We Are Church Intl.

We Are Church Zoom Liturgy - 9 August 2025

Reflections on the Readings from across the world

with grateful thanks to Rachael for taking the notes

Leader: With a view to shaping our future together, we could now share with each other: how would I like to be led and guided, and how would I want to exercise leadership that serves people, not least in a sustainable church community?

Sharing:

I am moved by the words 'wisdom, compassion and justice' which seem to be absent in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Because when it comes to issues like abortion, divorce, rape, etc, it is the woman who has to carry the burden and effects of the crime, while men go scot-free. Our Catholic laws need to be updated from the perspective of compassion and justice for ALL!

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I felt challenged by the readings. I remember a documentary on BBC of a survey on businesses about whether men or women make better leaders? The response was that when there was a working relationship between men and women in a business, they had the best overall results. Empathetic leadership styles are significantly more successful. People with different backgrounds but are open to sharing and listening to other people are where there are best results in businesses.

Leadership should be one of service. Not authoritative as it is in the Church.

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Young people in India have to do a 'Marriage Preparation Course' in Church before marriage. A Friend's daughter noticed that the teachings in the courses reflect an ideology as ancient as from the time of Adam and Eve. Their teachings do not match with our status today. 3 of my friends committed suicide last year in class, because the do not find the tools to equip them to deal with issues of today.

Why does theology promote patriarchal lifestyle as standard?

For me, theology changes everyday because I am changing everyday.

We are stuck in the past with the theology of the past.

Among youth aged 19 & 21, there were 2 suicides in my diocese. This is disheartening.

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I feel a recognition of authority.

Jesus was speaking with authority - people recognise the depth of his humanity and personality. In school some teachers can captivate a classroom, while others cannot control the discipline in their class. Leadership is part of personal authority. This can be learned by deep personal, internal life. This should be recognised among us.

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Integrity is a very important part of any form of authority. Jesus lived what he taught. He was the person who appeared as he is. I think of the leaders we have, whom we have elected - they lack integrity and realisation of human rights and commitment to common good, but the reality is that they are buried in corruption and greed and self-promotion. And a large amount of hypocrisy. We are suffering from lack of integrity.

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Many years ago, I applied to work as a nurse. The interviews showed that the interviewee was the lowest rung, and the Matron was the authority. We had to walk with hands behind our backs, and walk in pairs. I didn't like that leadership style. When I walked into another hospital in Western London, the Matron came up to me, shook my hand, introduced herself, invited me to sit down and we had a chat. I chose that hospital, because that humility and courtesy flowed into the hospital. We were expected not only to clean up, but also talk to people and share your presence. We had lots of patients who passed, and nurses didn't just go off duty - they stayed with dying patients. I saw true leadership there. It is sad other hospitals could not follow suit.

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Leadership today is all about power. Whether in church (clericalism) or in countries. It is about power and lording it over other people. Jesus showed us a leadership of servitude. The Church has failed to propagate that kind of leadership. Sadly being Catholic today is being seen in churches, saying prayers, and going to Mass. We need to come back to the teaching of service to people.

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The history of our church bears witness of exercising authority of worldly criteria. Without clear reflection of what happens in life. Without reflection of the message of the Gospel. I dream of a church of Magdalene, based on proclaiming the Gospel based on service. But the Church is based on human communities, and these are controlled by power. This power is taboo. Synodal documents speak about authority, but not about power. We have to discuss this theme - it is central - of decision making and decision taking, is so important in the Church. At the end of this synodal process must lead us to process what is the synodal way of making or taking decisions together.

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I thought about how we practice synodality. We have a synodality controlled by clerics. We have to understand which path we will take into the future - the one with the teaching of Jesus? This is missing in synodality and we have to ask about it always.

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Summarise it in one word: EQUALITY.

For women

for laity

for lgbtqia

for married people.

We have a pyramidal structure, built for centuries that needs to be changed. Francis took the initial steps, but this needs to move faster.

