Women's role topic of talk

The Albany Diocese's Sesquicentennial has given Sister Barbara Bowe, RSCJ, a chance to come home -- and honor women in the Church.

On Nov. 14, the Fonda native will return to the Diocese from Illinois to give a talk in honor of the 150th anniversary of the Diocese. The talk is titled, "Silent Voices, Sacred Lives: Celebrating Women's Faithfulness in the Church."

Sister Barbara attended Sacred Heart High School in Albany at Kenwood (now Doane Stuart School) before entering the Religious of the Sacred Heart there. She told The Evangelist that "it's truly a delight for me to think about coming back to Albany. It's like coming home for me -- and it's an opportunity to say thank you to the Diocese for all I have received."

Role of women

Now an associate professor of biblical studies at the Catholic Theological Union in Chicago, Sister Barbara is co-editor of a book of readings for the liturgical year under the same title as her upcoming talk.

She cares deeply about "the role of women and the faith of women in the life of the Church," but feels that "the voices of those great people of faith have been more or less silent" in the annals of history. "Their lives are really tremendous examples in faith," she said.

In order to make the "silent voices" of several women of the Church speak, Sister Barbara plans to use their lives as illustrations of various periods of history.

Models of faith

Among her models of faith are Moses' sister, Miriam; Mary Magdalene; women martyrs of early Christian times; Hildegarde of Bingen; Ita Ford, a lay missionary martyred in El Salvador; and Penny Lernoux, a Catholic journalist who worked in Central America and died of cancer.

"I'm planning to use these sketches as ways of talking about the challenges of faith for all of us," Sister Barbara explained. As Catholics approach the new millennium, "all of us are facing the challenge of this new time. There are a lot of pitfalls in our way, demands on our lives."

Catholics, she said, have a "serious responsibility to think deeply and pray deeply" about how to live their Christianity in an increasingly diverse Church.

Connections to Diocese

"Silent Voices, Sacred Lives" is being co-sponsored by St. John/St. Ann's parish and St. Bernard's Institute in Albany. Sister Barbara confessed a soft spot for St. John/St. Ann's, having worked in a summer program there as a novice and taught in the parish's religious education program.

During that time, she also remembered meeting two priests: Bishop Howard J. Hubbard, who was then chaplain for Kenwood Convent; and Rev. John Kirwin, now pastor of St. John/St. Ann's.

"This is a moment to both affirm the faith of the community that has been a part of St. John/St. Ann's for these many years, and to celebrate in a special way the people less often spoken about: the quieter, silent voices of the women of the faith community," Sister Barbara said of her talk.

Just as in Church history as a whole, she added, in parish communities, "the ones who go unheralded -- male and female -- are sometimes the most astounding of all. There are people whose lives are beacons of faith, and we have to use and allow the tradition of so many of these great people to speak to us."

Positive side

Today, Sister Barbara told The Evangelist, the Church suffers from "prophets of doom" who speak of divisions among us and declining numbers of Mass attendees and clergy.

"There are very few things we need more than examples of generous and faithful people" like the women whose lives are illustrated in her talk, she said.

As a Chicago resident, the speaker takes her cue from the late Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, whose "Common Ground" effort still seeks to unite an increasingly polarized Church.

Unity

Particularly as the Albany Diocese marks its 150th anniversary, Sister Barbara said, "Christians have the responsibility to come together and stand up for their faith by having a public celebration that claims that history -- not just to celebrate the past, but to claim the future."

After hearing about the women who through their courage and dignity paved the way for today's Catholics, Sister Barbara hopes that those who attend her talk "come away determined to do something in their own lives, with the conviction that the reign of God is possible. We are a long way still from the reign of God, and therefore, there is something required of us as Christians today."

("Silent Voices, Sacred Lives" will be presented Nov. 14, 7 p.m., at St. John/St. Ann's Church, Albany. For information, call 472-9091.)

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