NOV. 28: The Empty Crib

As part of our Eucharist on Nov. 28 we created embodied prayer
with this lovely poem:

This crib is the waiting space of our emptiness.
This crib is the waiting space of our loneliness.
This crib is the waiting space of our longing.
This crib is the waiting space of our hunger and our desire
for intimacy
for justice
for truth
Come ,O Christ-child
into the cradle of our emptiness
into the crib of our loneliness
into the space of our longing,
into the arms of our hunger,
into the heart of our desire.
In this crib we are laying this cloth of our woven dreams and aspirations.
We are bringing the fabric of our lives:
many textured,
multi-colored,
torn, frayed and fragile,
yet tense with a strength woven out of conflice, laughter and tears.
Come, O Christ-child
Clothe yourself with the cloth of our humanity.
Wrap us in the your vulnerability, compassion and tenderness.
Come and live among us.

[from Praying Like a Woman, Nicola Slee]


A blessed Advent to all.
We will gather for a Christmas Yule Prayer Sing on Saturday December 26, 10:30am.
Lead by our director of song, Evelie Delfino Posch.

October 24 That I May See

BARTIMAEUS: Enacted
I want to see him, I want to see him.

Of course I can't see him! Let him see me!

Prophet Jesus! Jesus!

Thank you, yes thank you

Would you let me touch your face.

[HE REACHES OUT HIS HANDS AND SEES THROUGH TOUCH THE FACE OF JESUS;
HE SIGHS WITH HAPPINESS]

You want to touch my face?

[his face and eyes are touched by Jesus]

I begin to see. Yes...oh God, I begin to see. My heart is broken. I see now
the joy and the suffering of so many: the mother in birth, the child in joy,
the Roman soldiers that whip us, the feeding of the hungry....yes, I see....


WHAT PAINS HAVE BEEN PASSAGE WAYS FOR YOU TO COME TO KNOW THE REALITY OF GOD MORE CLEARLY IN YOUR LIFE?

October 10: The Road to Wisdom

Saturday, September 26

OUR THEME: PROPHECY
Today we focused on women in religious orders who are being "investigated" by the Vatican and who are our modern day prophets. They hold the vision of Vatican II. And they remind us what a discipleship of equals means. We heard heard the good news from India that the Catholic Bishops Conference of India will soon come out with a policy that recommends equal representation for women at every level of the church to "redeem" centuries long "injustices." We looked to the prophets in our midst, Trudy and Lynn, who were celebrating the 14th anniversary of their committed relationship [see picture above], and Victoria and Kathryn who celebrated their 1st year anniversary of being legally married [though they have been life partners for over 20 years!]. We wondered out loud together how each of us is called in our daily lives to being prophets, as we work to re-create the Roman Catholic Church as accountable, transparent, inclusive, and just. Evelie inspired this mood for change with her selection of "The Times They are A-Changing!"

Saturday, September 12

SONGS OF PEACE, BEING PEACE, PEACE ALL AROUND

Since this was the day after the anniversary of 9/11, our music director Evelie Posch chose the theme of Peace. Instead of a spoken homily, she selected many songs of peace. This was our musical meditation and greatly deepened our experience of the Eucharist.

August 22: Health Care For All

In looking at the Book of Ruth today and noticing the caring that transpires among
the characters of Ruth, Naomi and Boaz, it occurred to me that as Christians
this is the same ethic of caring that is involved in putting into place health care
for all in our own country. As someone said in our shared homily, when the health care discussion begins with money, that flavors the entire discussion. But when the conversation begins with caring, and connectedness, with faith and hope and believing in the mystical body of Christ, then the health care discussion proceeds into a very different discussion. Certainly a more humane one. As Christians we are called to have this clarity now.

Sojourners Magazine published "A Christan Creed on Health Care Reform." This was our second reading after the Book of Ruth. I include it here for you to read and reflect upon.

