Woman
In "The Gospel as Revealed to Me"[edit | edit source]
Specificities of Woman[edit | edit source]
- It is thanks to Women that the world progresses: various visions of Woman confront each other.[1]
- The prayer of the Heart, a predisposition of Women.[2]
- (Joanna of Kouza) I am a Woman, but more virile than he (Judas) at your service. I serve you because I love you, not to gain honors from You. If tomorrow, because of You, I lost the riches, the love of my husband, and even freedom and life, I would love you more because then I would have only You to love and for You to love me.[3]
- Woman is not the same as man in her formation and in her reactions to original sin. Man has other goals for his desires, more or less good. Woman has one goal: love.[4]
Status of Woman[edit | edit source]
- Exploitation of Woman.[5]
- Dissolute Women also have their formidable cross.[6]
- Joanna, Woman of Chuza: What are we, then, we, the best Women? A jewel to be shown or hidden as long as it may be useful... A mime who must laugh or weep, attract or repel, speak or be silent, show herself or remain hidden, as long as it is to satisfy the desires of man... always in his interest... Our fate is sad, Lord! And degrading, too! - In compensation, it is given to you to know how to rise higher by the spirit.[7]
- We are accustomed to seeing Woman as an inferior being and to thinking that she is. No. (...) I tell you that there is a lot of strength in the Heart of Woman. In the Heart, as for us men, in intelligence.[8]
Women-Disciples[edit | edit source]
- The status of Women-Disciples.[9]
- In Religion universal of Christ, and at the time of forgiveness, all this is changed. All Grace was gathered in one Woman and She gave birth to Him to the world so that it might be redeemed. Woman is thus no longer marked by the disdain of God, but she is God's helper. And through the Woman, beloved of the Lord, all Women can become Disciples of the Lord, not only as the masses, but as lower order priestesses, coadjutrices to the priests whom they can greatly help...[10]
- I only ask you to observe, to notice, within yourself, the differences you see between The Women Disciples and the Disciples, and to impartially notice how they respond to my teaching. You will see that Women are better than you.[11]
The Object of Desire[edit | edit source]
- The Temptation of Satan: You are young and beautiful. Start with Woman. It is always through her that one must begin. I was wrong in causing Woman to disobey. I should have advised her differently. I would have made a better instrument of her and would have defeated God.[12]
In fundamental Christian texts[edit | edit source]
In the Bible[edit | edit source]
- God created man in His image, in the image of God He created him; male and Woman He created them[13].
- In Isaiah, God has maternal qualities in relation to men, His children: ([14]-[15]-[16]-[17])
- A graceful Woman gains glory, and energetic men gain riches.[18] – Whoever finds a Woman finds good fortune and obtains a Yahweh's favor.[19]
- I will apply my whole Heart to know, to explore, to seek wisdom and reason, to also know that wickedness is foolishness, an overwhelming foolishness. And I find, I, more bitter than death a Woman when she is a trap, and her Heart a net, her hands bonds: he who pleases God will escape her, but the sinner will be caught by her. This is what I found, said Qoheleth, seeing them one after the other to find an opinion. I am still searching and have not found: One man in a thousand, I have found, but a Woman among them all, I have not found (Ecclesiastes – Wisdom of Solomon 7:25-29).
- The charm of a Woman delights the gaze; it is the greatest of all the desires of man (Sirach – Ecclesiasticus 36:22).
In the catechism of the Catholic Church[edit | edit source]
- Man and Woman, He created them: Equality and difference willed by God.[20]
- "The marital covenant, by which a man and a Woman establish between themselves a community of their whole life, [...] has been raised among the baptized by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament.[21]
- The Church recognizes exemplary value in the vows to practice the evangelical counsels [...] and rejoices that there are many men and Women within it wishing to follow more closely and manifest more clearly the annihilation of the Savior, [...][22]
- It belongs to each, man and Woman, to recognize and accept their sexual identity. The physical, moral, and spiritual difference and complementarity are oriented towards the Goods of marriage and the flourishing of family life. The harmony of the couple and society depends in part on how complementarity, mutual need, and mutual support are lived between the sexes.[23]
- Sexual exploitation of Woman – Pornography, prostitution, rape.[24]
- Access to work and profession must be open to all without unjust discrimination - men and Women (...)[25]
- You shall not covet your neighbor's Woman.[26]
From other sources[edit | edit source]
- Apostolic Letter "Mulieris Dignitatem" on the dignity and vocation of Woman - John Paul II, August 15, 1988
"A sign of the timesThen the Apostolic Letter addresses several themes related to Woman:1. THE DIGNITY OF Woman and her vocation – constant objects of human and Christian reflection – have in recent years taken on a very particular prominence. This is evident, among other things, in the interventions of the Magisterium of the Church, echoed by various documents of the Second Vatican Council, which later affirmed in its Final Message:
"The hour is coming, the hour has come when the vocation of Woman is fulfilled in fullness, the hour when Woman acquires in the city an influence, a radiance, a power never before reached. That is why, at this moment when humanity is undergoing such a profound change, Women imbued with The Spirit of the Gospel can do so much to help humanity not to fall" ( Message of the Council to Women (December 8, 1965): AAS 58 (1966), pp. 13-14).
