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Historically, the acceptance of women in leadership roles has been problematic. They have had to fight for every right they now have in the countries of the First World. There was a time when some argued that women did not have souls. Even the Bible has the image of a woman being born of a man! (I actually once heard a homily preached by a Catholic priest who declared that to be a fact!)Yet Sarah, in today’s story from Genesis, which was fashioned out of such a rigid patriarchy in the ancient Middle East, actually comes across as a partner with her husband Abraham in the ministry of hospitality. The divine guest in this story mentions only Sarah by name, a mark of honor. She is the one who will be instrumental in the blessings of new life bestowed for the couple’s generosity. The Gospel features two of Jesus’ dearest friends. Mary and Martha are always held up as the contrast between an active and a contemplative discipleship. Yet far from being mutually exclusive, this story outlines the broad parameters of discipleship, and interestingly enough, Jesus uses women for that pivotal principle. The apostles argue among themselves who will be first in the kingdom. The women demonstrate the meaning of kingdom discipleship.What we celebrate scripturally today mirrors the liturgical celebrations for the coming week. On Thursday the Church will celebrate the feast of Mary of Magdala. Though some have identified Magdala as a prostitute, the best scriptural evidence simply says she was a woman healed by Jesus who then followed him and supported him. She stood at the foot of the cross with Jesus’ mother and the young disciple John, while the first Pope ran for cover. She is credited by all the evangelists as the first to proclaim the Resurrection and thus is honored with the title “Apostle to the Apostles.”Magdala’s feast is flanked this week by two other women saints. Today is the feast of Blessed Angeline of Marsciano, a religious woman whose leadership blessed the Church with the first community of Franciscan women other than Poor Clares in 1397. On Friday the Church will honor the memory of St. Bridget, mother of eight who lived in the Swedish court of the 14th century. A forceful leader, she was hounded by opposition to her work against the Avignon papacy. Both of these women were noted for their leadership, their piety and their service to the poor and marginalized--the hallmarks of discipleship.Of course, closer to our own time, we have the religious women of the United States, whose remarkable story of spirituality and service is chronicled in the Women & Spirit Exhibit, currently at the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage here in Cleveland. I attended a special program there on Thursday honoring the memory of Mary of Magdala as a model of the kind of discipleship those women witnessed over the last two hundred years. Sister of St Joseph Catherine Pinkerton, spoke of that connection: …women depicted in this exhibit, whether they had a deep devotion to Mary of Magdala or not, possessed, as she did, a strong and inimitable belief in the power of the Jesus of the Gospel. She responded to his challenges with absolute trust and conviction, a woman in a strange role in her period of history, but a forbearer of women disciples. Therefore, this exhibit’s depiction of the responses of U.S. women religious to the challenges they faced early in our history can become for us the preeminent lesson in courage that challenges us as we face our Gospel commitment.That challenge is not just for religious women, as Catherine stressed in her concluding remarks. It is the challenge that faces each one of us. The women-- and men-- who have gone before us offer us models of discipleship. It is clear that Jesus broke the cultural barriers in almost every aspect of his ministry. That’s why he was killed. He went against the prevailing tide. For Jesus, tradition was not the justification for oppression or exclusion in any form. His relationship with women is one of the most striking examples of this. From his own mother, to the Samaritan woman at the well, to Mary and Martha, to Magdala, Jesus offers us a lesson in discipleship—if only a male dominated church would embrace it as fully as he did.