A Christian Creed on Health Care Reform: from SOJOURNERS

As one of God's children, I believe that protecting the health of each human being is a profoundly important personal and communal responsibility for people of faith.

I believe God created each person in the divine image to be spiritually and physically healthy. I feel the pain of sickness and disease in our broken world (Genesis 1:27, Romans 8:22).

I believe life and healing are core tenets of the Christian life. Christ's ministry included physical healing, and we are called to participate in God's new creation as instruments of healing and redemption (Matthew 4:23, Luke 9:1-6; Mark 7:32-35, Acts 10:38). Our nation should strive to ensure all people have access to life-giving treatments and care.

I believe, as taught by the Hebrew prophets and Jesus, that the measure of a society is seen in how it treats the most vulnerable. The current discussion about health-care reform is important for the United States to move toward a more just system of providing care to all people (Isaiah 1:16-17, Jeremiah 7:5-7, Matthew 25:31-45).

I believe that all people have a moral obligation to tell the truth. To serve the common good of our entire nation, all parties debating reform should tell the truth and refrain from distorting facts or using fear-based messaging (Leviticus 19:11; Ephesians 4:14-15, 25; Proverbs 6:16-19).

I believe that Christians should seek to bring health and well-being (shalom) to the society into which God has placed us, for a healthy society benefits all members (Jeremiah 29:7).

I believe in a time when all will live long and healthy lives, from infancy to old age (Isaiah 65:20), and "mourning and crying and pain will be no more" (Revelation 21:4). My heart breaks for my brothers and sisters who watch their loved ones suffer, or who suffer themselves, because they cannot afford a trip to the doctor. I stand with them in their suffering.

I believe health-care reform must rest on a foundation of values that affirm each and every life as a sacred gift from the Creator (Genesis 2:7).

Amen.

August 8, Earth Wisdom Eucharist

Sophia in Trinity is beginning something new. On the second Saturday of each month, members of our community will offer the homily, which is always responded to by the entire community. On the 4th Saturday of each month, Victoria will offer the "shared homily." We hope that this will give everyone in the community an opportunity to creatively share their thoughts and visions.

Judy Liteky offered and insightful homily on August 8. She chose the theme "Earth Wisdom" from the work of Thomas Berry, and combined this with reflections from her recent trip to Paraguay. Here are a few of the key ideas that she used in her homily:

I am part of Sacred time and space
I am part of a Sacred Universe.

Thomas Berry in “The Dream of the Earth” and “The Great Work”.....
We are supported by a power, energy, a dynamism.

Being an activist with consciousness:
Women’s experience and consciousness: 1965 on with the Immaculate Heart order
Global personhood: traveling internationally from 1960 on to Europe, Asia, the Americas
Speaking and working for human rights: 1970’s on in anti-nuclear movement, Sanctuary, SOA Watch

Paraguay and Peru: sacred time and space
Zooming in to commune with the sky, land, water
Zooming out to experience a unity in the diversity
Returning to San Francisco renewed with the sense that I/we are supported by a power, energy, a dynamism and invoking this wisdom to create our future.

Evelie Posch took this theme and wove songs of Mother Earth throughout the liturgy.
As always her insights grounded and inspired our prayers.

Following the liturgy, Judy showed slides from her journey.

July 25, Celebration of Mary Magdalene, and Women Leaders in the Early Church

Our liturgy began with a community special blessing written by Michael Busk to honor the 4 year anniversary of Victoria's ordination as a priest. All gathered around and in true ordination style, laid hands upon Victoria in blessing and consecration. Joy indeed!

And in the sunshine of this lovely day, Sophia in Trinity celebrated the Liturgy of the Word in true incarnational style--with theatre and movement. Our own Susan Fox presented a monolog of Mary Magdalene while Claire Blackstock enacted a movement/dance as Magdalene. From this it was very clear that we were all celebrating women's leadership in our church. The question asked by Magdalene to us all was "What is the truth you would weep for? Live for? Die for? Love for? What is the truth that grows...quickens..lives and moves and has its being insisde youk readying for the day when you will give it birth? What is the truth that you alone bring here this day?" And just as Magdalene danced with a rose colored shawl, each of us took up her mantel, and spoke our truth to one another.

