Monday, May 30, 2016

Mary, Mother of God

Happy Memorial Day! Here is the second part to my Thesis about women and our place in the world. Last time I talked about the Two-Fold Nature of woman: Her call to self-gift, and her receptivity to Love. Today I will talk about Jesus' Mother, Our Mother, who is the most perfect and loving and womanly lady that ever lived.

Mother Mary is the most excellent example of a woman who lives in full recognition and acceptance of her vocation. It is she who best demonstrates woman’s active receptivity to love, and the way in which this receptivity affects woman’s call to give of herself. In her Fiat to the Holy Spirit at the Annunciation, Mary accepted the love of God at the same time as she gave herself to the Christ Child. John Paul II says that “the Bride is loved: it is she who receives love, in order to love in return.[1] Mary understood this, and when Love was offered to her, she accepted it humbly and with a sincere return of devotion. This relationship between the Lover and Beloved, demonstrated by Mary and the Holy Spirit, is a symbol of God’s relationship with the cosmos. It demonstrates the fruitful nature of self-gift that springs from the love between the Lover and the Beloved. In this role as both Bride and Mother of God, Mary receives her ultimate fulfillment. Mary abases herself, always pointing toward God and leading others who love her to the love of Christ, just as creation continually points toward the Creator. Mary, while finding happiness on this earth, is ultimately exalted in heaven above all creatures in heaven and on earth; for, being “full of grace,”[2] she was able above all women (or any person) on earth, to abase and humble herself before the Lord, and for this reason, she is and always will be the most gloriously exalted woman of all mankind. “The motherhood that is accomplished in her comes exclusively from the ‘power of the Most High’, and is the result of the Holy Spirit's coming down upon her (cf. Lk 1:35).”[3] Her only participation is her wondrously active receptivity: her ‘yes’ to the request of the Holy Spirit. Thus Mary displays the ultimate example of self-effacement before God, and so receives the ultimate glorification at his hands: the honor of being the Theotokos.
As Mother and Bride in relation to Jesus and Joseph, we can imagine that Mary found intimate joy and satisfaction in her private life, where we can easily envision that great love and happiness overflowed on account of the holiness of each member of the Holy Family. Mary offered a continual gift of self to her family, for whom she would have poured out her energies. Despite the many trials of her life, such as giving birth in a stable, fleeing to Egypt for the safety of her son, and finally, watching her only child die on a cross, she continued to accept the will of God in her life: “he who does the will of my father is my mother.”[4] Christ appreciated the loving care of his mother to such an extent that he entrusted to her the care of his beloved disciple, whom he desired should benefit from the same maternal love that he himself experienced: “behold your mother.”[5] Mary is the best example of how mothers that live holy and sacrificial lives can find a degree of that eternal fulfillment and glorification here on earth that awaits the faithful in heaven.
Mary was humble in spirit, in soul, and in mind, and the inner beauty and grace of her soul overflowed into her outward actions and lifestyle. It is a paradox that when the woman abases herself she is exalted by the Lord. It is Christ who, more than anyone, recognizes his mother’s great and hidden dignity, and who thereby exalts her above every other person in heaven or on earth. We have already discussed how she lived this humility in the concealment of the home, but after her son ascended into heaven her presence in the world (although she still retained her unique feminine attitude) became more manifest: she poured out her maternal energies into the community of the Church. We find her, in the Acts of the Apostles, sitting among the disciples, in prayer to her son: “all these with one accord devoted themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.”[6] Mary, once Joseph and Jesus no longer needed her, did not remain hidden away
 in her home in her later life. She embraced her vocation to extend her motherly love to all the world, and enrich it through her unique gifts and charisms. It was the inward humility of her soul that allowed her to live in the world but still retain the attitude of her womanly nature: she neither exalted herself nor sought to set herself up as a queen among men, but lived to serve and to continually efface herself so that the glory of Christ her Son might be all the more visible. She sought out the company of others so that her gaze, that was so continually oriented toward Christ, might direct their eyes also to His splendid radiance. The call of woman in the world is that she utilize those qualities which are so visible in motherhood for the care and nurture of the world and society.



