In the recent book I’ve read, "Jesus – Center of Christianity," the author, Brennan Hill, devoted Chapter VI to discuss on ’Jesus and Women.’ I like the candor of his stance because he challenged the Catholic Church to review her position on women – women priest, that is. Okay, I used ’her’ to refer to Catholic Church because Catholic Church has always been referred to as she or the Spouse, which, for the most part, seems ironic.
First things first, I have no ambition of becoming a priest. That’s beyond me. Secondly, I am not a feminist. Is there really a difference? I don’t know. Thirdly, I love being a Catholic. I don’t want to think that the very church I love, tasked to teach freedom and liberation, is the very church that perpetuates double standard when it comes to women. (And I’m not even discussing the hierarchy existing within the church, which again defies equality.) It’s good to read fellow Catholics, like Brennan Hill, expound on the topic. I guess the more the topic is being discussed, it simply releases the possibility out there.
I have seen and heard and even mentored by spiritual women who have great potential of becoming priests. It’s such a waste when these women are simply relegated in a position which is limiting simply because the church does not allow them to become priest for whatever reason. Spirituality being the core of human beings will suffer from that notion and creates dichotomy within unless the Church recognized truly how we all are ONE in Christ Jesus.
Excerpts from the book:
Refocus on Jesus’ Attitude toward Women
One of the most painful struggles in Catholicism today is that of women who wish to gain equality in the Church. Today Church authority and official ministry are still almost exclusively in the hands of male priests and the hierarchy.
Many talented and well-trained women find it impossible to follow their "calling" in such a Church. I have known a number of outstanding and deeply spiritual women who have felt called to ministry, even to the priesthood. Tragically, many of them have moved to the periphery of the Church or even have simply left to serve elsewhere because they did not find acceptance in the official ministry of the Church. What a shameful loss to the spreading of Jesus’ teaching and the carrying on his ministry!
In my (Hill) view, one way to help bring women to equality in the Church is to refocus on Jesus’ attitude toward women and to study how Jesus’ teachings played out in the earliest Christian communities. We must constantly return to our Scriptures, pay heed to biblical scholars, listen to the pleas of women disciples today and search for an answer to this crucial question regarding women’s place in today’s Church.
It is indeed somewhat surprising that Paul the Apostle was so open to recognize a woman like Phoebe as a leader of an early community; to listen seriously to Chloe’s report on the difficulties in the Corinth community; to acknowledge the valuable missionary activity of Priscilla in Rome and Corinth; and to give special recognition to such important women as Lydia, Tryphosa, Olympas and Junia.
Hill also recognized a number of key women disciples who played significant roles in Jesus’ life and mission. First and foremost, there is Mary, the mother of Jesus, who is portrayed as the "Lord’s servant," the central image for discipleship in the early Christian communities. In her Magnificat, she speaks like a young teacher and prophetess on her share in God’s mission to the oppressed and the poor. She is the same Mary who is part of the Pentecostal community that received the Spirit and began shaping the Church.
There are others, as well, like Mary Magdalene, the first to witness the Lord risen, and is commissioned by Jesus to spread the word to others. Mary Magdalene has been referred to as "apostles to the apostles." Then, there are the two sisters, Mary and Martha; the Samaritan woman; Joanna, who left the luxury of Herod’s court to live the simple life with Jesus. These women were pioneers in ministry and should serve as exemplars for the many women disciples today who feel called to share in Jesus’ ministry.
Calling Women Disciples
Jesus’ calling of women disciples was unprecedented in the Jewish religion of his time. The scribal schools were for men only; the communities of Pharisees were exclusive; and there were no women members to be found among the Sadducees, in most of the Essene communities, or among the teachers of the time. While it is true that Jesus chose males to be his apostles, the varying lists of these men in the Gospels seem to be more symbolic of the twelve tribes of Israel We know little of the ministry of the apostles, and as they died they were not replaced, with the exception of Judas’ successor, Matthias. Although the apostolic witness was of enormous value, it is clear that Jesus was also accompanied by women disciples. These same disciples were prominently with Jesus during his crucifixion and were indeed the first witnesses to his resurrection. rather than having to do with gender issues.
Jesus’ belief that both females and males were created in the image and likeness of God and his deep love for all God’s children moved him to oppose many of the abuses of women in the Jewish society of this time. No doubt he found it absurd that women could not be taught Torah or assumes places of honor in Temple. Jesus made it clear that women would be given equal respect in his community. Among his disciples, women would be taught the gospel message along with the men and would share in ministry.
For reflection:
In rejecting the move to ordain women to the priesthood, Pope John Paul II and others have said that the Church is not empowered to make such a change because it has never been in our tradition because Jesus intentionally chose males as his apostles. How do you feel about this situation and the Church’s teaching about it?