Probably 8 years ago or so, I met my cousin in the grocery store. We had a nice chat, and she said to me "I'd love to talk to you sometime about working in the church. I just wonder how a woman can do it!"
Her comments kind of threw me- I was having a nice time working for the Church in a small parish nearby and was loving being involved on the Diocesan level. I wasn't having any problems with being a woman in the Church, and didn't expect ever to. In fact, over the years I worked up a few answers to that question that I'd not had a reply to that day. I wanted to tell her that things were different in parishes- while the "Big C" Church was full of problems like that, the local parish was where the real work happened. It was different in the parish, a more modern and real world.
Now, let me say here that I am not about to launch into a woeful story of how I've been repressed, supressed, and opressed by the Catholic Church. To tell you the truth, 8 years ago in that grocery store, I would have sworn confidently that those days were over- that it was just not an issue for women in the Church in this day and age.
But... I'm starting to see that this is, well, not true. I think it IS harder to be a woman in this Church. It's hard to put my finger on, hard to cite specific moments where I can say "well that's clearly happened because she's a woman." But there's a clear limit to how far a woman can go, professionally, and a limit to how much power a woman can have-- obviously. And that's not going to change.
The question is, can women be happy with the place that we have in this Church? Can we go about our fine work, feeling gratified, sharing the Good News and reaching out in the name of Christ without feeling resentful of the limits on us? Is it good enough to just do what we can do, and not worry about what we cant'?
skip to main |
skip to sidebar
About Me
- margmor
- I'm a career Youth Ministry Coordinator, now serving as a Pastoral Ministry Managers in the largest Collaborative in the Boston area...married to the Best YM in the Archdiocese. On my office bulletin board, an illustration from St. Joseph's Baltimore Catechism shows two boys wearing baseball mitts looking out a window. One says "Too bad it's raining." The other replies, "When we accept things like this from God without complaining, it helps to clean the selfishness out of our souls." That just cracks me up.
ClustrMaps
French Toast Alert!
Followers
Blog Archive
-
▼
2006
(137)
-
▼
May
(14)
- Paradigm Shift
- MMMM
- For crying amen!
- I am woman
- Next Blog
- Don't get me wrong.
- Is it shallow to blog about Grey's Anatomy?
- And another thing...
- Service Schmervice
- Vine & Branches
- I'm not complaining, out of a selfish heart, or an...
- a cluttered desk is a sign of...
- Here's what I look like!
- First Post.
-
▼
May
(14)
Dinosaur Comics
my wordle!
Posts
1 comment:
Margo, interesting to think about. But for most woman in any important field they choose face the same dilemma as those who work "for" the church." Women scientists, women athletes, women in bussiness.
America is one of the few countries in the world who "allow" women to advance as far as they do. Yet a woman President is still an anathema to most of its citizens, and not just the male segment.
Most top busisness women will tell you that they had to "act like a male" in order to advance.
We expect our Church to be pure and above prejudice but it simply is not. It is made up of people and God inspired or not people have thick heads!
Some women feel defensive to say they are part of an institution that still denies its woman an equal citizenship, but the human race through out most of history has done the same thing. But here we are each and every day going about our bussiness, making the world a better place.
Change occurs mighty slow but it does occur and what a gift that we can be a part of that change. God Bless.
Post a Comment