ST. JOSEMARIA ON THE IRREPLACEABLE ROLE OF WOMEN. - Catholics Striving For Holiness

ST. JOSEMARIA ON THE IRREPLACEABLE ROLE OF WOMEN IN THE FAMILY, IN SOCIETY AND IN THE CHURCH

The Gospel of St. Luke narrates to us that in Jesus’ task of preaching the Gospel from one village to another, He and his disciples were accompanied by holy women:

“Accompanying him were the Twelve and SOME WOMEN who had been cured of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary, called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, Joanna, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, Susanna, AND MANY OTHERS WHO PROVIDED FOR THEM OUT OF THEIR RESOURCES” (Lk 8:1–3).”

The women who accompanied them had the task of helping Jesus and his disciples “out of their resources”, says St. Luke, underlining THEIR GENEROSITY AND SHOWING THEIR HEARTFELT GRATITUDE FOR WHAT JESUS HAD DONE TO THEM, THUS COLLABORATING IN HIS WORK OF EVANGELIZATION AND REDEMPTION.

Everyone, men and women alike, share an equal dignity within the Church. Nevertheless, within this context of equality, women certainly possess specific traits which are of utmost importance in the task of evangelization.

St. Josemaria, appreciating the irreplaceable role of women to the family, to society and to the Church, said:

“Women are called to bring to the family, to society and to the Church, CHARACTERISTICS WHICH ARE THEIR OWN AND WHICH THEY ALONE CAN GIVE —THEIR GENTLE WARMTH AND UNTIRING GENEROSITY, THEIR LOVE FOR DETAIL, THEIR QUICK-WITTEDNESS AND INTUITION, THEIR SIMPLE AND DEEP PIETY, THEIR CONSTANCY…. A WOMAN’S FEMINITY IS GENUINE ONLY IF SHE IS AWARE OF THE BEAUTY OF THIS CONTRIBUTION FOR WHICH THERE IS NO SUBSTITUTE— and if she incorporates it into her own life” (Conversations, 14 and 87).

The attention she gives to her family will always be a woman’s greatest dignity. In the care she takes of her husband and children or, to put it in more general terms, in her work of creating a warm and formative atmosphere around her, a woman fulfils the most indispensable part of her mission. And so it follows that she can achieve her personal perfection there.

What I have just said does not go against her participating in other aspects of social life including politics. In these spheres, too, women can offer a valuable personal contribution, without neglecting their special feminine qualities. They will do this to the extent to which they are humanly and professionally equipped. Both family and society clearly need this special contribution, which is in no way secondary to that of men.

Development, maturity, emancipation of women should not mean a pretence of equality, of uniformity with men, a servile imitation of a man’s way of doing things. That would not get us anywhere. Women would turn out losers, not because they are better than men or worse, but because they are different.

In terms of fundamentals, one can in fact speak of equal rights which should be legally recognised, both in civil and ecclesiastical law. Women, like men, possess the dignity of being persons and children of God. Nevertheless, on this basis of fundamental equality, each must achieve what is proper to him or her. In this sense a woman’s emancipation means that she should have a real possibility of developing her own potentialities to the fullest extent — those which she has personally and those which she has in common with other women. Equal rights and equal opportunities before the law do not suppress this diversity, which enriches all mankind. They presuppose and encourage it.

Women are called to bring to the family, to society and to the Church, characteristics which are their own and which they alone can give: their gentle warmth and untiring generosity, their love for detail, their quick-wittedness and intuition, their simple and deep piety, their constancy… A woman’s femininity is genuine only if she is aware of the beauty of this contribution for which there is no substitute and if she incorporates it into her own life.

To fulfil this mission, a woman has to develop her own personality and not let herself be carried away by a naive desire to imitate, which, as a rule, would tend to put her in an inferior position and leave her unique qualities unfulfilled. If she is a mature person, with a character and mind of her own, she will indeed accomplish the mission to which she feels called, whatever it may be. Her life and work will be really constructive, fruitful and full of meaning, whether she spends the day dedicated to her husband and children or whether, having given up the idea of marriage for a noble reason, she has given herself fully to other tasks.

Each woman in her own sphere of life, if she is faithful to her divine and human vocation can and, in fact, does achieve the fullness of her feminine personality. Let us remember that Mary, Mother of God and Mother of men, is not only a model but also a proof of the transcendental value of an apparently unimportant life.

Conversations with St. Josemaria, n. 87

Woman is stronger than man, and more faithful, in the hour of suffering: Mary of Magdala and Mary Cleophas and Salome! With a group of valiant women like these, closely united to our Lady of Sorrows, what work for souls could be done in the world! (The Way, 982).

Let us thank all the women in the world who have given themselves generously and untiringly in spreading the faith in their homes, place of work, in the parishes and countless social settings, through their words, example, deep piety coupled with the feminine gentleness, constancy and love for detail.

Let us also ask God, through the intercession of the Mother of all mothers, the Blessed Virgin Mary, for all the mothers in the world so that they be more aware and responsible in fulfilling their irreplaceable and indispensable role on the evangelization of their family, which is the foundation of the evangelization of the society.

Finally, let us ask God through Our Lady so that countless women in the world would generously respond to their call to follow Christ in every state and condition in life: their call to holiness for many great things depend on them and only they could give.

PHOTO SOURCE: Bartolomé Esteban Murillo, “La Crucifixión”

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