[1] Pope John Paul II, part 29
[2] Luke 1:28
[3] John Paul II, part 20
[4] Matthew 12:50
[5] John 19:27
[6] Acts 1:14

Friday, May 27, 2016

Theology of Dance

The other day my brothers and I went to a Theology of Dance night. It was so fun! It is a theology course based on the principle that dance is a reflection of the theological and practical relationship between man and woman.
Image result for swing danceBefore we began the dance lesson, the instructor, Matt, gave a brief theology lesson. Since we were new to the program, he started with the basics and talked about the complementarity of men and women in dance, and how this reflects life. He started with four principles: Beautiful, Musical, Comfortable, and Loving. Beautiful is when the true and the good are united, and used for what God intended. Musical is, in Matt’s words, “when the couple is in Harmony with the Music”. Comfortable is when both partners trust each other, and there is a lack of stress in the dance. And finally, Loving; “to desire good for someone else for their sake and their sake alone.”
He elaborated on the complementarity of the dance: that man leads, and woman allows herself to be led. That it is a man’s joy and purpose in dance to make his partner look fantastic, and it is the woman’s joy to let him show her off. He said that it was only when a man shows his partner off to advantage that he will look good, and if he neglects to show her off, then his beauty diminishes in the eyes of the viewers. Wow! What an interesting reflection on life! Does this mean that it is man’s joy in life to magnify his lady, and her joy to let him? I guess it is! This is so contrary to the mentality of our world, wherein each person stresses their autonomy and individuality, and where (especially women) assert that they don’t need anyone else in life. But the truth is that we are relational beings, created for the other, and meant to live in complementarity. It is only when we live as we are created that we will rise to the great heights for which we are destined. When a man, even if he’s only my friend, offers to carry something, or hold open a door, or even drives me to where I need to be, I feel most feminine and appreciative and loving toward him. I feel a desire, in those moments, to be more toward him, and to find a special way to express my gratitude. Men, I say to you, do not fear the feminists of this age! Do not stop being kind to women and fulfilling your manly proclivities just because most women think they don’t want you to. Because the only reason they think they don’t want these expressions is because they themselves are denying their own natures. Women, I say to you, do not ever let your pride and insecurities keep you from being ready and willing to allow men to reveal your glory. That is their joy, and it is yours to receive their gift, and to pay it back in kind.

Here is a link to Matt’s website (www.theologyofdance.org/) and I encourage you to reflect on dance in light of the natures of man and woman. John Paul II, in his Theology of the Body, gave the world a great gift of explanation of the nature of mankind, and Matt has taken this to its natural extension: offering practical, visible, and physical representation of JPII’s principles. 

Monday, May 23, 2016

God's Plan for Us






One night, working late in the kitchen with one of my friends, she asked me a question that I think we all ponder at some point or another: “Do you believe that there is one special person out there for everyone?”

I laughed. That’s what I do when someone asks me something like that. I can’t respond right away, and it’s a colossally important question, so I just laugh. Then I think, and then I answer.

“Yes.” I said. “And no.”

And she laughed.

But that’s really the right answer, I think. Because there are two aspects of the problem: there is free-will, and there is God’s plan. We believe, as Christians, that God has planned for each of us the best life for our unique personality, situation, and vocation. He has made us with a desire for happiness, and he does not want us to be miserable. It would follow, then, that if he created us with a vocation to marriage, that he would provide us with a marriage partner that is most suitable.

How romantic am I sounding right now? Pretty low on the scale, huh? Yeah....

I’ll say it a different way: God created someone out there for you. He had you in mind when he was creating someone else. Seriously, how cool is that? He says to us, “Before you were born, I dedicated you.”(Jeremiah 1:5) He knew everything that would happen to you and to your spouse before either of you were even formed in the womb, and he formed both of you in your life, preparing you for each moment, and each big event that you would face. One of those events is meeting each other.

But...

(Yes, we all knew there was a but coming)...

But, don’t let that psyche you out. Don’t spend your life trying to find that one other person, and worrying that you’ll ruin everything if you make any wrong choices along the way. God makes good out of evil, and he makes lemonade out of our lemons. Even if you turned your back on God for fifty years, married the wrong person, and just lived a bad life, if you both turned back towards God and worked on your marriage, you can still be incredibly happy.

