Even in the church building, children were whisked out of sight into the nursery, children's church, and their own Sunday school program. At every turn Christian women found that their biological, economic and social roles were considered worthless. Role obliteration is the coming thing in evangelical, and even fundamentalist, circles. All because two or more generations have grown up and married without ever hearing that the Bible teaches a distinct role for women which is different from that of a man and just as important. We are not called by God to stay home, or to sit at home, but to work at home! Homeworking is a way to take back control of education health care, agriculture, social welfare, business, housing, morality, and evangelism from the faceless institutions to which we have surrendered them. Homeworking, like feminism, is a total lifestyle. The difference is that homeworking produces stable homes, growing churches, and children who are Christian leaders. Every great fire starts with one spark. It is my hope and prayer that this book will be the 'spark' which leads Christian women to fall in love with their families again and to determine to be working wives – in the home!'

And a short excerpt from Chapter 1 of 'The Way Home': The Great Con Game
'What else do the 'biblical' feminists want? Ordination for women, of course – which oddly enough is coupled in their minds with careers for wives. 'If a woman has been called and gifted by God to be a pastor or a priest,' writes Virginia Mollenkott in 'Women, men and the Bible', 'it is a fearful thing for the organised church to block her from that ministry. And if a Christian woman has been called and gifted for some career outside the home, and her husband blocks her by refusing to assist with the care of their mutual home and their mutual children, isn't he frustrating the work of the Holy Spirit?' Mollenkott elsewhere makes it clear that if a husband refuses staunchly to become Mommy's little helper, the wife has a right to make the 'difficult decision' to 'abandon the relationship in search of a more affirming lifestyle.' So careerism justifies divorce of an uncooperative husband. Children, sex roles, biblical church government, and now marriage itself are all targets of the 'harmless' evangelical feminist movement. Stop and think calmly about this for a minute. We are being asked to embrace a lifestyle which unbelievers would have considered perverted only forty years ago. We are being asked to kill our babies, endorse homosexuality, nag our husbands to do our job so we can do theirs – under threat of divorce – and all in the name of Christ!'
 
An excerpt from 'What's Wrong With The World' by G.K.Chesterton, Chapter 3 of Part 2: The Emancipation of Domesticity
https://www.amazon.com/Whats-Wrong-World-G-Chesterton/dp/1533696632
'Supposing it to be conceded that humanity has acted at least not unnaturally in dividing itself into two halves, respectively typifying the ideals of special talent and general sanity (since they are genuinely difficult to combine completely in one mind), it is not difficult to see why the line of cleavage has followed the line of sex, or why the female became the emblem of the universal and the male of the special and superior. Two gigantic facts of nature fixed it thus: first, that the woman who frequently fulfilled her functions literally could not be specially prominent in experiment and adventure; and second, that the same natural operation surrounded her with very young children, who require to be taught not so much anything as everything. Babies need not to be taught a trade, but to be introduced to a world. To put the matter shortly, woman is generally shut up in a house with a human being at a time when he asks all the questions that there are, and some that there aren't. It would be odd if she retained any of the narrowness of a specialist. Now if anyone says that this duty of general enlightenment is in itself too exacting and oppressive, I can understand the view. I can only answer that our race has thought it worthwhile to cast this burden on women in order to keep common-sense in the world. But when people begin to talk about this domestic duty as not merely difficult but trivial and dreary, I simply give up the question. For I cannot with the utmost energy of imagination conceive what they mean. When domesticity is called drudgery, all the difficulty arises from a double meaning in the word. If drudgery only means dreadfully hard work, I admit the woman drudges in the home, as a man might drudge at the Cathedral of Amiens or drudge behind a gun at Trafalgar. But if it means that the hard work is more heavy because it is trifling, colourless and of small import to the soul, then as I say, I give it up; I do not know what the words mean. To be Queen Elizabeth within a definite area, deciding sales, banquets, labours and holidays; to be Whiteley within a certain area, providing toys, boots, sheets, cakes and books, to be Aristotle within a certain area, teaching morals, manners, theology, and hygiene; I can understand how this might exhaust the mind, but I cannot imagine how it could narrow it. How can it be a large career to tell other people's children about the Rule of Three, and a small career to tell one's own children about the universe? How can it be broad to be the same thing to everyone, and narrow to be everything to someone? No; a woman's function is laborious, but because it is gigantic, not because it is minute. I will pity Mrs. Jones for the hugeness of her task; I will never pity her for its smallness.'

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The next blog-post in this cycle will be the first of two sample answers to questions raised in the submissions to the Listening phase of the Plenary Council for Theme 6: Open to Conversion, Renewal and Reform.
#PlenaryCouncil #PlenaryCouncilTheme6

​At the very end of the cycle I will put it all together in a printer friendly PDF.