feminine-genius

Edith Stein Project

I've had a limited exposure to the Edith Stein Project at Notre Dame but all I've read about this student initiative is inspiring and hopeful. Mirror of Justice is posting information about their very recent conference which included luminaries in the field of authentic femininity. Those of us who couldn't be there can at least bask in the knowledge that such discussions took place:

• Wendy Shalit, author of “A Return to Modesty” and the forthcoming “Girls Gone Mild” opened the conference with a talk entitled “Modesty:  The Last Taboo.” 
• Economist Jennifer Roback Morse spoke on her book, “Smart Sex:  Finding Life-long Love in a Hook-Up World.”
• Theologian Sr. Jane Dominic Laurel, O.P., spoke on “Women, Imagination, and the Cultivation of the Feminine Spirit in the Works of Cervantes and Edith Stein.”
• MOJ friend and alum, Paolo Carrozza, used examples from his work on the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights in his lecture entitled “Human Rights, Violence against Women and Reflections on Deus Caritas Est.
• Kathleen Gibney, formerly of the Notre Dame psychology department, spoke on “Awakening the Spirit of Women:  Gifts of Personal Reflection and Social
  Action.”
• Economist Catherine Ruth Pakaluk spoke “Splitting the Baby:  Creative Solutions for Mothers in a Second-Best Economy.”
• Ethics professor Janet Smith talked on “Contraception:  A Women’s Friend or Foe.”
• Theologian Pia de Solenni spoke on “Renewing the Feminine Image.”
• Philosopher Maria Fedoryka spoke on “Edith Stein and the Vocation to Love”
• Deirdre MacQuade, the U.S.bishops spokesperson on pro-life issues tied the conference together in her banquet speech, which reminded all of the call to prayer.

It's a whole new world. This must inevitably put to flight the daemons of myopic self-actualisation, destructive careerism, and contempt for motherhood. These are the women who will form the next generation -- who will actually create the next generation. The sterile promises of radical feminism have left women bereft. Turning to the God Who created us, redeemed us, and proposes to fill us with the fruits of life-giving love is an intriguing move that compels more and more as the years pass. Praise Him in the highest heavens, and seek to discern His will here below. Therein lies our joy.

Motherhood grounded in humility

So many of us can relate directly to this vignette painted by a young mother of three:

Today, I went to the thrift store with my three little ones in tow. I was wearing the baby and the two and four year olds were riding in the cart while I tried to browse a couple things. The boys were giggling, then standing in the cart. A curt, store employee asks me to have them sit down since many kids fall out of the carts. I nod and smile, of course, slightly overwhelmed because my kids were unruly at the time and I picked a bad time of day to venture out. The boys sit down. Not two minutes later, Leo stands up again to reach for an item on the shelf. The cart tumbles over with a very loud bang...

The cold stares. The reproaches. The tsk-tsks. We've all received them in one form or another. Perhaps we've even given them. I love aging for the experiences and wisdom -- mostly for the gentle guidance of God which says, "do not judge." While living through these moments usually brings a slow internal burn, we look back and see a consistent lesson in how to love.

Children wiggle; carts tip; days deteriorate; love endures. We are all on a windy path to the Eternal, so lets give a hand to our fellow travellers.

A necessary disruption

Vultis Christi has lovely meditations and notes focusing our attention in the right place during this penitential season:

Lent is supposed to be unsettling. Lent is supposed to disrupt our routines. Lent is about entering into another rhythm of life, a rhythm different from the one by which we ordinarily organize our lives. The unwillingness to be disturbed, to make a change, even a very little one, in what has become customary reveals an underlying resistance to the grace of conversion. Newman speaks of indolence. Indolence is a state of sluggishness; it is the habit of seeking to avoid exertion. The indolent person says, “I am quite comfortable with things as they are, thank you. I have neither the desire nor the need to change my routines, to displace myself, or to do anything differently from the way I have always done it.” Indolence is incompatible with Lent.

The opposite explained therein is alacrity, "an eager willingness to get up and get moving." As I ponder the disaster in the kitchen, the stacks of unfolded clothes, and the daily chores, I need to pray for more alacrity. This goes beyond duty, certainly! Time to take inventory:

Concretely, we are obliged today to ask ourselves, after seven days of Lenten observance, to what extent we have allowed our little routines to be unsettled and changed. If Lent has not disrupted my life — literally, caused a break in things as they are and have been — I have not yet entered into its grace.

Listen to "Auntie"

"Auntie Joanna" is probably younger than I am, but I'll go along with her appellation. She had these kind words to say:

A GOOD READ

I am very much enjoying Genevieve Kineke's The Authentic Catholic Woman (Servant books, just published). It is a realistic, well-informed and thoughtful book which looks at modern life and the modern Church and sees the tasks facing Catholic women. It's rooted in the Church's teachings, has a sense of joy about it, and doesn't carry any pious woffle or unattainable goals.

