Visionary Women in the Mystical Tradition - Introduction

In these sessions on Visionary Women in the Christian mystical and prophetic tradition, I  invite you to reflect on the words and actions of these women in light of your own life experience and the Spirit of God working within you. Choose one of the following women for each session: Hildegard of Bingen, Julian of Norwich, Catherine of Siena, Theresa of Avila, Therese of Lisieux, Dorothy Day or Thea Bowman.

As the bondage of sexism, racism, militarism, and ageism continues, this course offers us a rich variety of resources to nurture your inner mystic and calling to be a courageous disciple of Gospel justice and empowerment in the 21st century. 

In prayer and journaling, dialogue with these soul sisters, and contemplate their wisdom, compassion and courage as a reflection of the feminine face of God for all times. Their lives are a rich source of inspiration and renewal in our prophetic commitment to work for justice, peace, and equality in our world. Two focus questions are :What inspires you about this women’s story?Why is this woman a role model for today?

These are women with whom we can bare our soul, share our feelings, celebrate our successes, mourn our losses, and cherish our visions. Their stories will inspire and touch us as we struggle to live as faithful witnesses to the gospel in our contemporary world. They remind us that abundance is all around us every day, everywhere. They shine light on our path to healing and integration. They challenge us to change unjust structures that oppress and dominate races, cultures, classes, and genders. They call us to tear down the walls that divide, heal the hurts that damage relationships, and build bridges of understanding between spouses, parents, neighbors, strangers, and nations. Like these women, we can become companions, champions, and change agents to everyone we encounter on our spiritual journey. We, too, can become visionaries and prophets to our generation.

The women who appear on the pages of this book were ordinary women who found God right where they were, in the midst of life's challenges. They were flesh and blood women who knew struggle and pain, who experienced God's love in their inner­ most beings, and who found the courage to live the gospel. They are women we might have sought out as friends, women many of us would have cherished as soul sisters. Above all, they were women who listened to the Spirit and caught the excitement of a fresher vision that projected creatively beyond their own generation. Fortunately, in the Kairos of the Holy One's ever presentness, chronological time-even centuries of it-does not separate us from these women. They can be and are as much soul sisters for us as any of our spiri­tual friends of today.