Luke 1:41-42
And when Elizabeth heard the greeting of Mary, the babe leaped in her womb; and Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Spirit and she exclaimed with a loud cry, “Blessed are you among women, and blessed is the fruit of your womb!”
To cradle Catholics, the Church is often complained of as “dominated by men.” To converts, what often hits one in the face is not the masculinity, but femininity of the Church. In other words, so much of the Church’s prayer, life and practice is contemplative, Marian, inward, body-centered and Eucharistic, while so much of the rest of non-Catholic (especially American) Christianity is aggressive, word-centered, mission-oriented, and focuses on getting a job done. Both the masculine and feminine approaches to the faith are good and biblical, but it should be noted that the feminine way is particularly rooted in the Church’s reverence for Mary who is “blessed among women.” Today, thank God for the women of the Church and for the the Blessed Virgin who is Christ’s greatest disciple.
By Mark Shea
Mark P. Shea is a Catholic author, blogger, and speaker.
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