This painting (as I viewed it in St. Patrick's Church during throughout my life) by DaVinci is probably the most famous of all the representations of the Last Supper. Because it has been replicated in practically every Catholic Church in the world, it has come to define the priesthood in the minds of most believers. Probably the names of each of the characters is located somewhere, but who really knows who sat where, and why.
We do notice that there are no women. So what happened! It was a man's world then. Men's night out was established as the tradition early. No women allowed was accepted, sort of like the golf club in Augusta, Georgia. There was no movement afoot to establish women on par with men. It took centuries for that to happen. Hopefully, it will not take centuries more.
The teachings of the church (and even of the Bible) fell victim to the customs of the times. Women were eliminated from any position of importance other than motherhood. Occasionally, one would pop up as a leader. There have been rumors of women priests in the old days, and evangelists. But they were never allowed to bubble up to the top, except in rumors or possibly as people of influence as was Constantine's mother.
If Jesus were here today, wandering around the land, my guess is that there would be women in the troupe. They would have a huge say in what happened. That is the custom of today. And maybe even Jesus would be a woman, and not a man.
So, it's time for believers to sort out what is really important to believe, and what are mere customs. Update to the customs of the day, and keep the essentials that make a difference in the way we conduct ourselves. Start with ordaining women priests and bishops. Appoint them Cardinals and archbishops, and let them run for pope. What a shake up this would be, and it would be one that would promote a new resurrection of which the old Jesus would be proud.
This is quite a challenge.
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