REFLECTIONS ON FEMINISM

The Role of Woman in Relationship with Man from the Beginning:

The term, feminist or Feminist Movement, is somewhat of a misnomer because it really doesn’t focus on what is feminine, or woman as woman. In fact, it seems to be anti-feminine—rejecting and devaluing many feminine values, roles, traits and qualities. The emphasis of the Feminist Movement seems to be more focussed on civil rights for women, and on promoting a new feminism according to their perception.

Christians believe that when sin entered the world, it created a disorder and imbalance in nature and in man and woman. God wills for humans to return to his original order and balance for creation and humanity. We can’t do this, however, without first over-coming sin. Sin is the cause of the disorder and imbalance in the world. Jesus came into the world to deliver us from sin, empower us with the Holy Spirit, and to reunite us with God and his will for us. We need to know what sin is and to be able to distinguish between sin and the consequences of sin. Disorder and imbalance are the consequences of sin, rather than actually sin, or the causes of sin. The result of the original sin of Adam and Eve resulted in the loss of their relationship with God. This was not God’s choice, but their choice. With this separation, they would have to “reap what they sow” and suffer the consequences of their sin. The injustices that man and woman have suffered ever since, are the consequences of their sin and rejection of God.

Both, men and women need to stop blaming God and one another for their plight in life and take responsibility for the sin that has brought about the consequences that we suffer. Some of the ideals that the Feminist Movement promote are very good—for both, men and women. However, I fear that they will end by simply trading places with men, and the consequences will be even worse. The consequences for fallen man was no easier than the consequences for fallen woman, but they were different. Women can only be women of the redemption by walking in the footsteps of Mary, the new Eve, not by walking in the footsteps of the first Eve.

In the beginning, God invited Adam and Eve to be co-creators of life with him. He gave them dominion over the earth and the responsibility to know and name all other life forms. He called them to procreation, to be fruitful and to multiply. He blessed them, but with the blessing came the responsibility, as well. God gave them all that they need to nurture and sustain them, except for eternal life. This is a gift that comes with maturity and growth, and testing. They needed to learn to distinguish between the truth and a lie, and to be able to exercise free will.

The “lie” entered their world in the form of a serpent. Adam and Eve are faced with believing this lie or trusting in God’s love for them, trusting that God really wants their well being and that God has only good will for them. God intended for their relationship to grow and develop and for their love to come to perfection. But, Adam and Eve believed the lie. They failed to trust in God’s love for them and in his goodness. Immediately, their relationship with God and each other was changed. They were filled with shame, fear and guilt. They no longer could stand naked before God and each other and, instead, became self-conscious and wanted to hide from the light and truth. They began to blame each other. Neither of them was capable of true repentance. They still did not believe in God’s love. They feared him because they “broke the law.” They still did not see that their real sin was their failure to trust in God’s love and will, and that in place of God they embraced a false god—the lie that offered the knowledge and power of the world through separation from God. They began to experience the consequences of separation from God and became more and more separated from each other. All of creation was affected, and disorder, imbalance and chaos took its toll on all that God made.

The consequences of sin have marred and distorted God’s plan for humanity ever since. The gift of divine authority that God gave to Adam was abused. It was intended to be a gift that would enable him to be a protector of woman; to be a source of wisdom, right judgment, and discernment to guide and protect creation, especially the woman. It was the kind of authority that Jesus had—confident, but gentle; a gift of service that puts others first; a gift that is shared willingly with others; a gift to trust and have faith in the woman. It was a gift of responsibility; a gift of love, enabling Adam to love, honor and cherish Eve as his own self, seeing her as equal to himself in dignity and worth. Instead, this gift of authority turned the man into a tyrant, using his God-given power to control woman, making him unable to trust her or put any faith in her, and making him unable to share any authority or responsibility with her. He was no longer able to see her as his equal. Instead, he saw her as less than human, an object to use and possess for his own gratification. The consequence was that creation would turn against him and not yield to him, making his labor hard with little to show for it.

