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Who Is St. Phoebe?
In the Letter to the Romans, St. Paul commends St. Phoebe to the church in Rome, introduces her as a deacon (diakonos) of the church at Cenchreae, and asks that they “receive her in the Lord” (Romans 16:1-3).
St. Phoebe was a woman of great courage and deep love. She answered God’s call to minister to God’s people during the earliest days of the Church, when persecution against Christians was strong. She earned the trust of Paul, who depended on her to handle communications with the ecclesial community in Rome. St. Phoebe’s feast day, September 3, is in the current Roman Martyrology. Her day’s liturgical status is not of a feast or a memorial but that of a “commemoration.” Her liturgy is celebrated in Eastern Rite and Orthodox Churches. Growing her devotion is one way to help restore her memory and instate a liturgy to commemorate her in our tradition. Additional Resources
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Continuing the Synodal Process
In our “Enlarge the Space of Your Tent" event on May 7th we presented that the theme of women’s full participation in the life of the church emerged across every continent as “critical and urgent.” The document devoted six paragraphs to “rethinking women’s participation,” noting in particular “the active role of women in the governing structures of Church bodies, the possibility for women with adequate training to preach in parish settings, and a female diaconate” as areas in need of further discernment.
Both the U.S. bishops’ national synthesis report and the Vatican document call for continued discernment to take place not only within the formal structures of the present synod but within local Churches and on the ground in parishes and communities: “The next step for the U.S. Church is to give special attention to its parishes and dioceses, even as we continue participation in the continental and universal phases of the Synod, for that is where the People of God most concretely encounter the Spirit at work and where the first fruits of this discernment will be realized.”
In celebrating St. Phoebe Day, we pray for our universal Church as we journey together in synod, we celebrate women’s gifts and contributions to our Church, and we bear witness to the critical and urgent need to re-think women’s participation in the Church—including in the areas of preaching, governance, and the diaconate—as Church leaders prepare to gather in Rome for the start of the synod’s Universal Stage, moving from consultation and discernment toward concrete proposals for action within our Church.
Both the U.S. bishops’ national synthesis report and the Vatican document call for continued discernment to take place not only within the formal structures of the present synod but within local Churches and on the ground in parishes and communities: “The next step for the U.S. Church is to give special attention to its parishes and dioceses, even as we continue participation in the continental and universal phases of the Synod, for that is where the People of God most concretely encounter the Spirit at work and where the first fruits of this discernment will be realized.”
In celebrating St. Phoebe Day, we pray for our universal Church as we journey together in synod, we celebrate women’s gifts and contributions to our Church, and we bear witness to the critical and urgent need to re-think women’s participation in the Church—including in the areas of preaching, governance, and the diaconate—as Church leaders prepare to gather in Rome for the start of the synod’s Universal Stage, moving from consultation and discernment toward concrete proposals for action within our Church.
Next Steps:
The General Synod Assembly in October 2023 will meet at the Vatican and work off the document: Instrumentum Laboris.
The General Synod Assembly in October 2023 will meet at the Vatican and work off the document: Instrumentum Laboris.
This Instrumentum Laboris (IL) was drafted on the basis of all the material gathered during the listening phase, and in particular the final documents of the Continental Assemblies...Its aim will be to continue to animate the synodal process in the ordinary life of the Church, identifying which pathways the Spirit invites us to walk along more decisively as one People of God... the purpose of the synodal process “is not to produce documents but to open horizons of hope for the fulfilment of the Church’s mission”
Getting Involved
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How you can continue your involvement…
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