The Liturgy of the Eucharist concluded, and we shared a communal blessing of going forth. Susan Fox brought Mary Magdalene's symbol of a red egg to share in our community hour following the Eucharist. Hence the photo above where we are holding red eggs. Also, fruit pies were enjoyed as Victoria showed slides from her ordination on the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Our next Eucharist celebration will be August 8. Victoria will preside and Judy Litekey will offer the homily and afterwards show slides of her recent trip to South America.

Catching Up With This Blog!

Dear Readers,
Sophia in Trinity continues to gather for Eucharists on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month. For the past month and a half, however, life has been busy for me, thus I have not been able to keep up with this blog since the end of May!! My apologies to you all.

On June 13, Janice del Fiacco led a lovely meditation service, since I was presiding at a wedding in Baltimore.

On June 27, PRIDE weekend in San Francisco, we gathered for Eucharist and a celebration of all
our LGBTQ sisters and brothers. We are also inspired by our Episcopal sisters and brothers who at their General Convention took clarifying and affirming steps to further support LGBTQ leadership in the Episcopal Church.

July 11, our Eucharist took the theme "do not be afraid: what I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light!" As a Catholic community, Sophia in Trinity's members have the courage to speak in the light, worshiping with a "valid but illicit" woman priest, and knowing that at the grassroots of our church, there are many faith-filled people like ourselves finding more expressive and inclusive ways to worship and to be church.

Unexpected Grace : May 23 & 24

Sand dollars are gifts from the sea. Unexpected graces. And that is what Sophia in Trinity, in gratitude, gave to Trinity Episcopal Church this last Sunday, May 24 at their 11am Mass. It is through Trinity's creative generosity that we worship twice a month in Mary's Chapel--Mary's womb. The day before, Saturday May 23, during our Eucharistic Celebration, Sophia in Trinity members created cards of blue with sand dollars attached and wrote of our gratitude to Trinity. They are in so many ways our "Unexpected Grace." An Episcopal community that invited a new Catholic community to be born in its midst. Thank you indeed! After the Mass at Trinity, members of their community, placed some of the sand dollars on their side altar--their healing altar.

On Saturday May 23, Lucy and Greg Garcia created our beautiful space for Eucharist. Felipe brought flowers. Evelie offered music with the theme of gratitude woven throughout our Eucharist: "Breathe Through Me, Blessed Spirit," "The Ocean Refuses No River" "Song of the Flower" [K.Gibran, adapted & arrg. by Evelie] and "This is my Thanksgiving Day." And Felipe brought a pan of his famous cheese puffs for our community hour following the Eucharist.
As you can see, the morning celebration was full of "unexpected grace!" Sophia is truly among us, guiding us, inspiring us.

June 13, 10:30am, will be our next gathering. It will be a special worship service, coordinated by Janice Del Fiacco, since Victoria must be back east to preside at a wedding.

We also want to thank Kathleen Kunster for being our guest presider on May 9 at Sophia in Trinity. It's was a wonderful opportunity for Sophia in Trinity to experience the many different gifts of the organization: Roman Catholic Womenpriests [www.romancatholicwomenpriests.org] of which Victoria is also a member.

April 25, Celebration of the Earth

Our Eucharist was devoted to restoring our relationship with the earth.
It began with Evelie Delfino Posch sharing this beautiful song :


"Breathing In, Breathing Out"
{Poem: Thich Nhat Hanh; Music: Betsy Rose; Arr. Evelie S Posch}

Breathing in, breathing out, breathing in, breathing out
I am blooming as a flower, I am fresh as the dew
I am solid as a mountain, I am firm as the earth
I am free, I am free, I am free

Breathing in, breathing out, breathing in, breathing out
I am water reflecting what is real, what is true
And I feel there is space deep inside of me
I am free, I am free, I am free

Throughout the liturgy we reflected on Mother Earth. Some of Alan Weisman's thoughts from the book THE WORLD WITHOUT US were also part of our liturgy.