The gift of humility and the gift of giving and nurturing life that God gave to Eve, the woman, were also abused. These gifts were given to enable the woman to reverence her husband’s authority, to trust in his judgment, to admire him, to have faith in him, and to willingly surrender to him out of love. Her very body was designed for surrender, to be open, receptive and receiving—the true marks of humility and trust. She was given a special responsibility to take in new life, to nurture it and bring it to fulfillment, to birth, by so fully embracing it that she became one with it and gave it flesh. Her life was so intermingled with this new life that there could be no separation from her own body until the time of fulfillment. This was meant to be a joyous and painless experience for her. She and her offspring would become the crown of glory for her husband, rejoicing his heart. Instead, woman became passive and subservient, like a slave living in fear of her master. She was stripped of her dignity, human rights and self-worth. She had no share or part in creation outside her own body. She was unable to trust the man or put her faith in him. Instead, she resorted to manipulation and seduction to meet the most basic of her needs. She resented authority and was no longer completely open, receptive and receiving. New life became laborious and often a martyrdom, and even worse, an invasion of a foreign life form upon her person. She was no longer a helpmate and companion for her husband. Intercourse with her husband was no longer an act of mutual pleasure and union through love, and openness to new life, but instead, tainted by rape and seduction, often leading to abortion or rejection of life. Satan, Adam, and Eve were equally to blame for the consequences that resulted from their sin, but they continued to blame each other and God instead of themselves.

Jesus, the New Adam:

Jesus came to restore mankind’s relationship with God, and as a result, God’s original plan for man and woman. Jesus is the “new Adam,” an image of what God intended the first Adam to be like. He revealed in his own person the love and nature of the Father and showed us the true nature and use of authority. He became a servant, washing the feet of his disciples. He did not demand his equality with God but humbled himself and took the lowest place (Phil. 2:6-8). He shared his authority with others by giving authority to his Apostles. He did not give them authority over himself—he couldn’t do that—his authority is not of this world (Phil. 2:9-11). He came, not to do his own will, but to do the will of the Father. He revealed to us his relationship with the Father, the relationship that we lost through sin. He proved his love by laying down his life for the sake of all mankind; there is no greater love. Jesus is the model of man, made in the image of God, in relationship with woman and all creation. He is also the model for men and women in relationship with God.

Mary, the New Eve:

Mary is the “new Eve,” an image of what God intended the first Eve to be like. She reveals in her own person the true nature and meaning of humility and surrender to the Holy Spirit; openness, receptivity, trust, faith and love. Through her humility and receptivity to God, she was able to conceive the Son of God, by the Holy Spirit. She became the Christ-bearer, making a home for him in her womb where he could be nourished by her own flesh. She brought God to man, giving flesh to the word of God; becoming inseparable and one with him as she nurtured him forth to birth, and then to manhood. She continued to be receptive to God, receiving his words into her heart and pondering them until it was time for her to give birth to them. As the new Eve, she became the mother of a new human race—with Jesus, the first-born son. She also became the mother of the Church, the brothers and sisters of Christ. No other woman has had a greater affect on the transformation of human beings than Mary has, as the mother of Jesus. That is why she is the New Eve, and why all generations will call her blessed. She is the model of woman made in the image of God, as well as an image of the Church, the bride of Christ.

Mary, the mother of Jesus, is a model and example of an authentic “Feminist.” Scripture proclaims her as “blessed amongst women.” She embodied the greatest of feminine virtues and qualities: humility, fear of the Lord—reverence for God and authority—dependence on God and divine providence, child-like trust and faith in God, obedience, fidelity, and gentleness. She was a handmaid of the Lord: servant, mother, nurturer, teacher, advocate, intercessor, and prophet. She is the woman about whom scripture proclaims: “all generations will call me blessed, for the almighty has done great things for me.” (Luke: 1:48). It surprises me that we seldom hear today’s “feminists” giving praise to Mary or calling her blessed. They seem almost scandalized or ashamed of her, ashamed of what she represents. They seem to prefer the first Eve as their heroine and model. I hope this isn’t true. Mary, the new, Eve, is contrasted with the first Eve by her obedience, trust, humility, and fear of the Lord—reverence and awe of God, reverence for what is greater than her own self. Whereas, the first Eve sold her femininity for a lie—for knowledge, equality, ambition and power: “Then the serpent said to the woman, ‘No! You will not die! God knows in fact that on the day you eat it your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, knowing good and evil” (Gen. 3:5).

Jesus said, “Those who exalt themselves will be humbled, and those who humble themselves will be exalted.” This scripture is lived out in Mary. She took the lowest place, like her son who humbled himself to become man, and God lifted her up—making her blessed amongst women and men. She was never ordained a priest or numbered among the apostles, yet, she was crowned Queen of Apostles. She lives forever!

The world today is so in need of the virtues of humility and fear of the Lord: a fear and reverence that knows and acknowledges the power and greatness of God; that no one can exist without God; and a fear of being separated from God, which brings death. These are feminine virtues because they are most natural to women, but they need to be embraced by both men and women. Women need to model these virtues for the world. All the truly great women of the Church were marked by these virtues—Mary, Teresa of Avila, Catherine of Sienna, Therese the little flower, Mother Teresa of Calcutta—to name a few. They all became great because they made themselves very little. They could say with the psalmist: “Yahweh, my heart has no lofty ambitions, my eyes do not look too high. I am not concerned with great affairs or marvels beyond my scope. Enough for me to keep my soul tranquil and quiet like a child in its mother’s arms, as content as a child that has been weaned” (Psalm 131). What the world needs today, and what women need, is a Feminist Movement, where women embrace their femininity, and model for the world the virtues that humankind need the most.

