I attended a very fine Eucharist today at
St Paul’s Cathedral, celebrating twenty years of women’s ordination to the
priesthood in this diocese.
The liturgy was strongly led by Bp Barbara,
and a great sermon was preached by Colleen O’Reilly, interweaving the Johannine
text (Mary Magdalene’s meeting with the risen Christ in the Easter garden) with
the story of women’s ordination. Colleen
reminded us too that the authentic descriptor for a priest was not ‘woman’ but
‘faithful’.
There was lovely cantoring by Muriel
Porter, and a choir sensitively and ably led by Elizabeth-Anne Nixon. For women
clergy, the Service included a re-affirmation of our commitment to our ministry
and a blessing by Archbishop Keith Rayner.
Afterwards, as we all huddled on the steps
— more than fifty of us — to have our photo taken, there was a sense of
euphoria and joy. If this is not irreverent, I was reminded of Jesus’ saying in
Luke 10:23-24: ‘Blessed are the eyes that see what you see! For I tell you that many prophets and kings
desired to see what you see, but did not see it, and to hear what you hear, but
did not hear it.’
A great celebration indeed, and heartening for all who attended:
that was exclusively and rightly the focus of today’s event.
But the war is not yet won. We still have a way to go and today was
an oasis, a deeply-felt thanksgiving to God, as we pick up our packs and
prepare to journey on.
There are still dioceses in this country that will not ordain
women as priests. What we take for granted in the Melbourne diocese, they don’t
yet have. There are countries overseas
which, though coming breath-takingly close, are still not consecrating women as
bishops — though we in Australia will soon have four women bishops, including
Bishop-Elect Alison. There are still
husbands who demand obedient and submissive wives in their homes and cloak
their need for power in wooden exegesis and threadbare theology.
And also for us here in our diocese, there are still those who
would discourage women from responding to their call — who would push us back
to a time more than twenty years ago, when men led and women followed.
There are even choirs in this country, in this diocese —well, yes,
in this Cathedral, as a matter of fact — who will not, by definition, permit women
and girls to join them.
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