People tend to think that if they don’t marry that one person, then they’ll never happy on earth. But that is a lie. Seriously. Because in this world it is possible to fall in love with multiple people.

Ultimately, who you end up with is the person you were meant to be with. God knows who you will marry, and the person you marry becomes your vocation. Your calling is to love, and we are called to love those to whom we have given ourselves.

The happiest we can be is when we listen to Christ in the moment and make the most out of the life we have now. So, can we make the wrong choices? Of course! Does that mean we will be miserable because of it? Not necessarily, and certainly not if we listen to God.
Image result for you mock my pain
photo courtesy of 
Wesley and Buttercup found each other, they were in love, and they still had misery. That’s life. But Christ will make the most of it. He will heal you, guide you, and lead you - if you let him - to the best life you can live here on earth. If you just remember to listen to him and that life will always bring pain (because that’s life). But luckily, we are created for some place better, and that is where we find the fulfillment of love and be truly happy!

Friday, May 20, 2016

Veiled Woman in the World: Part 1

This past semester I wrote my thesis, driven onward in the writing by the nagging question of woman's place in the world: what was she created for? and how is she most fulfilled?

Here is the first section of my paper, exploring the two-fold nature of woman according to John Paul II, Edith Stein (or St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross), and Gertrude von le Fort.

Introduction
The world is seeped in many vague images that attempt to define the ideal woman, yet many of these ideas appear irreconcilable in our minds: how can we reconcile an authoritative Catherine of Sienna with the obedient fiat of Mother Mary? Judith, from the Old Testament,[1] represents woman as strong, commanding, and unyielding; but the woman of Proverbs 31 represents woman as humble, caring, and merciful[2]. It is on account of these seemingly incompatible images that the nature of woman presents a Paradox to the World.
How are we to understand woman’s relation to reality, and the role that she plays therein, and where can we find a key to unlock this great mystery? Woman is a mystery: she is not simply a submissive creature, created to bow to man’s whims, but neither is she a man, created to function as he does in the world. She does share with him a common humanity, but ultimately, she is her own unique sex, distinct from man in the attitude by which she lives her life. Attitude, as I use it here, is a mental and spiritual orientation toward a particular invisible reality.
Woman today is active in every sphere of public life, and the common understanding of her is that the professional world is her proper sphere. The world regards the home and family life as taking second place to the woman’s role as an independent, autonomous individual, who finds her fulfillment by realizing her creative energies in a realm that is purposefully separated from her home, children, and husband.
            Is the public/professional sphere a proper sphere for woman in light of her true dignity? We will explore this question in relation to woman’s dignity as a person, then as regards her unique nature as a woman, and finally, we will be able to answer the question with which this thesis is primarily concerned – whether woman ought to participate in the professionally competitive world. It is in compiling the writings of Pope John Paul II, Gertrude von le Fort, and Edith Stein on the subject of women that we can come to an understanding of the two-fold nature of woman: first, of her call to give of herself for others; and second, for her to actively receive love. When woman maintains an attitude of her feminine nature toward life, then no matter what sphere (professional or familial) in which she participates, she will bring the gift of her feminine charism to the world.
            The final section of this thesis deals with a commonly discarded image of woman: the veil. It is an image that most properly demonstrates her nature and which, when properly understood, allows woman to best live out her nature in this life.
            The ultimate goal of this thesis is to lead the reader to a more complete understanding of who woman is, why she is such, and how we are to embrace her unique nature which is so universally misunderstood. It is not a question that offers a ready answer, but one that, when answered, opens multiple horizons for exploration and invites the questioner to continue searching it out, in all its nuances. 
Chapter 1 – The Nature of Woman
Image result for john paul iiWoman is not a distinct species from man. On the contrary, “God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.”[3] What is proper to man’s nature is proper to the nature of woman. John Paul II, in his pastoral letter Mulieris Dignitatem, says that “only a person can love, and only a person can be loved in return.”[4] Woman, as a human person, is an ‘I’, an entity created for her own sake to be loved and to love in return. John Paul II says that “from the very beginning, both are persons . . . The woman is another “I” in a common humanity.”[5] Therefore, as a person, she can only find herself through a sincere gift of herself.[6] It is through this gift that she comes to know and understand herself, and thus finds fulfillment and happiness in this life.[7]
“The woman is created by God ‘from the rib’ of the man and is placed at his side as another ‘I’, as the companion of the man, who is alone in the surrounding world of living creatures and who finds in none of them a ‘helper’ suitable for himself.”[8] The purpose and dignity of the person lies in the fact that he is created in the image and likeness of God and the woman is in no lesser sense a reflection of this image. She is rational, self-aware, and free to choose to do good; she is just as capable of creativity, management, and intellectual pursuit. All these qualities raise her alongside man above the “living creatures,”[9] and bequeath her a station apart. Man, as male and female, participates in this common human dignity through which he exemplifies and portrays God. Each sex is created with a complementary nature toward the other, and it is ultimately in woman’s relation to others, and especially in relation to man, that she realizes her full potential. Edith Stein says that “the complementary relationship of man and woman appears clearly in the original order of nature.”[10] Man and woman benefit each other and are mutual helpmates on the road of life. The complementarity of their relationship is most clearly seen in marriage:
Image result for edith stein
Man’s primary vocation appears to be that of ruler and the paternal vocation secondary (not subordinate to his vocation as ruler but an integral part of it); woman’s primary vocation is maternal: her role as ruler is secondary and included in a certain way in her maternal vocation.[11]

