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Tuesday, October 31, 2006

Women in the Church Again

I was just blogging around and on my rounds checked into what the Young Fogeys had to say today. Well, maybe some of you will remember my post on Women in the Church last summer.

I was quite enthused, then to read about a different "virulent" verse along the same lines, and in all honesty, I plan to check back again and again to read and re-read his summary on this subject. Rarely have I ever felt more valued as a human being than when reflecting upon this very truth.

So how should we read Ephesians 5? Pope John Paul says that to understand what St. Paul means in this oft-maligned passage, we've got to re-read the letter from the start. In Ephesians 1:1-10, we find out that before the world even began, God chose us in Christ to be holy and blameless (verse 4). In other words, we (male & female) have always been part of the Divine Plan. Verse 9 says that God has made the mystery of His plan known to us, and St. Paul argues that each marriage between man and woman helps to make God's greater plan visible.

READ THE REST *HERE*

Then after reading this, get thee to a bookstore, or to a Catholic catalogue, and order ye a "Theology of the Body" by John Paul II, or an explanatory version by Christopher West or Jason Evert or the like...do not pass go, do not get married, do not even LOOK at anyone of the opposite gender UNTIL you have had the opportunity to understand God's plan for your life and the reality of His teachings in these blessed verses. God is a true feminist. Would that our world would get the message...the women in charge of the movement on this planet have really screwed it up.

Thank you YF's for the clarity in your teaching and your fidelity to Jesus!

4 comments:

JD said...

I have always found it funny how these sections of scripture were so often used to define a marriage role and submission. For a marriage to truly work, each, husband and wife, must SUBMIT TO EACH OTHER, and also die to one's self, and if dying for Christ. Then we can be the true servants Christ has called us to be. Paul's reference to women not speaking in church is also so widely misinterpreted. It almost makes me sick! As God's people, we all have something to say when guided by the spirit, no matter our gender.

Adoro,

Thanks for the post,
PAX
JD

nicole said...

If only more people were aware of the beautiful teachings regarding women in the church. I participated in a study that included a year on JPII's writings on Mary and women in general and it changed how I viewed myself and my role as a woman. It is such a privilege to be a woman in God's creation, but too many women are trying too hard to defeminize themselves to be more "equal" with men. We are equal in dignity and that is all we need. Thanks for pointing others in the right direction.

Anonymous said...

eph 5 does not teach mutual submission that is a serious error! Also women are NOT permitted to speak in Church. women not speaking in the Church and women submitting to men in the marriage partnership as always been part of Catholic apostolic tradition.

Adoro said...

Anon,

Go read the links I posted to Father's blog for more information. Also consider the Bible in context, in that male and female together, and their love for each other is God's image...not man alone, not woman alone. And also consider what "submission" actually means and read about what God has placed on the shoulders of men, that of caring for their wives, sacrificing for their wives, etc. That puts we women in quite a powerful position.


And then go read Theology of the Body as I suggested. It is not my authority or words you have an issue with, so I must refer you to the experts of the Church.