Humility in a Synodal Church with Ellie Hidalgo

Preaching for the Thirtieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Ellie Hidalgo offers a reflection on humility, especially as we seek to become a synodal Church:   "It requires humility to become a People of God capable of encountering one another, listening, dialoguing, and able to do the hard work of communal discernment. All this synodal listening can be fruitful if we are curious and believe that every person we meet has God-given dignity and has something of value to share and that we too have something of value to share."   Ellie Hidalgo is co-director of Discerning Deacons, a project that engages Catholics in the active discernment of our Church about women and the diaconate. She graduated with a Masters in Pastoral Theology from Loyola Marymount University and received her B.A. from the University of Pennsylvania. Ellie was commissioned as a pastoral associate for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles in 2013; she preached for Catholic Women Preach in 2020 and in 2018 and helped to facilitate national prayer services in 2020 and 2021 to commemorate St. Phoebe, one of the early Church’s female deacons. Previously, Ellie served as a staff writer for The Tidings Catholic Newspaper writing news and feature stories about Hispanic ministry, restorative justice, youth ministry, and immigration reform.  Ellie is the first of five children born to Cuban parents and a proud aunt to eight nieces and nephews and numerous godchildren. She returned to Miami, Florida, USA in 2020 to live closer to family.   Visit www.catholicwomenpreach.org/preaching/10232022 to learn more about Ellie and Discerning Deacons, to read her preaching text, and for more preaching from Catholic women.