The words of this Message summarize what had already been expressed by the Council's teaching, especially in the pastoral constitution Gaudium et Spes (nos. 8, 9, 60.) and the decree on the apostolate of the laity Apostolicam actuositatem (no. 9).
Chapter II – Mary, Mother of GodThe letter addresses the specific Mission of Woman: love as the greatest of Virtues:Chapter III – Image and likeness of God: Woman in the Old Testament
Chapter IV – Eve and Mary
Chapter V – Jesus Christ: Woman in the New Testament
Chapter VI: Maternity and virginity: two dimensions of the vocation of Woman. Maternity understood both physically and spiritually.
Chapter VII: The Church, Bride of Christ.
Chapter VII – "The greatest is charity": The Mission of Woman, facing changes. The dignity of Woman and the order of love.
"This also explains the primacy of love expressed in Paul's words in the Letter to the Corinthians: "The greatest is charity" (cf. 1 Corinthians 13:13). Without resorting to this order and primacy, it is not possible to give a complete and adequate answer to the question about the dignity of Woman and her vocation. When we say that Woman is the one who receives love to love in return, we do not only or mainly think of the specific nuptial relationship of marriage. We think of something more universal, founded on the very fact of being Woman in the entirety of interpersonal relationships that shape in very diverse ways conviviality and collaboration between persons, men and Women. In this broad and differentiated context, Woman presents a particular value as a human person and, at the same time, as a concrete person, by virtue of her femininity. This concerns all Women and each one of them, regardless of the cultural context in which they find themselves, their spiritual, psychological, and physical characteristics, such as age, education, health, work, marital status, or singleness.[27]The rest of the text does not legislate on the "place" of Woman (who, besides her own Mission, is part of the Mission of the laity as otherwise defined), but ends with this declaration:
"The moral strength of Woman, her spiritual strength, reaches the Awareness of the fact that God entrusts man, the human being, to her in a specific way. Naturally, God entrusts every man to all and everyone. However, this concerns Woman in a specific way – precisely because of her femininity – and this especially determines her vocation".The Apostolic Letter concludes with a hymn to Woman:
Chapter IX : Conclusion: "If you knew the gift of God"[...]
In the Marian Year, the Church desires to thank the Most Holy Trinity for the "mystery of Woman" and for every Woman, for what constitutes the eternal dimension of her feminine dignity, for the "wonders of God" which, in the history of human generations, have been accomplished in and through her. [...]
Therefore, the Church gives thanks for all Women and for each of them: for mothers, for sisters, for wives; for Women consecrated to God in virginity; for Women devoted to so many human beings who await the gratuitous love of another person; for Women who watch over the human being in the Family, this fundamental sign of the human community; for Women who exercise a profession, those upon whom sometimes a great social responsibility rests; for "valiant" Women and for "weak" Women: for all, as they came forth from the Heart of God in all the beauty and richness of their femininity, as they have been surrounded by His eternal love; as with man they fulfill the Pilgrimage of this earth, the temporal "Homeland" of men, sometimes turned into a "valley of tears"; as they bear, with man, the shared responsibility of the destiny of humanity, following the daily necessities and the final destiny that the human family has in God, within the ineffable Trinity.
The Church gives thanks for all manifestations of the feminine "genius" that have appeared throughout history, among all peoples and nations; [...]
At the same time, the Church requests that these priceless "manifestations of The Spirit" (cf. 1 Corinthians 12:4 ff), given with great generosity to the "daughters" of eternal Jerusalem, be attentively recognized and appreciated, so that they contribute to the common Good of the Church and humanity, especially in our time. Meditating on the biblical mystery of "Woman", the Church prays that all Women find themselves in this mystery, so that they may rediscover their "supreme vocation".
Notes and references[edit | edit source]
- ↑ EMV 262
- ↑ EMV 262
- ↑ EMV 400
- ↑ EMV 420
- ↑ EMV 104
- ↑ EMV 184
- ↑ EMV 461
- ↑ EMV 511
- ↑ EMV 153
- ↑ EMV 157
- ↑ EMV 307
- ↑ EMV 46
- ↑ Gen 1:27
- ↑ Isaiah 49:14-15
- ↑ Isaiah 66:13
- ↑ Isaiah 42:14
- ↑ Isaiah 46:3-4
- ↑ Proverbs 11:16
- ↑ Proverbs 18:22
- ↑ CEC 369 and following
- ↑ CEC 1601 and following
- ↑ CEC 2103
- ↑ CEC 2331 and following
- ↑ CEC 2351 and following
- ↑ CEC 2433
- ↑ CEC 2514
- ↑ Saint Thérèse of the Child Jesus defined herself thus: "In the Heart of the Church, my mother, I would be love".