Priestly Ordination and Discipleship:

The message that some Feminist leaders seem to be sending is that they are anti-clerical, anti-institutional and anti-hierarchical. If this is not their intent than they are sending mixed messages. The sacraments and priestly ordination are a part of the institutional, clerical and hierarchical dimension of the Church. The Church is much more than these aspects. Nevertheless, the institutional, clerical and hierarchical are integral elements of the Church. Why then, are feminists pushing so hard for the ordination of women when their philosophy is so counter to ordination, period? It makes me wonder if they really want women to be ordained, or do they want to abolish ordination altogether? Or, are they simply envious of the power and authority given to men.

Ordination involves another very important truth, the very identity of Jesus Christ. Jesus is the only Son of God, fully God and fully divine. Feminists do not argue against this truth. Jesus is also fully human, like us in every way except for sin. Feminists do not argue against this either. Jesus was not only fully God and fully human, but he was also a man—not a woman, not a homosexual, not a hermaphrodite, but a man—a Jewish man. He was human because he was born of a woman who was fully human, except for sin. She was not divine, not God. Jesus did not have a human father. He took his paternity, so to speak, from God since he had no human father. God took the place of his biological father. Jesus addressed God as Abba, Father—not as mother, not as wisdom, not as Buddha, not as some object or force—but as father. Jesus called twelve men to be his Apostles, not women. He treated women with equal dignity and worth and called them to be disciples, but he did not call them to be Apostles or to Priestly Ordination. Priestly Ordination is distinguished from other roles of discipleship because the priest represents the person of Jesus, both God and a human man. Nothing can change the fact that God was incarnated as a man and not a woman. This is a truth that is hard for feminists to tolerate or accept. Priestly Ordination embodies this truth and perhaps, is why it is a major issue for many feminists.

A person does not need to be a man or ordained a priest to be a disciple, to witness to the Gospel, to evangelize, or to teach the Gospel. Women already have ample opportunities to do this and they do it very well. This is not what some feminists say, however. Some of them claim that women are robbed of the opportunity for full discipleship because they cannot be ordained priests and so, are not free to preach and teach the Gospel. This is not true. Every Catholic Church has female disciples who teach the Gospel, witness to the Gospel, evangelize—bring people to Jesus and Jesus to people—and they don’t have to be priests to do it. They are supported and encouraged by the priests in their discipleship and various ministries. There are also many reputable and loyal female theologians who teach in seminaries and colleges. The call to ordination is not a right, equal or otherwise, it is a call and choice of God, confirmed by the authority given to the apostles. The feminists use the call to discipleship as their major argument for the ordination of women, but there are many forms of discipleship. We need to be able to distinguish between a priest, as representative of Jesus Christ, and a disciple. The Eucharist is the body and blood, soul and divinity of Jesus Christ—human, divine, and male. The priest represents Jesus at the “last supper” when he instituted the Eucharist.

Inclusive Language and Equality:

A good definition of heresy is: “the over-emphasis of one truth to the exclusion of another.” An over-emphasis on inclusivity has permeated our whole language. Terms such as love, spirituality, oneness, discipleship, justice, holiness, vocation, sin, repentance, and equality have become so blurred, so general and inclusive, that they have lost their true meaning. The word love has become so inclusive of every kind of love that there is no longer a distinction between the basic animal instinct found in pets, the mutual self-giving of human love, and the unconditional love of God for all humans. The term, Spirituality, has become so blurred as to include everything from having a spirit to a fully actualized spiritual person in union with God. The boundaries between male and female have been blurred, as well as the distinction between God and creation. Our language has become simply “Babel.” Today, there are many people who are anti-male or female, anti-God and Church, anti-State and Government, anti-military and police, anti-establishment or institution, and anti-authority of any kind; including parental authority. These are all forms of anti-Christ. It is no wonder that there is so little reverence for God. There is no reverence or awe for what is greater. If all things are equal there can be no humility and no reverence. God as immanent (within us), has been so emphasized as to exclude God as transcendent.

