took and mixed in with three measures of flour until
all of it was leavened." Matthew 13:33
Leaven History
Leaven Birthday Bash Uplifting for All
On Sunday, October 28, 2007, many friends of Leaven gathered on the top floor of The Gardens of St. Elizabeth to celebrate our 15th birthday. A spectacular 360° view of Denver in autumn welcomed guests who brought wine and hors d'ouevres and sat at tables festively decorated with boxes of bread mix wrapped in multi-colored ribbons. Ellen Belle, board chair and Charisse Broderick King, Leaven’s layout and production coordinator, decorated beautifully around the party's theme, Still Rising, which included a decadent chocolate birthday cake, complete with chocolate mousse filling and festooned with icing balloons.
Dennis Kennedy served as MC and led the group in a rousing sing-a-long of old familiar Catholic hymns. In addition, he shared his skewed, fallible interpretation of articles in a recent edition of the Denver Catholic Register. A skit spoofing some of the past and ongoing challenges of publishing Leaven starred Kathy Coffey and John Kane as themselves at a news conference with the world’s press, gathered for the auspicious occasion. Reporters were former advisory board member Lee Kaspari as Peter Steinfuss, New York Times religion editor, current board members Sajit Kabadi as Fr. Guido Sarducci from L’Osservatoro Romano, the Vatican newspaper, Amy Sheber Howard as Sadie Spiritu from the Catholic Flower Power Network, and Mary Ann Figlino playing Shirley Slap You, the archbishop’s conservative cousin from The Denver Catholic Register. During the program, current board members Betty Voss and Trish Dunn shared some quotations from different Leaven articles through the years, some serious, some funny.
Co-founding editors Kathy Coffey and John Kane reminisced about Leaven's early days. Kathy remembers talking with Mary Luke Tobin, SL, a member of the initial Advisory Board, about the possibility of beginning a local Catholic publication. She said, "Of course, you have to do it, otherwise half the human race won't be represented." Both John and Kathy remember that often there wouldn't be enough material for an issue, then articles would show up, often at the last minute. According to John, "We've been blessed with good writers and generous donors - and we continue to need new writers!"
Kathy shared the following reflections about the party:
The daily reading for the Tuesday after Leaven’s birthday bash was Luke 13:18-21. As I read of the woman kneading yeast into dough, all I could think of was our gathering Sunday. It combined the warmth of summer with the colors of autumn, lots of good food (especially bread!) and drink, splendid company and conversation. When I remembered our launching this little rag at one of the church reform meetings held around the pope's visit, I had to smile. Nearly sixty people there to celebrate, countless others who couldn't be there sending good wishes, and surely Jim [Sunderland, SJ an early Advisory Board member] and Luke Tobin cheering from another dimension. For a bunch of mischief-makers, we've grown and flourished. We have much to be grateful for.
For those who came to the party, it was fun to see you! For those who couldn't be there, rest assured that Leaven is indeed Still Rising, looking forward to the future!
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Blast from the Past #1
From Volume 1, Number 1, the August/September 1992 Issue
Gallup Survey
In regard to the issue of birth control, 87% of Catholics believe that couples should exercise their own conscience on this matter.
Catholics are firm in rejecting admonitions from the hierarchy about how to vote based on a candidate’s views on abortion. Seventy percent believe they can make their own voting decisions in good conscience.
Catholics are in the process of rejecting homophobia when it comes to job discrimination against gay or lesbians. The data reveals a split in views about the moral acceptability of sexual relations in a committed relationship: 46% agree these can be morally acceptable; 48% disagree.
Some of the most striking data reveals that U.S. Catholics may be ready to move away from top-down hierarchical structure toward forms of intra-church democracy, lay responsibility and participation commonly found in early centuries of the church. 72% of all Catholics favor the election of bishops; 68% favor lay selection of pastors; 81% believe it is possible to be a good Catholic and publicly disagree with church teaching.