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I am thinking of a way of trying to do it in WAC. We encourage each other to speak our truth and love. We share our thoughts. A week went by with my family - we had a lot of conversation, dialogue, and a lot of listening! And it was lovely! Especially with my nephew (young people). I think we CAN get that with certain groups, where you are not an authority, and understand how others are feeling. Encourage it, rather than discourage it with a heavy hand. That's what Jesus did - he walked among people, chatting to them, eating with them, seeing the people on the margins and calling them in.

I think all these readings are wonderful. They all talk about service, and this is how we get energised and happy. I think it is possible, but is not happening at the top levels, but is happening at lower, intimate levels. We don't have THIS kind of conversation in any of the Churches like we have here. We are not invited to the conversation. It won't happen from the top, but from the bottom.

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Our priests are at a loss as they do not talk to one another. They don't have friends within and outside the priesthood. We had a course on Pastoral theology (2 years), and we followed the whole curriculum for 6 years in preparation of ordination. There were lovely friendships that grew out of it. But in the parishes, that isn't there anymore. There is no conversation. And until there is real conversation other than 'good morning father' there will be no change. I call the priest by name, and the opposition to that didn't come from the priest himself but the older, educated people of the parish! The priests are NOT HAPPY in their ministry. I am considered a nuisance for trying to change this.

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Dignity is an important word. Important for all humans, as sons and daughters of God. Equality is as important as Dignity. If you have dignity for other humans, you will treat them all with equality. It is important for the Church to spread dignity.

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If we think of much of our Christian ethics in terms of dignity, many of our ethical dilemmas would be resolved easily.

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We Are Church Zoom Liturgy - 12 July 2025

Reflections on the Readings from across the world

With a special thanks to Rachael, who took the notes:

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I grew up learning about the holocaust. - And now we are witnessing a total genocide in Palestine, even though all foreign media is not allowed to report it, thousands killed. Even the UN recognises it as a genocide. "We are in an economy of genocide." We recognise the contribution of western countries who are sending weapons. We had studied "Never Again." But it is happening now. We can never tell our children we didn't know because we DO know. Because we are complicit. Our state is complicit. Our media is complicit. I am watching on social media - the Palestinians say, "we are not numbers, we are PEOPLE." They think the world has forgotten them, and they are invisible. If our Christianity does not move us to help, then our faith is Dead. A Europe of Human Rights seems to have no concern for the rights of the Palestinians - it is just money that matters to them. I see... a lot of people don't want to say anything. Keep your head down, just keep your business. When we finish our summer holidays, what will be left of Gaza? Who will be left?

The Church itself has been established as a hierarchy, patriarchy, and a monarchy. It is sad that it is the Christian countries who are manufacturing, exporting, and making money on arms. So, how are we going to live our faith if the structure of our church doesn't facilitate us to live our faith. In the last 2 Sundays, in my parish, the sermons are horrendous. The priests focus on the bread and body turning into real bread and blood - and referred to a miracle somewhere in xxxxx, where the host is supposedly turned into flesh on the tongue of a woman, and the church has recognised it. If priests are going to talk such garbage on the pulpit, how are we going to live our faith? One priest said, we have become supermarket Catholics - we choose what blessings we want, what prayers we want, we choose gay marriage, but we don't choose pro-life. How are people going to live their faith, if such rubbish comes from the pulpit? The history of the Church has nothing to show us what we have been doing in the path of Jesus, other than Pope Francis. The Church has forgotten Jesus - they made him a king, and the priests are the princes. So what faith are we following? I really don't know.

While I share, I understand the angst of those who share around me. I still feel hope. Hope doesn't come from this institutional church, or the nations who are politically powerful, manipulators, the wicked. It is not the Christian Europe, but look at Asia. Our leaders are also manipulating the people for power. Listening to all of you, I feel - this is similar to the times of Jesus. He didn't have these numbers. He was one voice. I was listening to a journalist in Palestine, her lament. Her hope is in her resilience.