She goes on to say that “the husband will find that she can give him invaluable advice in guiding the lives of the children as well as of themselves.”[12] Thus, men and women are mutual helpmates, mirroring in their relationship the sacramental nature of God to his Creation; both are called to give of themselves, but in a manner unique to their own sex. Woman’s dignity and vocation as a self-aware person lies in making of herself a “sincere gift of self”[13] through the filter of her own unique and separate dignity. We will presently discuss this unique nature of woman more fully, but first, it is important to fully understand the concept of exaltation.
Exaltation is the raising of an individual above the other creatures of the cosmos and a recognition, thereby, of the great nature of the elevated individual. In a way that will be seen more clearly in a moment (when we discuss the unique nature of woman), it is a perversion of woman’s nature for her to exalt herself. Self-exaltation cannot lead to fulfillment, since it reflects back only into the self: the self desires intrinsically to move outward, to find meaning in ‘other’, in the recognition of the dignity of the human person. Self-exaltation cannot reveal that dignity. Woman’s dignity finds true exaltation when she gives of herself to God, and He elevates her on account of her gift to Him.
Image result for gertrude von le fort
Gertrude von le Fort
Woman’s nature is two-fold, and the second aspect, her unique dignity, is separate from the common nature she shares with man. Woman, qua female, is separate from man qua male. Man, in respect to the cosmos, represents the Creator as the active lover: he who offers love first and anticipates the reception of his beloved of the love he offers. As creation awaits with joyous expectation the love that is poured forth upon it from God, so woman stands in relation to man, to actively receive the love that he gives and then offer it back again. However, woman’s ability to love is not dependent on any mortal’s gift, but upon her receptivity to the love of God; her relationship with man is simply a mirror of all mankind’s relationship with God. This receptivity to both God and man is her fiat: her openness to Love, and her willingness to receive and respond to it.[14] Gertrude von le Fort, a woman with deep insight into woman’s dignity, says that “for his redemption, man [as mankind, who stands in relation to the creator] has nothing to contribute to God other than the readiness of unconditional surrender. The passive acceptance inherent in woman . . . appears in the Christian order of grace as the positively decisive factor.”[15] Le Fort is saying here that woman represents the receptive nature of creation: she is a symbol of creation’s cosmic openness to God’s life-giving love. 
Symbol is a key-word. Symbols highlight invisible realities represented by visible signs, as Gertrude von le Fort says, “symbols are therefore the language of an invisible reality becoming articulate in the realm of the visible.”[16]  Without symbols the invisible reality would disappear in favor of the corporeal, physical reality that mankind participates in on a day-to-day basis. But a knowledge of the invisible reality remains in the visible world because “this concept of the symbol springs from the conviction that in all beings and things there is an intelligent order that, through these very beings and things, reveals itself as a divine order by means of the language of its symbols.”[17] Even when visible realities deny their symbolic relationship with the divine order, the relationship remains. The relationship may not be perceived as clearly as when it is acknowledged, but it remains nonetheless. Le Fort stresses this:
the individual carrier, therefore, has an obligation toward his symbols, which remain above and beyond him, inviolate and inviolable, even when he no longer recognizes their meaning, or when he has gone so far as to reject or deny them....The bearer may fall away from his symbol, but the symbol remains.[18]