The Mass was dedicated to Tom Seagraves, pastor of St. John of God parish, who is undergoing surgery this week. We ask your continued prayers for him.

We welcomed many new faces and hope that if you attend our next Mass on May 9, celebrating Mother's Day, that you will bring a friend. We will be very happy on that day to welcome woman priest Kathleen Kunster as presider at our Eucharist.

April 11: Ritual for those Wounded by Religion

Holy Saturday Morning
A Ritual for all those wounded by religion.

The chairs in the circle were turned out, not in. It tipped us off that something different was going to happen. We began with intentions of why we are here:
• We are drawn to this healing ritual today by the pain of those times
we have been made to feel less than…..
• We are drawn to this healing ritual today by the pain of those times
we have been abused by those in religious power that we trusted
• We are drawn to this healing ritual today by the pain of those times
we have been hurt, misguided and lied to by religious authorities
• We are drawn to this healing ritual today by the pain of those times
our voices have been silenced…..
• We are drawn to this healing ritual today by the pain of those times
we have not been heard….
• We are drawn to this healing ritual today by the pain of those times
we have been angered by the closed mindedness of religions

Michael Busk then led us in a game of musical chairs—that was really about experiencing disempowerment and exclusion by religious authorities.
Afterward, we drew pictures and wrote about the pain of this disempowerment.
But we didn’t leave it there. We got on our feet and each of us made gestures of resistance to this pain.

Evelie Delfino Posch led us with heart beat drumming out the doors of the chapel into the courtyard where we individually repeated our gesture of resistance and then burned our drawings and writings in an act of cleansing and empowerment.
“Fire, bright fire, burn, cleanse, release!”

When we re-entered our chapel we were all invited for additional healing. In each of the four directions there were two sound-healing artists, and two prayer-healing persons. People went to one or the other or all four! One participant said she had never felt such deep healing enter her through the vibrations of sound.

After, we anointed each other with precious oils to seal in our healing.
Evelie sang from J.C. Superstar: “Everything’s All Right.”

And finally we reclaimed with candles---
We reclaim fire and light and darkenss. We reclaim the wholeness of our bodies.
And we light candles to reclaim our faith, whatever that is:
I reclaim the joy of the Holy
I reclaim the inclusivity of the Holy
I reclaim Love
I reclaim my spirit—holy joyful, arms wide, full of love
I reclaim my healthy suspicion of all power not fueled by Love….
And on it went

Perhaps the litmus test for any ritual is whether people stay around afterward.
Not only did the candles remain lit, everyone stayed and spoke with each other, sharing what they had received from the morning---which was Holy Saturday morning.

April 11: Opening the Heart

Opening the Heart

Institutional religions through the years and centuries have wounded many in the name of God. Through ritual we will open our hearts to release old pains and hurts that block us from our relationship with the Holy. We will be led in this ritual by a lesbian Roman Catholic woman priest.

The ritual will take place at 10:30am, April 11, in the chapel of Trinity Episcopal Church, Gough and Bush. The sponsor of the ritual is a new Catholic community-- Sophia in Trinity.

Our ritual will be both an individual and collective effort. All are welcome.

March 28: World Day of Prayer for Women's Ordination

March 28, Saturday, the Fourth Week of Lent
Excerpts from the Shared Homily…..
Today we celebrate “The World Day of Prayer for Women’s Ordination.” The Women’s Ordination Conference [WOC] designates this time each year. And WOC is 33 years old, and counting!.........

The gospel we choose for this day is Mary’s ANNUNCIO! Not only an announcement, but in fact a calling.

There is a long tradition of Mary as priest in the church. However, in 1916, Benedict the XV forbade the use of any images of Mary as Priest. In 1927 any devotion to Mary as priest was also prohibited. What was the Vatican afraid off? A tradition of women priests perhaps?