In two areas, Catholics strongly agree with their bishops. The bishops are on record favoring a national health insurance system with comprehensive coverage; they often lobby for spending to alleviate poverty and homelessness and they generally advocate a reduced military budget. Seventy-four percent of lay Catholics agree that they would be willing to pay more taxes to establish a national health care program which covers all Americans, and 79% believe that “public spending for poverty and homelessness is more important than military spending.”
EDITORS’ NOTE: Though these survey results appeared in the first issue of Leaven in August 1992, the topics addressed are ever “ancient” and ever new. Birth control and any influence on our political choices seem to be easy matters for Catholics and the rest of the world to wrestle with when seen against the rest of the list. What about our attitudes as Catholics/Christians toward the morality of gay and lesbian partnerships? Or our views about church leadership and structure? Have the pages of Leaven helped us in our approach to these issues? And then there’s poverty and homelessness, military spending and health insurance coverage for everyone. Will there ever come a time when the major issues of our lifetime have been addressed sufficiently to bring about a peaceful co-existence for everyone? Does Leaven provide a forum for you to find and sustain hope and co-create this future? Let us hear from you.
Leaven Timeline Throughout the Years |
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Blast From the Past #2
From the February/March 1998 Issue
Things To Do in Denver When You are Spiritually Dead
Kathy Rasmussen
1. Read Leaven! Know that you aren’t alone, trying to find a spiritual home/Catholic community, grounded in unconditional love and sensitive to your individual needs. Also read: the Rocky Mountain Call to Action newsletter, the National Catholic Reporter, the Forest Letter, and the Catholic Women’s Network.
2. Don’t procrastinate any longer—go to different Catholic churches for Mass, until you find a quite, healing chapel of prayer—a holy place where you feel God’s presence.
3. Spend ten minutes alone in the morning or evening in your favorite chair without any distractions. Light a candle and wait for the Lord’s Spirit to anoint your heavy heart.
4. Visit the Tattered Cover Bookstore, 2nd floor, religious section. Recline in their church pew and fest on a cornucopia of outstanding Catholic writing! Look for these authors: Kathy Coffey, Dolores Curran, Father Ed Hayes, Sister Joan Chittister, Sister Miriam Therese Winter, Sister Thea Bowman, and Father Henri Nouwen. You can sit and red to your heart’s content, just don’t underline in the books!
5. Start a journal—use script to express your deepest feelings or sketch your joys and sorrows in markers, colored pencils, and charcoal. The Lord will hear!
6. Visit the children’s section of any public library, especially during story hour. Take a seat (preferably with the kids!) and renew the pleasure of someone reading a book to you. Browse the “Books on Tape” section of the library and enjoy your own private story hour at home or in your car.
7. Go to Mother Cabrini’s Church in Golden and walk the path of the Lord. Sprinkle yourself liberally with holy water and drink deeply from the holy fountain.
8. Volunteer: Samaritan House, the Little Sisters of the Poor, the Gardens of St. Elizabeth, elementary and high schools, any shelter/soup kitchen, Dumb Friend’s League, Table Mountain Animal Shelter, and Max Fund.
9. Make a retreat. Contact the Sisters of Loretto; Sacred Heart, Sedalia; Marycrest; or get a complete listing of opportunities from the Archdiocese.
10. Surf the Net for Catholic sites on your home personal computer or access these web pages at the public library on their computers! Thomas C. Fox has written a great book, Catholicism on the Web, published by MIS: Press, Inc., A Subsidiary of Henry Holt and Company, Inc., 115 West 18th Street, New York, NY 10011. http://www.mispress.com.
11. Watch a video that renews your soul or tune into the new TV program, “Nothing Sacred”, ABC 7 p.m. Saturdays (starting again in March).
12. Take a day to tour the Denver Zoo or Botanical Gardens. Invite God’s Peaceable Kingdom into your heart.
13. Commit yourself to: LIPS, Leaven Intercessory Prayer Support! Become a part of the prayer chain specifically for the Leaven community of readers. “Where two or more are gathered in my name…”
14. Write a letter to Archbishop Chaput sharing your vision for the Catholic Church in Colorado… “the written word is mightier than a sword!”
