Calling All Women...
Happy Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God. Today is a beautiful day where we celebrate the motherhood of Mary and also give thanks for all women, as we are all maternal in our spirits. We ask our Mother to teach us and show us what it means to be a woman and to heal us in our wounds.
We cannot deny the attack that is being waged upon women and children in this day and age. Not only is this attack becoming stronger, it is also becoming more blatant. Do we as women know what it means to be a woman? Do we know what our mission and destiny is?
There is a beautiful passage from the closing documents of Vatican II that reads, "The hour is coming, in fact has come, when the vocation of woman is being acknowledged in its fullness, the hour in which women acquire in the world an influence, an effect and a power never hitherto achieved. That is why, at this moment when the human race is undergoing so deep a transformation, women impregnated with a spirit of the Gospel can do so much to aid humanity in not falling"
and the Council Fathers go on to say (and this is VERY beautiful and VERY important), "Reconcile men with life and above all, we beseech you, watch carefully over the future of our race. Hold back the hand of man, who, in a moment of folly, might attempt to destroy human civilization...women of the entire universe...you to whom life is entrusted at this grave moment in history, it is for you to save the peace of the world."
Wow.
Wow.
Let's talk about this.
We need to go back to the very beginning, when God first created Adam and Eve. We see that God created Adam and Eve to go together-- the image of their union is a sign of eternity when we will be one with God in an eternal marriage.
We see that the evil one came into the garden and planted the seed of a lie that God doesn't really love us, that He doesn't want what is best for us, that He is holding out on us.
The evil one tempts Eve first (getting to her, bypassing Adam) and she buys into the lie and eats of the fruit. Why did the evil one go after Eve? Some say that it because she is the "weaker" of the two and many a writer has tried to blame every societal evil upon women but this is untrue.
Both men and women have natural strengths and weaknesses, but when we look at relationships between men and women, women have a natural gift of strength to safeguard the morality of the relationship. Most often, it is the woman who sets the moral tone of the relationship. Even now I hear that many couples do not move in together before they are married, until the woman decides to make the move.
The evil one takes the path of least resistance, he knows that once Eve falls, Adam is sure to follow.
When women in a society accept something, the society follows suit.
We see here that women, as the Council Fathers have noted, have a great mission in aiding humanity in not falling, of safeguarding the peace of the world.
For a long time, many "progressive" thinkers have accused religion of "brainwashing" people and robbing them of their ability to think. Those who practice religion have been called, "simple minded", "naive" and "superstitious".
So let's think about that because I would like to suggest the opposite.
Is it Christ who does not want us to think and use our God given abilities to reason and believe? Or, rather, is it society and evil that wants us to accept certain schools of thought without discernment?
Faith and reason go together, they belong together, they were made together.
As humans, we have been given the gift of freedom, self-discipline and reflection.
This is why we as women must unite and really discern this whole area of what society tells us is the meaning of femininity and maternity, for we cannot afford to get this wrong.
We need especially closely examine the area of contraception and abortion, for this strikes deeply at the heart of what it means to be a women. And if we as women, accept the lie of contraception and abortion, then society will surely follow.
The leader of the birth control movement in America and the foundress of Planned Parenthood was an American woman named Margaret Sanger. She was also an ardent eugenicist who believed in the statement of her newspaper The Birth Control Review- "Birth Control, To Create A Race of Thoroughbreds".
Yes, folks, the foundress of Planned Parenthood was not concerned with the quality of life of the poor, as much as she was concerned with increasing the population of "desirable" people and decreasing the population of "undesirable" people.
Birth control was her way of controlling the "quality" of the human race. Sound familiar? Hitler believed the same thing, he was, obviously, a big "believer" of "race purity" in his extermination of millions of Jews.
What doctors know now is that the birth control pill is an abortifacient, it allows for breakthrough ovulation and then hormonally changes the uterus so that either is becomes impenetrable to the new baby or expels the embryo. So the woman has an abortion, whether she know it or not. And on a deep level, many women are realizing this more and more. and then if contraception fails, the woman is encouraged to "terminate" the pregnancy. And this is what is called "civilized society"?
To me, here is the real issue. What is more civilized? Killing the most defenseless people in society and violating our deepest dignity at the same time or using our natural body rhythms, dialogue and discipline to be a gift, receive the gift of the other and be open to a gift from God?
Which requires a deeper entering into what it means to be a human? Which invites more respect from a true love? Which safeguards human life? and yet, women are encouraged to embrace artificial contraception which has been a pandoras box of death.
We have, in our society today, more contracepted sex than ever. It was promised by Margaret Sanger to be a cure all for society's ailments, but we have more STDs, more abortions and more sexual brokenness than ever before.
Something isn't working.
Think about it.
An excellent book to read about the truth of Margaret Sanger and her mission is "Margaret Sanger- the Father of Modern Society."
Within the true feminine genius is the gift of attentiveness to the person, the safeguarding of the dignity of the individual and being a guardian of life.
When we embrace our true dignity and calling, even when it is exceedingly difficult, we allow the love of Christ and Truth and Light enter into the world.
May Mary our Mother watch over us and guide us. May she heal us and restore us.
