(This article courtesy of St. Gabriel Communications. You can download the article in e-Book form for permanent FREE usage and/or further distribution. This is one of the many projects of the Perth, West Australia-based apostolate in response to the Holy Father's call to Re-Evangelise the Baptised.)
Our family was leaving Perth's Cathedral after Mass on a customarily glorious sunny morning when Sr. Lilith, a loquacious American nun known for her struggles in favour of the rights of women in the Church, approached us with an attitude at once challenging and patronising – or should I say “matronising”? In any case, she asked my wife if she was going to hear Sister Chittister’s lectures.
My wife simply replied she had no time for dissenters who know exactly what they are doing.
Sr. Lilith was expecting that. Glancing at our seven children around us, she said, “Poor thing! What would you know about woman’s rights in the church community?” She waved a meager good-bye to the children, but, before she could sail away towards another prospective convert, my wife said: “Sister, why don’t you pop by our place this afternoon for a chat? I’d love to hear about my rights in the church community. Would you come?”
Poor Sister Lilith (or simply ‘Lil’, as she loves to be called) could not say no – at least not in front of so many people. She agreed to come around 3:00 in the afternoon.
The Joust Begins
At 3:00 pm, a quick but resolute knock at the door told us that sister had come – with revenge. She had brought her friend Sister Ruth (nicknamed Sister Ruthless for the dictatorial way she runs her parish council). They were ready for an argument, which I would not have missed for all the tea in China.
We exchanged the usual greetings and seated ourselves in the living room. My wife served tea (nothing important happens in Australia unless you have a cup of tea…). The two sisters exchanged knowing glances from time to time. Ruthless Ruth could hardly contain a little chuckle here and there. The two looked as contented with themselves as lionesses after a hearty meal.
Yet when they spotted Donna Steichen's book Ungodly Rage and the Papal Encyclicals Ordinatio Sacerdotalis and Mulieres Dignitatem casually strewn on the coffee table (later on my wife pleaded guilty of putting them there on purpose), their gazes became more like those of hyenas around wounded prey.
Sister Ruth started the discussion with a long dissertation on the equality of men and women in what she called the “church community”, and finished by saying that… “in fact, the Apostles were going to ordain women to the priesthood after proper consultation with the women in the early ministry. Isn't that so, Lil?”
Sr. Lilith purred and agreed wholeheartedly, as though their agreement would change past history and doctrine.
“Do you sisters believe that the Church is or should be a democratically-run organization, rather than a divinely-ordained institution?” asked my wife.
“Don't you know”, said Sr. Ruth, without bothering to answer, “that the church took on the characteristics of a patriarchal-dominated hierarchy because the early Church moved to Rome and was influenced by the Greek and Roman cultures of the time, in which the women were oppressed….!?”
I was dying to jump headlong into the fray, to cite biblical arguments to justify the imperishable and infallible nature of the Church, to show that the Apostles could not be so misguided… but my wife's warm glance and little nod suggested that she could handle it. I sat back, all ears.
“If the Apostles had remained in Jerusalem, Sisters,” she said, “There would be no Church today. Jerusalem was totally destroyed in the year 70 AD by the Roman legions. Thank goodness the Apostles and the Church in Jerusalem listened to Our Lord's advice and left the city before the siege, don't you think?”
As usual, Sister Ruth did not bother to reply. She simply started another dissertation on how oppressive life was for women in the Church in the pre-Vatican II days. She concluded: “Today women can become doctors, lawyers, account executives, ministers, prime ministers, ambassadors, presidents, whatever! So, the Priesthood should be available too. We must know and have our rightful place in the Church!”
“Aren't you confusing chalk and cheese, Sister?” replied my wife. “Isn't there a substantial difference between the secular and the religious fields? We're dealing with two distinct societies. The church and the secular world live together, but do not follow the same rules.”
Sister Ruth muttered a casual “huh-uh” and again changed the subject: “Of late we've drawn much inspiration from the liberating voice of the prophetess of Nazareth in our women's spirituality, you know?”