It has often seemed to me that feminist campaigners over the past thirty years have raised some useful questions but failed to listen to the answers. The Church - and this book brings it out beautifully - is a mother who cherishes her daughters and wants to see their talents devel;oped and used widely. Pope John Paul's "Theology of the Body", a rich understanding of the Church as Christ's Bride, and a sense of confidence and identity, are all important ingredients in recognising the vocation of being a Catholic woman today. Calls for women to be ordained priestesses are calls from people who are getting the whole picture wrong.

I particularly like the chapter on sanctifying time, on seeing the importance of feasts and seasons, family events and anniversaries. I have always noticed that it is women who are the keepers of a family's heritage - and I don't just mean mothers here either - and recognise the value of passed-on memories, traditions, snippets of family history. This doesn't mean endlessly harking back to the past or attempting to fossilise traditions or keep up childish things....it involves celebrating each passing year, noting it, remembering things as part of something alive and valuable.

I really recommend this book.

Of course "I really recommend" her blog -- not as a mutual back-scratching exercise, but because her intellectual breadth and depth combine with near limitless energy for the good in England. She works tirelessly to spread the Gospel, appreciation of culture and history, and bioethical sanity to a country in a near death spiral. She's a marvel, truly.

Another generous review

How kind of this lovely mother in South Carolina to say such nice things about the book here. In particular, and she notes:

As a homeschooling mother, I was especially interested in the chapter on the Church as Teacher. Just as the Church provides her children with various sacramentals and other "tangible symbols" -- holy water, incense, beads, stained glass, statues, etc -- to impart spiritual truths, so we as homeschooling mothers seek concrete ways to teach our children through "hands on" experiences, rather than relying solely on textbooks to provide the education our children need. We are further called to teach the truth clearly, and to pass on the Faith to the next generation.

This is a well thought-out, well-presented, and well-written book. My copy is filled with passages I've underlined, and I plan to go back through this again to take notes.

I highly recommend this book for any woman seeking to better understand her vocation.

As ever, publisher here, Amazon here. Study guides available for discussion groups. I'll get them up in Adobe format on the other site, but for now simply email me.

Benedict [hearts] women

Unlike the Valentine gift offered in NYC (condoms to help promote lust), Benedict offered his Wednesday audience on the gift that women have given to the Church over the centuries.

Vatican City, Feb 14, 2007 / 11:13 am (CNA).- The role of women in the history of the Church was the theme chosen by Benedict XVI for his catechesis at today's general audience, which was held in the Paul VI Hall in the presence of 20,000 people.  The Holy Father reflected on the thankfulness the Church should have for the countless “manifestations of the feminine ‘genius.’”

"Jesus chose 12 men as fathers of the new Israel, 'to be with Him and to be sent out to proclaim the message,'" said the Holy Father, "but ... among the disciples many women were also chosen. They played an active role within the context of Jesus mission.”

In the first place, the Pope began, “the Virgin Mary, who with her faith and her maternal care worked in a unique way for our redemption. Having become a disciple of her Son, ... she followed Him even to the foot of the cross where she received a maternal mission for all his disciples in all times."

After mentioning other women who appear in various parts of the Gospel - such as Susanna, and Lazarus' sisters Martha and Mary - the Pope pointed out that "the women, unlike the Twelve, did not abandon Jesus at the hour of His Passion. Outstanding among them was Mary Magdalene ... who was the first witness of the Resurrection and announced it to the others." Pope Benedict also recalled how St. Thomas Aquinas referred to Mary Magdalene as "the apostle of the apostles."

In the first Christian communities, Benedict XVI went on, "the female presence was anything but secondary." St. Paul "starts from the fundamental principle according to which among the baptized 'there is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female.'"  [snip]  "The history of Christianity would have developed quite differently without the generous contribution of many women," said the Pope and he recalled how John Paul II had written: "The Church gives thanks for each and every woman ... for all the manifestations of the feminine 'genius.'"

"We share this appreciation, giving thanks to the Lord because He leads His Church, generation after generation, indiscriminately using men and women who know how to bring their faith to fruition ... for the good of the entire body of the Church.”

Ferrago

I just found out that an interview I had with Renee LaReau has been posted online here. It revolved around the question, "did I consider myself a feminist?" You'll find some other recognisable names therein, and I think she did a nice job.

I'll be on The Catholic Channel, Sirius 159 next Wednesday (5:20pm) to talk to this fellow. Looks kind of nutty, but should be fun.

This weekend I'll be in Denver. Email me for details if you're in the area.

Gracious invitation

Despite the loyal opposition's sincere doubts about Catholics' ability to discuss the subject rationally, we've been invited to discuss the theology of the body vs. feminism on Dan's blog. I do hope I can think up arguments for "our side" despite my having been sidelined as "domestic drone" for the last twenty-something years. Anyone's welcome to pile on (gently) and we'll take care to stick to the issue. I think if it's done well, we'll all grow -- should be fun!