May we as women know the truth of our beauty, and may Jesus set us free.
There is a beautiful passage from the closing documents of Vatican II that reads, "The hour is coming, in fact has come, when the vocation of woman is being acknowledged in its fullness, the hour in which women acquire in the world an influence, an effect and a power never hitherto achieved. That is why, at this moment when the human race is undergoing so deep a transformation, women impregnated with a spirit of the Gospel can do so much to aid humanity in not falling"
and the Council Fathers go on to say (and this is VERY beautiful and VERY important), "Reconcile men with life and above all, we beseech you, watch carefully over the future of our race. Hold back the hand of man, who, in a moment of folly, might attempt to destroy human civilization...women of the entire universe...you to whom life is entrusted at this grave moment in history, it is for you to save the peace of the world."
Wow.
Wow.
Let's talk about this.
We see that the evil one came into the garden and planted the seed of a lie that God doesn't really love us, that He doesn't want what is best for us, that He is holding out on us.
The evil one tempts Eve first (getting to her, bypassing Adam) and she buys into the lie and eats of the fruit. Why did the evil one go after Eve? Some say that it because she is the "weaker" of the two and many a writer has tried to blame every societal evil upon women but this is untrue.
Both men and women have natural strengths and weaknesses, but when we look at relationships between men and women, women have a natural gift of strength to safeguard the morality of the relationship. Most often, it is the woman who sets the moral tone of the relationship. Even now I hear that many couples do not move in together before they are married, until the woman decides to make the move.
The evil one takes the path of least resistance, he knows that once Eve falls, Adam is sure to follow.
When women in a society accept something, the society follows suit.
We see here that women, as the Council Fathers have noted, have a great mission in aiding humanity in not falling, of safeguarding the peace of the world.
So let's think about that because I would like to suggest the opposite.
Is it Christ who does not want us to think and use our God given abilities to reason and believe? Or, rather, is it society and evil that wants us to accept certain schools of thought without discernment?
Faith and reason go together, they belong together, they were made together.
As humans, we have been given the gift of freedom, self-discipline and reflection.
This is why we as women must unite and really discern this whole area of what society tells us is the meaning of femininity and maternity, for we cannot afford to get this wrong.
We need especially closely examine the area of contraception and abortion, for this strikes deeply at the heart of what it means to be a women. And if we as women, accept the lie of contraception and abortion, then society will surely follow.
The leader of the birth control movement in America and the foundress of Planned Parenthood was an American woman named Margaret Sanger. She was also an ardent eugenicist who believed in the statement of her newspaper The Birth Control Review- "Birth Control, To Create A Race of Thoroughbreds".
Birth control was her way of controlling the "quality" of the human race. Sound familiar? Hitler believed the same thing, he was, obviously, a big "believer" of "race purity" in his extermination of millions of Jews.
What doctors know now is that the birth control pill is an abortifacient, it allows for breakthrough ovulation and then hormonally changes the uterus so that either is becomes impenetrable to the new baby or expels the embryo. So the woman has an abortion, whether she know it or not. And on a deep level, many women are realizing this more and more. and then if contraception fails, the woman is encouraged to "terminate" the pregnancy. And this is what is called "civilized society"?
To me, here is the real issue. What is more civilized? Killing the most defenseless people in society and violating our deepest dignity at the same time or using our natural body rhythms, dialogue and discipline to be a gift, receive the gift of the other and be open to a gift from God?
Which requires a deeper entering into what it means to be a human? Which invites more respect from a true love? Which safeguards human life? and yet, women are encouraged to embrace artificial contraception which has been a pandoras box of death.
Something isn't working.
Think about it.
An excellent book to read about the truth of Margaret Sanger and her mission is "Margaret Sanger- the Father of Modern Society."
Within the true feminine genius is the gift of attentiveness to the person, the safeguarding of the dignity of the individual and being a guardian of life.
When we embrace our true dignity and calling, even when it is exceedingly difficult, we allow the love of Christ and Truth and Light enter into the world.
May Mary our Mother watch over us and guide us. May she heal us and restore us.
May we as women know the truth of our beauty, and may Jesus set us free.
Comments
For me, the answer comes without much thought these days. I was created a woman most importantly, to be my husband's wife and my children's mother. I get to be this man's wife and these precious, beautiful human beings' mother! Talk about WOW!!
Because I lived very much "in the world" before having said husband and children, I wouldn't have known how to answer that question. But it comes so easy now, thanks be to God.
The funny, rather intersting thing is that men react very positively to me in my married, maternal state. Many women... not so much. By embracing or dare I say, choosing *gasp* to embrace my womanhood and all that it means to me, it seems I have become some sort of threat. One of the strongest times this is evidenced is during those special minutes I spend once a year with the nurse at the GYN office answering all those great questions like, "...and what kind of birth control are you using?". The look of surprise and confusion, peppered with a little disgust, when they hear me say, "None", is a classic modern-day female reaction.
But what's truly sad is that when as the patient, I am having to educate the nurse about the existence of cervical mucus, you know that what you point out here in your post is most true.
We women DO set the moral tone of society. End of story.
We have a lot of work to do.
Mary, most Holy Mother of God, pray for us!