Not being able to figure out who that prophetess was, I had to ask her name.
“Mary”, was the curt reply. “In her canticle of Liberation, the Magnificat, she affirmed that oppression among the people would be done away with, and the Deity did many great things for her.”
Our Lady Herself Was Not Called to the Priesthood
“Feminists may try to identify with Our Lady, Sister”, said my wife, “but they lose out in the first round. She was many things they could never be: humble, as opposed to proud and indignant; self-effacing, as opposed to ostentatious and loud; always thoroughly ladylike, fully understanding that she and her husband existed not to compete with one another, but to complement one another.”
“But Jesus said that what counts is to hear His word and keep it!” interjected Sister Lilith, with a dry, calculated smile, attempting to change the subject.
My wife smiled and said, “I was just going to mention that episode, thank you for prompting me.”
The dry smile disappeared in Lil’s face, and my wife went on: “When a woman came to Jesus and praised His Mother with the words ‘Blessed is the womb that bore Thee, and the breasts that nursed Thee’, Our Lord responded: ‘Rather, blessed are they that hear the Word of God and keep it’. That was a great praise of his own mother, and right there in public, for She was the first to hear the Word of God and keep it.
“More”, she went on, “Our Lady conceived the Word of God made flesh, and gave birth to Him. Our Lady was the perfect follower of Jesus, much more than the Apostles. And yet, Jesus – did – not – call – Her – to – the – priesthood,” concluded my one-and-only, pronouncing each word very slowly, to make sure they got the message.
“Would you like some more tea, Sisters?” she asked the visitors in a smiling, candid tone. Ignoring the offer, Sister Lilith said: “And why so? Why do you think she was not ordained?”
“Because it was not according to the Mind of Jesus Christ to have women in the sanctuary”, replied my wife, matter-of-factly as usual. “Jesus came to do the will of the Father, and everything He did was to fulfil the Divine plan, according to he wisdom of the Lord of the Universe.”
“And, who, pray, said so?” Asked the ruthless one, with a spot of sarcasm. “Did you come up with this pious thought, or was it your hubby who suggested it to you?”
“No, no, it wasn't my idea”, my wife replied, half-flattered. “Nor my husband's, either. It was Pope John Paul II who said it, in his apostolic letter about priestly ordination, Ordinatio Sacerdotalis, which we happen to have right here on the coffee table. Pope John Paul II brings it all together, when he says:
“The fact that the Blessed Virgin Mary, Mother of God and Mother of the Church, received neither the mission proper to the Apostles nor the ministerial priesthood shows clearly that the non-admission of women to priestly ordination cannot mean that women are of a lesser dignity, nor can it be construed as discrimination against them. Rather, it is to be seen as the faithful observance of a plan to be ascribed the wisdom of the Lord of the universe.'
“We may not see this divine plan in all of its details,” my wife went on, “But we accept it whole-heartedly in faith, because… ‘Blessed are those who believe without having seen’”.
Jesus was Free and Independent from the Mores of His Time
Sister Ruth had her reply on the tip of her tongue: “It is very easy to explain why Jesus did not call His mother, or any woman for that matter, to the priesthood: He was conditioned by the cultural environment of His time…!”
“Sister! Really now!” my wife said. “Being God, He could do something that you seem to forget: He is able to foresee our future. One of the greatest, most wonderful and most consoling things He told us was that “The gates of Hell would never prevail against the Church”.
“So?” said Sister Lilith, half-exasperated.
“So,” my wife replied, “If anyone knew that the twentieth century was going to have a lot of unhappy women – such as you – in regard to His Church, it was Our Lord. If He knew that His Church could fail Him in this issue of refusing to ordain women, and thus oppress them for nearly 2,000 years, wouldn’t He have provided for it?”
“Jesus abolished the Law of Moses and established the law of love without discriminations!” replied Sister Lilith.
