Reflection for Sunday – May 3, 2026

April 29, 2026Sue HowardSunday Readings Homilies

Readings: Acts 6: 1-7; 1 Peter 2: 4-9; John 14: 1=12
Preacher: Susan Howard

As one who has listened to the call of the Shepherd, responded with my whole heart, pursued an active ministry, earned a Masters in Divinity, and practiced 15 years of professional ministry, this week’s passage from Acts 6:1-7 regarding the creation of the Diaconate raises many questions.

That passage states that the number of disciples continued to grow. It doesn’t specifically say that they were men only so let’s assume there were women disciples too. However, when it came time to split up the work of the Church the text does specify that “men” were chosen and given the task of outreach and service to the community at large and “ministry to the word” which is preaching and teaching.

It is interesting to note that St. Stephen and the other men who were appointed to assist the apostles are never directly called “deacons” (diakonoi). Instead of giving them any title, their role in “serving at table” is described using the related words diakonia and diakoneo or service. They were given authority to carry out their tasks in the name of the Church and with the blessing of or ‘Laying on of hands’ from the Church leaders. And the Church grew! Just imagine if women were also to receive this blessing how much more the Church would grow!

It’s not as if women have not responded to the Call, nor Walked in the Way. Throughout history many women have been living out lives in service.

I’d like to raise up Saint Phoebe. Her feast day is September 3rd. In Romans 16:1 Paul’s refers to Phoebe as a diakonos; she was a servant-leader, “patron” of the Church. And while the actual definition and institution of the Diaconate was not instituted until several centuries later, she was noted by Paul to be a leader and trusted with communicating his letter to the larger community.

There are many around the world praying for and petitioning for the restoration of women to the Diaconate. Unfortunately, the Synod has since declared that the recent Petrocchi Commission report (December 2025) “rules out admitting women to the diaconate understood as a degree of the sacrament of Holy Orders, but says that it is not currently possible “to formulate a definitive judgment, as in the case of priestly ordination.”

We do not feel they have taken one of the main concepts of Vatican II to heart, namely: “This tradition which comes from the Apostles develops in the Church with the help of the Holy Spirit. For there is a growth in the understanding of the realities and the words which have been handed down. This happens through the contemplation and study made by believers, who treasure these things in their hearts through a penetrating understanding of the spiritual realities which they experience.” (Second Vatican Council, Dei verbum, 8)

The Commission’s statement is unacceptable to many women who are already doing the work of a Deacon. You may want to read the response from WOW- Women’s Ordination Worldwide at https://us11.campaign-archive.com/?u=28baaa549c0ce20a690a9465c&id=004c482492.

Psalm 33 also speaks to this cause. Have we as Church fully embraced the practice of trusting God? Can we trust that men and women are equals in the eyes of God? That all of his works are trustworthy? I think not. I think we are living in a famine, the famine of deprivation. Deprived of the voices of women, their teaching, preaching and leadership. There is a famine of the feminine spirit that if let loose might even prove to be a force of peace in the world.

For we are all living Stones as Peter attests. We, men and women, are chosen to be part of God’s royal priesthood, part of God’s Holy Nation, and to announce His Praises!

Furthermore, we, men and women, are doing God’s works! We have fully embraced the WAY! And taken to heart John 14:6, that Jesus is the way and the truth and the life! God dwells in us! When we consume his Body and Blood, we attest to this at each Mass.

And so we will continue to walk the walk, answering the call, spreading the good news. We will not let our hearts be troubled for we have faith in God. We will continue to go out and change the world with our own holy touch until such a time that leadership can come to believe as we do, that women are also given a room in God’s holy Church.

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Sue Howard

Born and raised in Rochester N.Y., Sue Howard received an Associates degree in art with a pottery major. She later earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Social Work at RIT. She worked with the elderly for over 26 years, first as a therapeutic recreation specialist at the Shire at Culverton and Monroe Community Hospital, then as Director of Recreation at Wesley Gardens and finally as Director of Volunteers and Spiritual Services, also at Wesley.

During that time she and her husband raised two children and she went to St. Bernard's School of Theology and Ministry and earned her Masters of Divinity degree in May of 2003. She worked at St. Andrew, Annunciation, Blessed Sacrament, St. Boniface and St. Mary's Churches.Retired in 2020