Ministry of Bullying

Ever have a situation occur when you hear and or see something and afterwards you wish you would have reacted differently?

As many may know, I am an active Catholic. I love my God. I love the people of my parish. I have actively tried to live the faith of the Post Vatican II Church; an evangelistic faith.

Today, I was caught in a situation where the new parish priest said some harsh words to me, in the presence of others.  I reacted, as many would, in stunned silence.  In retrospect, I wish I had been quicker on feet. I wish I could have called attention to the harshness and called out the parish bully.

Having been raised in this century, one during which women gained the right to vote and the right to equal pay for equal work, I feel that we are all equal.  I know that under our skins we each have beating hearts and red blood coursing through our veins.  I know that once our skin is peeled away, it is hard to distinguish race, economic status or creed. However, in the present of our parish bully, I have been lead to believe that by being female, I am inferior. I have been made to feel that my opinions and my work are not to be valued.

Christ welcomed the outcast. Christ cheered for the underdog.  He walked with women, children, tax collectors and lepers. Christ walks with me. I know that in His Church I am welcome.  I am His Church.

My church does not have a Ministry of Bullying. Help me to stand  up to the men who preside weekly in the sanctuary and profess to be men of God while failing to see each of us as equal. Speak up with your story and let's put an end to the Ministry of Bullying.