the role of women in church
The Role of Women in the Church
Sister Katherine Maria
The "role of women in the church" issue, in its demanding spirit of equality, is simply wrong! The concept of a struggle between men and women in their capacity to serve God is generated because we have confused the standards of the world – which is a natural existence, with the standards of the Church – which is a supernatural institution. The two spheres are diametrically opposed! Our Lord Himself illustrated this many times in Scripture. Over and over again Christ rebuked His disciples who were always yielding to natural ambition rather than supernatural. "Do you want to be first?" He asked, "Then be last. Do you want to rule?...then serve."
What is the role of women in the Church? What is the role of men in the Church? Is it to gain position, power, or a chance to display their natural ability? Father Frederick Faber summed up the answer to these questions by saying, "Holiness is the thing." Holiness is the role par excellence of a true follower of Christ, man or woman. It is the one thing lacking in the Church today on a grand scale. Where are our holy leaders and our saintly examples especially in these troubled times? If women (or men for that matter) desire a position in the structure of the Church more than personal holiness, then they miss the whole point of the Church.
The Church is not a modem or an outlet for self-gratification, it is rather the living safeguard of Christ's teaching. It is not an end in itself but a means to our true end in eternity. To reduce the divine institution of the Catholic Church and its mission to a bureaucratic structure filled with worldly achievements is to return to the days of the Pharisees.
There was no mincing of words when Jesus spoke to the multitudes and His disciples concerning the Pharisees. He admonished His followers not to imitate their ambition and denounced divers "woes" against them for their hypocrisy and blindness. "All their works they do to be
Sister Katherine Maria
The "role of women in the church" issue, in its demanding spirit of equality, is simply wrong! The concept of a struggle between men and women in their capacity to serve God is generated because we have confused the standards of the world – which is a natural existence, with the standards of the Church – which is a supernatural institution. The two spheres are diametrically opposed! Our Lord Himself illustrated this many times in Scripture. Over and over again Christ rebuked His disciples who were always yielding to natural ambition rather than supernatural. "Do you want to be first?" He asked, "Then be last. Do you want to rule?...then serve."
What is the role of women in the Church? What is the role of men in the Church? Is it to gain position, power, or a chance to display their natural ability? Father Frederick Faber summed up the answer to these questions by saying, "Holiness is the thing." Holiness is the role par excellence of a true follower of Christ, man or woman. It is the one thing lacking in the Church today on a grand scale. Where are our holy leaders and our saintly examples especially in these troubled times? If women (or men for that matter) desire a position in the structure of the Church more than personal holiness, then they miss the whole point of the Church.
The Church is not a modem or an outlet for self-gratification, it is rather the living safeguard of Christ's teaching. It is not an end in itself but a means to our true end in eternity. To reduce the divine institution of the Catholic Church and its mission to a bureaucratic structure filled with worldly achievements is to return to the days of the Pharisees.
There was no mincing of words when Jesus spoke to the multitudes and His disciples concerning the Pharisees. He admonished His followers not to imitate their ambition and denounced divers "woes" against them for their hypocrisy and blindness. "All their works they do to be