What does it mean to be priest? According to Michael Morewood,’s new book From Sand to Solid Ground: Questions of Faith for Modern Catholics: “The priest’s role is not to bring God’s presence to people. The priest’s role is modeled on Jesus’s example of affirming God’s presence in people.”…….”A priest’s sacramental ministry should emphasize God’s presence in people.”……”A priest’s role is people centered not theology centered.”

Perhaps this is what the Vatican is afraid of.
////////////////////////////////////////////

Our guest musician for March 28 was Evelie Delfino Sayles Posch, a well known composer and performer in women’s spirituality circles of the Bay Area. During the presentation of gifts she sang her own composition of the Ave Maria. A gift indeed.
///////////////////////////////////////////

We had our first community potluck that followed our Eucharist. There were so many delicious foods! Of course Felipe’s cheese puffs were totally unique with their added zing of jalapeno! Thanks to all for your generosity!

March 28:Next Eucharist Theme: "Break the Silence on Women's Ordination. Shatter the Stained Glass Ceiling."

Our Saturday Liturgy will celebrate the World Day of Prayer for Women's Ordination.
We will gather at 10:30am in the chapel of Trinity Episcopal Church [Gough & Bush, SF].
Following the Eucharist we will have a potluck and continue our second community meeting. Please be in touch with Victoria for what you might like to contribute to our meal. Emails can be sent from this website.

The most recent gathering of Sophia in Trinity was March 14 for a Lenten Eucharist. All of us were particularly grateful for the deep insights offered by all members during the shared homily.
The parable of the Prodigal "Son" or "Child" was definitely re-imagined and reminded us who is left out of the story.

Our guest musicians were Vick, Tina and Lynette. The hymns they chose, particularly "Christ be our Light," led all of us to a place of new reflection.

Saturday, March 14, 2009 Our Next Eucharist

We had a lovely Eucharist on Feb. 28. Our theme was "Communitas."

Part of the shared homily offered by Victoria :
The anthropologist Victor Turner created this word, communitas. Communitas is created in situations where individuals are driven to find each other through a common experience of ordeal, or transition, or marginalization. It involves intense feelings of social togetherness and belonging brought about by having to rely on each other in order to survive.

Perhaps some of us are here to simply survive. Perhaps some of us belong to multiple communities in order to survive. Or we might be here because Sophia in Trinity: A New Catholic Community is a way to survive in the Catholic Church. Or
perhaps you are an LGBT person and hope that you will experience a Queer God in this round chapel. For others, perhaps you are here out of curiosity because you wonder what a woman priest looks like, let alone a lesbian priest!

And our guest musician Evelie Delfino Solis led us in a powerful closing hymn "C'mon people now, smile on each other...everybody get together, try to love one another, right now!" These thoughts took us into our first community meeting. I am including below some of the thoughts that were shared:

WHAT BROUGHT YOU TO SOPHIA IN TRINITY? WHY DO YOU KEEP COMING?