“One moment, please,” answered my wife. “Our Lord said that He had come to perfect the Old Law, not destroy it. Why, then, in perfecting it, didn’t He consider women as fitting candidates for the priesthood, as you may suppose? Why, we could ask once again, didn’t He solve this terrible problem that afflicts feminists while He had the chance? He taught the Apostles all they needed to know, and sent the Holy Spirit to reinforce what they had been taught and bestowed specific graces. How many women – and men, too, for that matter – have gone against the Pope these days and left the Church because of this ‘lack of inclusion of women into the priesthood’, by Our Lord? How many in our days have died holding this false idea? How many may hold Our Lord responsible for it?”
“You are free to think as you wish”, irrupted Sister Ruth. “I agree with Lil. Jesus was a man who lived in particular cultural and political environment and had to reflect the customs of His time!”
I couldn’t take it any more. “Excuse me Sister Ruth,” I said, “I believe that for anyone to say that Our Lord was conditioned by the culture of the time, or anything like that, sounds blasphemous – or, on a lesser scale, ludicrous! In today’s terms, what does it mean to be conditioned by the culture of the time? It means simply to be P.C. – politically correct! How can anyone imagine Our Lord giving in to political correctness? He is the One who said ‘I am the Way, the Truth and the Life’ and also that ‘the truth will set you free’. Our Lord is Truth itself. How can you suggest that such a Person so divinely logical, so supremely free, all-knowing, all-mighty and all-loving to be… politically correct?! It is insulting to Him, I say”.
While I was speaking my mind, my wife was gazing quickly through the encyclical Ordinatio Sacerdotalis. “Listen to what the Pope teaches,” she said: “In calling only men as His apostles, Christ acted in a completely free and sovereign manner. In doing so, He exercised the same freedom with which, in all his behaviour, he emphasised the dignity and the vocation of women, without conforming to the prevailing customs and to the traditions sanctioned by the legislation of the time.”
Catholic Priesthood Reflects the Will of God
“Sisters,” she said, replacing the encyclical next to Ungodly Rage. “Let's not blame the Pope or the orthodox Bishops for what Our Lord did. Any complaints, revolt, anger protests, marches, even petitions – like that failed one of Call to Action in the States – in favor of the ordination of women, must be addressed directly against… Jesus himself!”
“The fact is that…
• God the Father did not call women to the priesthood in the Old Testament.
• God the Son did not call women to the priesthood during His Life here on earth.
• God the Holy Spirit did not call women to the priesthood on Pentecost – nor ever since.
That’s demonstrably the will of God in heaven! Our response is, “Thy will be done…!” People who favour women priests should stop saying the Lord’s prayer, the Our Father, because there we say, “thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven”, not MY will be done”!
The Infallibility of the Church Established by Christ
“Couldn’t the Church have been wrong all these years,” asked Sister Lilith in near desperation. “It is only now, after the Council and the development of feminist theology, that we have come to realize the error and correct it? Wouldn’t that be the work of the Spirit in the Church, too?”
“You’ve got a choice to make, Sisters,” my wife began. “Either you believe that Our Lord Jesus – who promised that ‘the gates of hell would not prevail’ and that He would be with us till the end of time – has allowed the Church to be wrong for the last 2,000 years, allowing the Church to become an instrument of sin by degrading and oppressing women because they do not have access to one of the seven Sacraments, or… He made the Church correct, exactly as She is – a Mother and a Teacher. And, we all know that sometimes some of us may find it difficult to do or accept what our Mother or Teacher has to say. Yet we know we must do as She teaches, especially when this Mother and Teacher is infallible.”
Sister Ruth could not allow any weakness in her sister: “And suppose the Bishop of Rome decides one day to ordain women, what will your theology be worth then, eh?”