To forgive someone 70 times 7... I am reminded of the deep valley between the liberal and conservatives around the world. The rise of the conservatives is making us angry. Are we ready to forgive, and love those who don't agree with us? Are we willing to see these manipulative political leaders as the humans that Jesus wants us to love and connect with? Because without love, we cannot succeed and make change. Gandhi was inspired by this teaching of Jesus - to fight the colonisers, but with love and peace, and by invoking the humanity that exists within the persons who disagree with us.

I see a few key words - sharing, dignity of each other, mutual respect, dialogue, listening, forgiveness. These are some attitudes we must develop and share. I like to compare the attitude of Mandela and Netanyahu regarding internal war. Mandela worked towards forgiveness. And this makes possible a society after this. Netanyahu is evoking hate and drama. I think the Church is really more interested in orthodoxy than orthopraxy. More interested in the discourse of what we should believe rather than on what Christ asked us to do. The Gospel of Matthew is very important in this.

Orthodoxy makes us individuals, orthopraxy makes us work together and is more productive. We should focus on orthopraxis. Ask ourselves - does the Church organise us to follow Jesus?

A friend from Gaza says "Losing hope is to die. The only way to stay alive is to stay hopeful." These lines resonate. We are called to grow in ourselves. When we say Church and Christian, they are different. The Church is a state or a bureaucracy. So our expectations from the structured church are misplaced. It is only from people and communities and dialogue that we can have hope. Communication makes a community stronger. Not wanting discipleship liberates us from the structure of the Church, and makes us free to practice our faith.

In our country, people killed under false accusations of blasphemy - nearly 400 jailed for it. It is an organised crime against minorities. 70% of those men were Muslims, not even Christians.

Our international organisations are so weak and powerless. The UN is unable to do anything about the conflicts. Francesca Albinese wrote a powerful report about Gaza. Trump wants her removed. What we have to do is speak out, not lose hope, and reach out as best as we can.

The British Empire is at the root of very many of the conflicts around the world. An organisation that protested against the violence in Gaza is now being categorised as a terror organisation. It is difficult to get around it. This is deeply wrong. Prof John Dick from Louvain University writes about the history of the Church in the 4th century: at the beginning of the 4th century, there was an emperor who persecuted Christians. By the end of the 4th century, Christians were persecuting anybody who wasn't Christian. How do we change this system? Maybe the Holy Spirit will help us.

We need a solution, a sort of synod.

In the Scottish Laity network, we organise our Advent sessions: Small seeds of hope, inviting companions to talk about various things. Enabling people to have the confidence to do things actively, and making peace in the world. These sessions train us how to encourage, motivate and inspire the community to be peacemakers. A theologian will speak about synodality and how to promote synodality.

WAC has a meeting on Synodality in September. One speaker who helps parishes to get active. There can't be only dialogue and dialogue without action. We have another speaker who will show us how as a lay person, he leads 2 parishes. How Church dioceses elect the bishops in Germany - a form of democracy to make a Bishop representative of the diocese rather than a representative of the Vatican.

I strongly believe that we need to BE the Church we want to see. This Zoom Eucharist is part of that action.

Self-Synodal group at Augsburg that began Maria 2.0. Church-workers and lay people started their own assembly in their parish. Began to speak about what synodality means? To work actively in your community. Started 'making small steps'. The most important thing is to START. Look at the present as it is and find concrete solutions. In this community we collect experiences from different parishes and other documents and we make it available to other parishes who are part of this project. These steps invite people to participate. Even the 85-year old priest told us that if you want to connect with the young people, you need to connect via Social Media. In a region in Bavaria, a region where there was abuse in the parish, the people started an action of reconciliation and a week of Prevention. People who were abused and a few politicians came to speak and taught us to talk to people and look at the problems, and identify what you can do to change.

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Some talked about what they are doing to make living together more humane:

1. I am actively working with right-wing persons, who are misogynists. But we are connected on the issue of climate change and sustainable agriculture. We disagree politically, and on religion, but we connect as humans who desire survival of the planet and survival for our families and people. This is the beginning of building bridges between two sides.