• The liturgy is alive: inclusive language, bodied prayer, silence, music
• I came to be part of the full inclusion of women in the RCC and because this is non-hierarchical
• I want to be all of me when I come to church, and I can be here
• I like the music, the call and reponse, the circle and eye contact
• We are seeing the implosion of the RCC, just look at how they are now investigating Catholic nuns!
• I like the preaching and teaching of Victoria
• In the early church there was no mention of priests, only the leadership of elders and house leaders
• This is an emerging community that will hopefully help in creating the emerging church
Richard Rohr tells us there are mediating institutions already happening in the emerging church:
--prayer groups
--Bible study groups
--Service groups
--Centering Prayer groups
--Just Faith groups [you pray and work for justice]
--The New Monasticism
He asks: which ones are we involved with today
• I think the above categories of R. Rohr are further down the path
• I am interested in the ecumenical Jesus and inter-faith work
I would like to see one additional reading from another faith tradition
• I would like to see a Bible Study group
• What I think we are doing here is communal prayer—and I want to learn more about this.
• Answering the question “why don’t we use unleavened bread?” Victoria said she believes the bread should be nourishing on every level.
• All are invited to join John of God parish for Friday nights’ Soup & Scriptures, 6;30p—8:00p
• How are the scriptures chosen that we hear? Victoria responded: so far I have chosen the Saturday readings from the USCCB Lectionary, but we can choose readings from any part of the Hebrew and Christian Bibles
• I would like to see a healing service take place, perhaps ahead of our 10:30a.m. time
• Perhaps we could have breakfast ahead of time?
• I would like to see us create a liturgy for all those “wounded” by the Christian Church [someone added: perhaps all those wounded by religion!]
• At some time, I would like to see us have a healing service without the Eucharist
• Perhaps we could have a healing liturgy once a quarter –without a Eucharist, perhaps followed by a potluck

Following the discussion of 1 hour we decided two items:

1. We will have a potluck following the March 28 Eucharist and continue our community discussions

2. Since we all will gather on Holy Saturday, April 11, at our usual
10:30am time, this would be a good opportunity for us to create a healing service without having a Eucharist.

FEBRUARY 28 : Our Next Mass

We look forward to seeing you Saturday Feb. 28 at 10:30am at our next Eucharistic celebration.
You can find our feminist Mass in the lovely round chapel offered to us in Trinity Episcopal Church. Following the Mass we will have our first community meeting. All are welcome!

FEBRUARY 14 : Our Valentine's Day Mass

We want to share with you pictures from our last Eucharistic celebration, Feb. 14--A Valentine's Mass. And in our continuing experimentation with music, we were gifted on that day by the presence of 7 musicians and a chorus! Thank you!

In the shared homily we contemplated the work of Audre Lorde, African American lesbian poet, who wrote so profoundly about the power of the erotic which she called our "lifeforce." There were some 35 people present at our feminist and inclusive Mass.

February 14 -- our next Eucharist

We will joyfully celebrate Eucharist on Feb 14 at 10:30am. We gathered for Eucharist on Jan. 24 -- and once again, the chapel was Spirit-filled !

During the announcements, Victoria invited all those interested to meet after the Feb 28 Mass to discuss how we all want to create the community of Sophia in Trinity. We hope many of you will want to stay and discuss our future together.

Look forward to seeing you on Feb. 14 and the 28 at 10:30am! Again, we are very grateful for the generosity of Trinity Episcopal Church in providing our beautiful chapel.

Prayer-Filled First Gathering

The first joy-filled gathering of Sophia in Trinity, A Catholic Community, took place January 10.

Our next gathering will be January 24 at 10:30am in the chapel of Trinity Episcopal Church,corner of Gough and Bush in San Francisco.


Impressions from January 10:

• Three wisemen from Dignity [Paul , Matt and Tom] arrived first and helped us set up the chapel.
• My partner Kathryn said she felt the Spirit in the chapel from the first moment.
• The music of Sangita on sarod brought us into prayer-filled unity.
• The prayers of the people were definitely "from our mouths to God's ear."
• Our delicious Eucharist bread was baked especially for us by Liz who is a member of Sophia Catholic Community of Santa Cruz.
  

Hope to see you on January 24!

Blessings
Victoria Rue, Roman Catholic woman priest

Welcome! Mass Schedule

We are grateful to Trinity Episcopal Church for their invitation to Roman Catholic woman priest Victoria Rue to begin a ministry in their chapel. This is the genesis of Sophia in Trinity.

All Masses at 10:30am in the chapel of Trinity Episcopal Church, corner of Bush and Gough, SF.

Sophia in Trinity Mass Schedule:
January 10 & 24
February 14 & 28
March 14 & 28
April 11 & 25
May 9 & 23
etc.

[All Masses occur on the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of each month; future months will be posted at a later date]