We are told that infants are naturally narcissistic, in that there are no boundaries between themselves and the rest of the world; everything is “I.” They cannot distinguish between themselves and their mothers. The emphasis today, on everyone being “one” is not God’s concept of wholeness or oneness, but regression to an infantile stage of growth. People cannot distinguish between themselves and God; they see themselves as God. This is a concept that has come out of the New Age spiritualities—a narcissistic monism. I suspect that the rise of homosexuality in our present age, is largely due to the loss of boundaries between the masculine and feminine. The Feminist Movement, while offering many insights, has many elements of narcissistic monism. In their search for equality, they attempt to remove all boundaries and cannot allow for diversity between men and women. If you take all diverse elements and mix them together, removing all distinctions, making them one, you no longer have diversity. This is a oneness at the expense of uniqueness and at the expense of God.

In the past, when we had more common sense, it was generally understood that frequently when scripture referred to man, it represented mankind: men, women, adults, children; Gentiles and Jews. Scripture gives us many images of God: father, mother, child, masculine images and feminine images. There is always a need to use some inclusive language for clarification. This does not seem to be the purpose, however, of the Feminist Movement in their drive for inclusive language. In the name of equality, it appears that they want to remove all distinction between male and female; man and woman. It appears that they also want to remove all traces of divine and human authority.

This is not God’s purpose. This is not God’s meaning of equality. To become one with God does not make us one God, part of the Trinity. There is only one God and God is distinct from the work of his hands, from creation. We are one body but many parts. We share one Spirit but have many and diverse gifts and ministries. We are not one eye, one ear, and so forth. Scripture says: “Just as each of our bodies has several parts and each part has a separate function, so all of us, in union with Christ, form one body, and as parts of it we belong to each other. Our gifts differ according to the grace given us” (Rom. 12:4-6). God makes no distinction when it comes to his love. God’s mercy is for all, God’s justice is for all, God’s love is for all, and God’s gift of life is for all. He desires for all to be saved and to have eternal life. Equality does not mean sameness, oneness without diversity or distinction. God distinguishes between nature and humanity. He distinguishes between mankind and God, and between temporal and eternal. He also distinguishes between male and female—the sin of Adam and Eve had different consequences. God created woman uniquely different from man, giving her different functions and purposes. He created every human being as a unique human being. Man and woman are equal in that they are both human beings; both created by God in his image and likeness; both loved by God; and both called to discipleship. They hold these things in common. Scripture makes it very clear, however, that roles, ministries, and gifts of the Spirit have different functions, and are of different importance and significance. They cannot be compared because they are not equal.

Contemporary spirituality tells us that pragmatism, narcissism and unbridled restlessness prevail upon the earth. If this is true, then the mixed bag of spirituality that reigns today is not one of light, but darkness. Jesus warned that a darkness would come upon the earth when there would be no discernment: people will call good, evil, and evil, good; people will persecute and kill the innocent in the name of God; people will become immoral; people will rebel against all authority, even their parents; true faith will diminish.

Social Justice and Discipleship:

When Mother Teresa of Calcutta began her mission in India, many affluent Americans went over to join her, wanting to help the poor. Many of them she sent away because they didn’t understand her concept of serving the poor. The poor did not need condescending love, pity. Mother Teresa wanted to give them dignity, not pity. She didn’t go to save them or deliver them. She went to love them, to reveal Jesus to them, and to find Jesus in them. What Americans perceive as poverty and justice is not the same as in India. They did not need Americans, with their wealth and power, their knowledge and technology, to come to them to save them, enlighten them, and change them. They needed Christians filled with the love of God to be with them; to share their life; to listen to their needs, wants, hopes, and fears; and to reveal to them the one Lord, Jesus Christ, who could help them: “His state was divine, yet he did not cling to his equality with God but emptied himself to assume the condition of a slave, and became as men are; and being as all men are, he was humbler yet, even to accepting death, death on a cross” (Phil. 2:6-8). God’s justice is divine justice; it is not our concept of justice. Only God can fully comprehend his justice; or the depth of his mercy.

The poor do not need Christians to lead them in revolt—to bring revolution. Jesus resisted this temptation. This was not the justice that he was about. He came to show people how they could be happy and fully human; even in poverty, illness, and oppression: “If the Lord sets you free, you are free, indeed.” Freedom begins from within. Jesus touched their hearts and souls, first, and healing and deliverance naturally followed. Jesus gave the example of washing his disciple’s feet. This is how we are to serve the poor; by becoming their servants, not their leaders. Scripture says: “Treat everyone with equal kindness; never be condescending but make real friends with the poor” (Rom. 12:16).

This humble little woman, Mother Teresa, went out to serve the poor, armed only with faith in Jesus, and has managed to do more for the poor than all the Social Justice projects and organizations, put together, have been able to do. She didn’t have to “buck the system” or attack the Church Institution and Hierarchy to do it. She won over their hearts by her love and humility. She is a true “Feminist.”

January 9, 2002