When mankind recognizes his symbols, and maintains an attitude in accord with them, then he is most fully living in participation with his full human dignity.
            In summary, woman has a two-fold nature: to give of herself, and to actively receive love. The first, her self-gift, must be acted on in accordance with her second, that of her receptive nature. When she maintains an attitude in accord with this two-fold nature, then she participates in the symbolic nature of her sex and lives out her unique dignity to its most perfect extent.




[1] Judith 8-13
[2] Proverbs 31 10-31
[3] Genesis 1:27
[4] Pope John Paul II, On the Dignity and Vocation of Woman (Boston: Pauline Books and Media, 2013), part 29
[5] Ibid, part 6
[7] By fulfillment and happiness, I mean that degree of beatitude that mankind, when living in accordance with God’s will, can attain on earth in anticipation of Heavenly Happiness.
[8] Pope John Paul II, part 23
[9] Ibid, part 23
[10] Edith Stein, Essays on Woman (Washington D.C.: ICS Publications, 1996) pg. 74
[11] Ibid pg. 74
[12] Ibid pg. 78
[13] Gaudium et Spes, part 24
[14] This is not to say that man is incapable of practicing ‘womanly’ virtues, or that he ought not to do so. For our current purposes, let it suffice to say that woman is a ‘symbol’ of her particular charisms, and has a duty to manifest those charisms specific to her nature, and self-abnegation is a particularly feminine virtue. This does not mean that woman is not called to participate in manly virtues, or that men are not called to embrace womanly virtues.
[15] Le Fort, pg. 9
[16] Ibid, pg. 3
[17] Ibid, pg. 3
[18] Ibid, pg. 3


Why A Blog for Women?

There is a Lack of Truth about Women in the World

The pursuit of Truth is the ultimate responsibility of every person, since God is Truth and we are created for union with Him. When there is no pursuit of Truth for its own sake, then there follows a natural degradation of the human person which reduces him to nothing other than a working machine, to turn out product and money. Man was created for Truth and its pursuit, and with the capacity to gain a deeply personal relationship with God. It is with this understanding that I am writing this blog. My goal is to form joyful, fulfilled, and loving Catholic women who seek Truth in every aspect of their life so that they can achieve an ever deeper understanding of Christ and their relation to Him.
Most women have no idea of their value and worth, and seek it in shallow or misleading places and relationships. Even many devout Catholics have no idea of Christ's and his Church's teachings on the dignity and vocation of women. If they do not understand this, then how can we, as Catholics who are called to evangelize, expect anyone else to understand? The Catholic Church must first form her own, and then she will be capable of reaching out to the world at large; but until her own children understand the love and call of God, then the culture and society will continue to flounder and seek answers in the wrong places.
My dream is to communicate Love to women. The vocation of each person is a gift of self (Guadium et Spes, 24), and the unique dignity of woman is her receptivity to love. These two themes (self-gift and receptivity-to-love) will be the central emphasis of the essays, stories, and articles in this blog. Through these resources, women will find tools to help them achieve joy and fulfillment even in the most mundane and trivial instances of their lives. They will then be able to communicate their understanding of these themes to the world. Everything will revolve around Christ, emphasizing his loving, sacrificial gift, and his active love toward his Beloved. When a woman understands how to be feminine, and thinks about the problems of the world in light of her unique dignity, she will desire to live that dignity to the best of her ability, and that very life will bring forth great fruits upon society. Transforming society and the world is my ultimate goal, and such an endeavor must begin with knowledge; it must begin with love, teaching and understanding in the individual woman.