The Changing Face of Leaven
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Premier Issue August 1992 |
First Revision August 1993 |
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Special Peace Issue February 2003 |
Second Revision June 2004 |
Quotations From Early Editions of Leaven
- From the Premier Issue, August/September 1992 by the Editors
“But wait. Is there really a need for something else to read? Aren’t there already enough good magazines, newspapers and newsletters about things Catholic?
“Well, no. Most magazines and papers are national (and international) in focus. Locally, while the Denver Catholic Register does many print items of interest, its focus is limited, as is access to its pages. Or, to put things bluntly, it’s too controlled. …We live in troubled but challenging times for the Church. A little Leaven might help!”
- From October/November 1992 by Clem De Wall
“Did you know...
- That in Romans 16:7, Paul refers to Junias, a woman, as an apostle?
- That divorce and remarriage were allowed in Ireland until the 14th century?
- From February/March 1993 “Vatican II – The Struggle Against Discrimination”by Mary Luke Tobin, S.L.
“Women in today’s church clearly suffer discrimination in many ways. And the various masks which such discrimination wears are gradually falling off as women become aware of sexism as it exists in our church. Still, when it comes to ministries in our church (including ordination), the authorities hold back in fear.”
- From February/March 1993 “Agonizing Over Ecstasy” byDolores Curran
“‘Okay to Enjoy Sex Moderately if Married, Catholics Told’ (headline in Rocky Mountain News). Most of all, I remember being informed that, while most women do not enjoy sex, our sacrifice would be rewarded in heaven, because our first duty was to procreate, and our second was to relieve our husband’s concupiscence. Years later, I read that in Victorian England, your brides were advised that while sex was detestable, they should ‘lie back and think of England.’ For God and country, old girl.”
- From April/May 1993
“Ordained clergywomen of several Protestant denominations continue to plan prayer vigils and a communion service during the visit of Pope John Paul II to Denver. The vigils are intended as an act of solidarity with women who are still seeking ordination in the Roman Catholic Church.”
- From June/July 1993 Kathy Coffey on a gathering of WomenChurch
“Mary Hunt warned: ‘If we don’t want feminist theology to go the way of the hoop skirt, we must dance it, draw it, analyze it, rap it, e-mail it, drum it into the young.’”
- From August/September 1993 “If I Could Talk to the Pope…” by Tess Malumphy
“Why are there six sacraments for women but seven for men?
“Paul’s letter to the Romans was brought to Rome by the deaconess Phoebe. How can you continue to justify excluding women from the diaconate when such evidnce exists for their inclusion?”
- From August/September 1993 “Hidden Treasures of Catholicism” by Dennis Kennedy
- Church teaching on the American sacraments of capitalism, consumerism, and private property
- Church teaching that “charity” is not enough, that love and justice are linked
- An appreciation for irreverence.
- Profoundly symbolic ritual
- A healthy regard for evil
- An understanding of sin
- From February/March 1995 “In Search of Married Saints” by Dolores Curran
“Only one pair of married saints has been canonized in the past one thousand years: Elzear and Delphine who lived in the 1200s. They were noted for their love of the poor, personal piety, and the fact that they never consummated their marriage of 25 years. It is reported that Pope John Paul II is eager to canonize a married couple but can’t seem to find any worthy ones.”
- From October/November 1995 “Women Welcome M.T. Winter—and Droves Defect in Place” by Kathy Coffey
“About Miriam Therese Winter’s book Defecting in Place: Women Claiming Responsibility for their own Spiritual Lives, the phrase ‘defecting in place’ spans the polarities of staying and going, remaining in church, but not as before, defining it now on our own terms. The sociological study which formed the basis for the book revealed that in large numbers, women are doing precisely that. The majority stay within the institution, but take seriously the ecclesiology of Vatican II: we are the church, and must participate in the ways the Spirit leads us.”