2. It is important that while we criticise the wrongdoings of the Church, we should also show how much we are DOING to evolve into the Church that Jesus envisioned.

3. Constructively deconstruct.

I want to share a message of positivity here - we do feel like a minority because we think of the world as neighbourhood.

But let me remind you, that the news tends to report the negative more than the positive.

Every single day, more and more people are discussing and speaking out against the genocide. When in history have you seen GLOBAL awareness and collective anger against this violence? People from India, Australia, USA, Brazil, South Africa... all joining voices with EU condemning the violence.

Today, you from Ireland, Italy, UK, France... you are aware and supporting the fight of a nun who was raped in South India. Each time you speak of these issues, you ARE the change.  

Through this conversation, through your voice, through your resistance you ARE THE INFLUENCE that will change the situation. Slowly, but surely.

Thanks to Rachael, Elza and Roberto for noting some of the shared reflection at our Eucharist today:

'As a Jew, Jesus actively participated in the customs and traditions of his people.' I wonder if the (Zionist) Jews in Israel today think the same way regarding their neighbours, the people whose land they have occupied/colonised.

By this Eucharistic celebration over Zoom, we are trying to model 'sharing the table differently'

We heard a parable that tells us that God wants to compel people to come in, and instead we experience a Church that compels people to go out!

The host in the parable says to invite the imperfect, the marginalized, those that no one invites... “Todos, todos, todos!” - said Pope Francis!

Today in my city, Lecco, the lgbtq+ Pride is being held. This year's theme is: "Let's stay human!".

Humanity is what God wants to fill His/Her house with, without asking anyone if they are “straight” or not.

I think that Christian God is a queer God, who does not look at labels but at humanity.

On the t-shirt of a Pride protester it says: “straight as wet spaghetti”.

Spaghetti are straight, but to taste how good they are you have to cook them, and let them take their own direction.

We are all different and all wonderful!

Another t-shirt says: “only very fragile egos fear equality”!

And in Rome we had proof of how scary the word equality is…

In Italian there is a motto that says:

"We are made di-verse because we are poetry".

God loves diversity, and wants His/Her house full of it, full of us all!

The parables of the Kingdom are not only a teaching directed to us, but first and foremost they represent Jesus’ way of thinking and acting.

He is the first one who, sent by the Father, goes to seek out the poor, the sick, the sinners and “the lost sheep of the House of Israel” on the streets and in meeting places.

The Gospels indicate them in various ways: the poor, the crippled, the lepers, the hungry, those who cry, sinners, prostitutes, the little ones, the last, the crowd that does not know the law and therefore is declared cursed by the guardians of the law.

They too become part of those whom Jesus calls “blessed”, not because they are considered happy and blessed among men and women, but because they are his Father’s favorites.

Inclusion is a very important part of our reality. We have to be the counterculture - religions and politics function on exclusion. If we look at the gospels, Jesus lived in a similar society and consciously INCLUDE. Jews excluded sinners, Jesus included them. Jews hated the sick, and Jesus would include. The non-Jews were excluded, but Jesus included them. Women, children....

The Church today has become exactly what the Jews of that time was - an exclusionary Church.

We have to consciously include - and we will be excluded in the bargain. Let us take a stand, and take the prophetic role of including. It is a powerful mission that Jesus has invited us to live today.

It is remarkable that the hierarchical Church hasn't 'got it' yet. They live in the old model. The culmination was in Francis' funeral. He chose not to live in the Vatican, not to die, nor be buried there. He walked with the people, talked with them, and he opened doors. But it is our job now not to lose hope. To keep on living and believing wherever we are. We have to BE the person of the Gospel, who listens to people, lived with them, ate with them, and wanted to know each others' stories.

