The frightening part of the androcentric lectionary is the seeming total dependence upon it by many Christians, something I have been guilty of in the past. When I went to church more frequently, I would listen closely to the readings. That would become my fill of the Bible for the week.

If the reading disturbed me, being especially patriarchal or skewing in other ways from what I expected from ‘the teachings’, I would be left with the homily to clarify. Never did I go back and reread the passages in their full context, even if the readings upset me. Therefore, I was solely dependent on men for the Word of God. It was men who wrote, canonized, canonized the canon (a term that Boisclair uses), and interpreted this new canon for me.

The reading shows that simply inclusive language, and an effort to be more open to women (by men) is not enough. This work needs to become inclusive. Those that make these decisions should be in posts that are inclusive. Those that interpret for communities based on these decisions should be positions held inclusively. It is despicable that in a supposed move towards inclusivity is still only being worked on by the smallest of groups, which the new Pope is trying to make more exclusive with hate-filled rhetoric about homosexuality. If the church is to survive, we must open the clergy and high positions to more people, most specifically women.