- From April/May 1997 “A Letter to the Bishop” by Kathy Coffey and John Kane
“Leaven is a small publication that grew up to meet needs in the Church which had arisen during the tenure of your predecessor and during the pontificate of John Paul II. We want you to know that we would be happy to discover in time that there is no longer a need for Leaven as ‘an alternative Catholic voice in the Rocky Mountain Region’ – or at least for a time when our role as a vehicle for criticism will no longer be needed. …A final note in our word of welcome: we pray that as bishop you might help all of us to become a model for Church and the world, of healing and dialogue, of real differences lived with and played out within a more fundamental unity – of Church as sign, sacrament, of the Kingdom. That, after all, is what the Council challenged us to become, and far more fundamentally what the Lord continually calls us to be.”
- From December 1998/January 1999 “Incarnation” by Mike McManus
“Such an oddity, this Incarnation. God puts on our flesh, feels our life…”
- From February/March 1999 by Msgr. Mischief
“Archbishop Chaput brought back from the Pope’s visit some exclusive papally-blessed Bronco Super Bowl commemorative pins, with attached indulgences, for a donation of only $149.95. You can attach it to your orange and blue votive candle.”
- From April/May 2000 Cecily Jones, SL on attend the School of the Americas demonstration at Fort Benning, GA
“Because we stood there together, we are better able to face out fear of force and our fear of failure.”
- From June/July 1999 Mary Luke Tobin, SL on the tragedy at Columbine
“We need to act for peace. We can’t keep saying, ‘Too bad. How awful, ‘ and just go one with our life. … It’s in positive action that change can take place when we join groups and serve on peace committees.”
- From June/July 1999 Kathy Coffey introducing a new board member who worked for the institutional Church
“Following the ancient custom of naming bishops in communist countries when being known might jeopardize them, we name one board member ‘in pectore’ so that this person’s job will not be at risk.”
- From August/September 1999 Dennis Kennedy on the Millennium
“How lucky we are! How few human beings have been on this earth when a Millennium has turned. We are part of a mere handful of Christians who will have this opportunity!...The prophets of this wondrously fresh new age will live the future reign of God NOW.”
- From October/November 1999 on Family Spirituality
“Why does this priest assume that our desires are contrary to God’s? If God dwells within, if God is closer to us that we are to ourselves, then wouldn’t our deepest longings spring from God?”
- From December 1999/January 2000 Karen Smith on Youth
“It is clear that the youth are clamoring for a voice in their religious beliefs and spiritual practices, and if the World Wide Web is any indication of there they are finding an outlet, it is not the Catholic Church.”
- From Feb/March 2000 from Trish Dunn’s interview of Jeannine Grammick
“There should be no assumption that what authority says is law. Rather, in dialogue both should come to the table as equals … Jesus persuades hearts and minds but didn’t punish hearts which we not persuaded. Jesus extended a free invitation.”
- From June/July 2000 Pat Halpine on Women and Church
“Perhaps my relationship with the church is like that of a partner in a decades-long marriage where each person has sterling qualities as well as obnoxious ones. …In this relationship, a tension exists between fulfillment and commitment, In out society, 50% of marriages dissolve. I wonder how many women have dissolved their relationship with the church because of lack of fulfillment and commitment to them and their God-given gifts.”
- From August/September 2000 John Kane on Secrecy
“There may be rare and special occasions for closed doors and secrecy, but generally they only serve to undermine authority, to increase suspicion and distrust.”
- From October/November 2000 Tom Mauser, father of Columbine victim Daniel Mauser, on Guns
“I believe our vision is one that recognizes our collective need to care for and protect each other, not just our individual right to arm ourselves. …As we debate this critical issue, I think that our Church should take an active role, even though engagement in it would be painfully controversial.”
- From October/November 2000 Archie Lower on Church
There is a “splendid absurdity” in recognizing that “John XXIII and John Paul II would both have been condemned for their ideas and words had they expressed them when Pius IX (1846-1878) was in power.”