The hymn we heard - it makes my skin crawl. The last place I would look for neighbourliness is the Sunday congregation. If you want neighbourliness, join with the people, find them on the train, in the public. What struck me is not to HAVE a social ethic, but to BE a social ethic. If you can BE a social ethic, you have to be on board and go out and DO something. The beauty of being elderly is that you do have the time to listen, to enjoy each others' presence. You can enjoy each person you meet. We Are Church is wonderful at doing this. This is what keeps me with WAC, we meet, we talk, we heal wounds. This is a big demonstration of how the institution of the Church should be like.

Our first task is to represent Jesus' way of thinking and acting. He is the first one sent by the Father, and goes to seek out the poor, sick, sinners, and lost sheep - on the streets and in the meeting places. The poor, hungry, lepers, sinners, prostitutes, the last, the crowd, those who do not know the law, those cursed by the 'law'. They all become part of what Jesus calls 'Blessed'. Not because they are happy and special, but they are ...

Being part of an international group is inspiring. I feel honoured to be in the company of you. You give us hope. We have each other.

Remembering the nun raped by the Bishop in Kerala, India... standing with her is living the Gospel. Very inspirational work.

Jesus was incarnated as a male human. Something I've been conscious about. For me, as a woman, God coming as a human, it is amazing. But he comes as a man... I can see in the institution that his maleness is more important than his humanity. It is not talked about, so it is good to see the inclusion here.

The kin-ship across boundaries is important. I think of people who are attacked for where they come from. I am so ashamed of the racism in Northern Ireland. I want to reconnect, and seek out people who are from different places, to stand with them with solidarity and friendship.

The hierarchy just doesn't get it. I live 26 miles away from Ballymena, N. Ireland. Reminds me of the early days of the problems there, and makes me think - Gosh, we haven't moved a bit! The fear and the terror that people are going through... it is nothing in comparison to Gaza.

In the last few months, I have been on LinkedIn, with what has been happening in Gaza. I connected with people I would not normally have connected with. It is interesting to sense that so many people in Palestine who look at us, the EU, asking, "do you not care because we look different? Do your Human Rights only apply to white people? Are Palestinian children not as important?" Human Rights abuses have no consequences. Our talk about human dignity, human rights, the right to life, and children being precious, all that seems to be limited. Neighbour doesn't matter of colour and creed. Humanity seems to apply only in some cases, and only to some colour of people when it comes to violation of human rights and international law. As a citizen of 2 countries, we have been shown to the world as being totally hypocritical. My grandparents and parents lived through the holocaust in France. From an early age, we said 'never again'. I cannot believe I am living through a genocide (there is no other word) and we know, because it is FILMED. And we go on as if it is not happening. A lot of talk, and no action. So, complicity. As I say, the EU will not have a leg to stand on when it comes to human rights and international law. And most of us are Christians - we have to ask ourselves what is our Christianity worth, when it comes to such situations. Now that the internet is cut off in Gaza, you can imagine how much worse is happening there. I want to pray for the dead. We trade, we sell weapons, at the expense of what? We have decided to worship mammon.

Some thoughts penned afterwards

In the our celebration of Word and Eucharist today (14 June 2025) we reflected upon:

"God's kingdom is a kindom that is inclusive of everyone, but in a special way, includes the outcasts, the marginalised, the oddbods, the 'different', the 'other', women, children as well as men.

This led one of our number, from India, to offer this which resonated with all of us:

I want to share a message of positivity here - we do feel like a minority because we think of the world as neighbourhood. But let me remind you, that the news tends to report the negative more than the positive. Every single day, more and more people are discussing and speaking out against the genocide. When in history have you seen GLOBAL awareness and collective anger against this violence? People from India, Australia, USA, Brazil, South Africa... all joining voices with EU condemning the violence. Today, you from Ireland, Italy, UK, France... you are aware and supporting the fight of a nun who was raped in South India. Each time you speak of these issues, you ARE the change. Through this conversation, through your voice, through your resistance you ARE THE INFLUENCE that will change the situation. Slowly, but surely.