My wife, cool, calm, and collected, once again picked up the text of Ordinatio Sacerdotalis and said, : “This will not happen, Sister, purely and simply. And do you want to know why?” Without waiting for an answer, she went on: “Let me read for you this little passage, in which Pope John Paul II clearly acknowledges that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women:
“In order that all doubt may be removed regarding a matter of great importance, a matter which pertains to the Church’s divine constitution itself, in virtue of my ministry of confirming the brethren (cf. Lk 22:32), I declare that the Church has no authority whatsoever to confer priestly ordination on women and that this judgement is to be definitively held by all the Church’s faithful.”
The Aftermath
Sister Ruth abruptly excused herself just then, saying she had to go somewhere. But Sister Lilith was somewhat impressed by the underpinning idea of my wife’s argumentation. Her eyes betrayed a spark of hesitation, although she would not have admitted it had we pressed her.
As the Sisters walked towards the door, my wife addressed Sister Lilith: “The Catholic Church does not have the mandate, the power, the competence, to change the law of God, to change the nature of the Church and Her Sacraments, because they were instituted by Our Lord Himself. And the reservation of priestly orders to men alone is precisely part and parcel of the nature of the Sacrament of Holy Orders, therefore of the Church herself, of the Law of God.”
“Sister Lilith of the Liberating Redemption, we must go!” sneered Sister Ruth the Ruthless. It was only then that we learned Sister Lilith’s full new religious name. A couple of platitudinous departing words, and the two were on their way. We hoped that, at least, ‘Sister Lil’ would begin to do a bit more thinking and a lot less purring.
We closed the door and went back to our living-room. The children were demanding what the sisters might call, in the domestic church community, their inalienable human right to be fed . As she prepared the family dinner, my wife said, “You know, Our Lord wants us to go to Him full of love – for Him first, for ourselves and our neighbour second. Some say He died of a broken heart out of His love for all of us. Our Lady expects us to imitate Him in His love. So, we should pray for the radical feminists like Sister Ruth and those who experience difficulty in accepting the way Our Lord established His Church, like Sister Lilith, and enlighten them whenever possible. But, most importantly, we must learn more and more about the teaching of the Church on this issue so we can share the Catholic truth and teachings with others, don’t you think?”
As she went on with the dinner, I thought to myself:
“Women! … What would the Church be like without them…!”
Summing Up
It may be useful to finish this E-Book on “Women Priests? – Why Not?” by summing up the argumentation my wife used in that discussion you just read:
1) The Sacrament of Holy Orders is based on Divine Revelation, not on the United Nations Charter of Human Rights.
2) Our Lord Jesus Christ established His Church as a Hierarchy with different ministries and callings – not as a democratic society based on majority rule.
3) If there has ever been a Woman to be ordained to the priesthood, it should have been Our Lady, who was full of grace, in whom the Lord was, who was blessed among women, Immaculate, Mother of God… and yet Jesus did not call her to the priesthood.
4) It is totally inappropriate – not to say blasphemous – to suppose that Jesus was conditioned by the political correctness of His time. He is God Incarnate, supremely free and almighty, Who can neither deceive nor be deceived. His word is Truth.
5) Our Lord came to perfect the Law, not destroy it. Upon perfecting the Law, He abolished the ancient Priesthood based on family ties, and established the Christian Priesthood based on a Sacrament. He did not see women priests as a perfection to the law of Priesthood.
6) Jesus promised that He would be with His Church until the end of times, and the gates of Hell would not prevail against the Church. If the exclusive male priesthood were a denial of the rights of Christian women, then He would have failed in His promise and allowed structural sin to influence His Mystical Body.
Last but not least, oppression of women in our days has come about because of the increasing paganisation of our society, which is sinking more and more into godlessness. Once men depart from the Mind of Christ, as expounded by the Magisterium of the Church, they succumb to the wiles of the enemy of our salvation. The oppression of women is just another element in his destructive work.
(This article courtesy of St. Gabriel Communications. You can download the article in e-Book form for permanent FREE usage and/or further distribution. This is one of the many projects of the Perth, West Australia-based apostolate in response to the Holy Father's call to Re-Evangelise the Baptised.)
Click here to read another great apologetics lesson by Raymond de Souza on Catholic Exchange.
