My "Why"

I have found that a common question in an experience like this one is "why are you here?" As in, "Why Rome? Why now? Why talk about women deacons?"

And while there is no definite or universal answer to any of these questions, I have learned the impact of personal witness. There is a profound power in saying "I am intentionally present here, and this is why. This is why this matters to me."

There is such tangible joy in hearing other people's witness, as there is in sharing one's own. As I begin talking about my experiences in Rome, I want to share my own witness, my why.

I am, as they say, a "cradle Catholic." As a child, I attended Mass every Sunday, prayed the rosary when I couldn't sleep, and highlighted verses in my illustrated Bible. I loved the idea of a faith community, but it remained a fairly abstract concept.

It wasn’t until I got to college that I really got to know the women who would revolutionize my understanding of faith and of church. God led me to a true relationship with Him through my relationships with people. They were religious sisters and lay women, young and old, from all over the world and all walks of life. They were the most genuinely holy people I had ever met, and I only had to spend a few minutes with them to feel the movement of the Holy Spirit. These women were the embodiment of service, empowerment, and accompaniment. In everything but name, they were deacons. 

I believe that God calls each person to holiness in a way that is completely unique to their life, their circumstance, and their heart. I have known so many women who have felt that their innate, God-given call to serve, to preach, and to minister has not been recognized by the institutional Church. And I join them in the inherent grief of this experience.

Without my relationships with these diaconal women, I would not know God in the concrete, tangible way I do today. And I know that there are so many others who would say the same. I know that women are meant to be deacons because I know women who are deacons- just without the Church’s recognition of their gifts.

The Synod brings me so much hope for the future of the Church, a Church which embraces the call of each person and stands in radical solidarity with those on the margins. Synodality asks us to imagine what it would look like to fully embrace our call to be Christ on Earth. I believe a step in that journey is recognizing the gifts of these women who have accompanied and ministered to so many. Not only are diaconal women all over the world ready to say yes to this call - they already are saying yes, and they have been for a long time.