The Gospel of Mark is more like a parable than a report: it is pithy and symbolic and challenging. It provokes engagement rather than offering pat conclusions. It begins with a “voice crying out in the wilderness,” and ends with silence fleeing the empty tomb. It is “a finger pointing to the moon” of God’s mystery in Jesus.
Matthew is writing for a Jewish audience. Jesus was born into a Jewish society that had a strong patriarchal nature. Surprisingly he included women in his genealogy. There are five women included in the lineage of Jesus, including Mary, the mother of Jesus. Women are often unnamed in the Scriptures; however, Mathew names three of them: Tamar, Rahab, and Ruth. The mother of Solomon, Bathsheba, is not named.
As part of our commemoration of Black Catholic History Month, we share this story of two Sisters of Mercy — Sister Larretta Elizabeth Rivera-Williams and Sister Boreta Singleton.
By Sister Eileen Dooling – When considering the offer to write this blog, it dawned on me how little I knew about Saint Francis: a wild youth, disowning his father and his inheritance, conversing with a wolf and surrounded by birds. There had to be more than sentimental stories to have such a Franciscan legacy and a popularity among the people. And so began my homework!
The records we have of the long life of Hildegard of Bingen (1098-1179) defy the term “dark ages.” This German Benedictine abbess lived to be 81, despite many illnesses. According to well-preserved records, she was a visionary, a theologian, architect, artist, musician, scientist, environmentalist, homilist, letter writer, feminist and activist. She was acclaimed a saint in the years after her death, but was not formally canonized and declared a Doctor of the Church until 2012, by the German-born Pope Benedict XVI, formerly Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger.