How can a bride marry The Bride
The Ordination of women into the Priesthood seems to be the burning question for this particular century. It has brought much pain and anguish to some Catholic women both laity and religious and also much anger, why is this so when the Church's position has not changed over the centuries?
If women feel they are being unjustly treated or are being disregarded as to their value within The Catholic Church, then contrary to their 'perceived' erroneous opinion that The Church devalues women, in favor of a 'Patriarchal' hierarchy, they are then misinformed. One must then draw the conclusion that outside of the facts the women who feel themselves degraded or devalued is of a personal nature, rather than Church policy!
God did not differentiate between the sexes, He created in ardent Love both man and woman. If one group is thought less than the other then that is a man made concept devoid of love, for God created in each individual irrespective of gender the sacredness of being.
Why then is there such conjecture and controversy over the ordination of women?
We must look at early Church Teachings and Traditions, espoused by the Early Church Fathers. When we read the documents from the Early Church Fathers, we must also read it in its context with due consideration to the society values of that particular era. The writings of many of the Church Fathers may seem harsh or outmoded in our modern democratic society, but even though the language may be of another century, the content of the said documents still stand as truth, both Sacred and Inviolate, in the Tradition and Teachings of The Catholic Church!
The Sacrament of Holy Orders when conferred on the male makes him the spouse of The Bride which is The Catholic Church. It is from this deeply Mystical Union that the Priest bears a Supernatural and Holy love for The Bride and is Faithful to Her Teachings and Traditions; the Priest is in effect as Christ, with Christ and in Christ. Therefore the Priest is obligated to love the Church as Christ Himself Loves Her. Therefore no one may change what Christ Himself instituted when He chose the Twelve Apostles in the Birth of the Judea/Christian Church, therefore no community can take the place of Christ who instructs the Faithful through The Holy Spirit in matters of Church Doctrine, when conferring men into the Priesthood. For it is Christ who calls, consecrates and sends forth Ministers in the Sacrament of Holy Orders.
The Catholic Church is merely following what Christ Himself instituted when He called the twelve Apostles, to follow Him and become fishers of men, even though many women also followed our Lord they were not included in the twelve, from which Christ chose.
But Christ also honored the specific role of women and overturned long entrenched Law imposed by the Pharisees and Saducees, when it pertained to discriminating against women such as the case with the woman caught in the act of adultery. Christ also showed compassion unto scandal, when He healed the woman from her bleeding, and also broke the Law when speaking to the Samaritan woman at the well. For Christ came to fulfill the Law in His Messianic Mission but also to bring a new Law of 'love God and love thy neighbor as thyself', and to free both men and women from the sting of Death!
It was under Divine Inspiration when Peter proclaimed who Jesus was and is, as he said "You are the Christ, the son of the living God"! Upon this prophetic announcement it was Christ who commissioned the Twelve, and Peter as The Rock upon which He would build His Church, and not even the gates of hell would prevail, giving them the Power and Entrustment to bind on earth what will be bound in Heaven and whatever you loose on earth will also be loosed in Heaven! This also came unto Divine enlightenment at the Last Supper when Jesus instituted the bread and wine as His Body and Blood, only the Twelve Apostles were seated with Jesus at the table, even though one of them would betray Him!
So as Christ instituted and ordained the Church, so too must the Pontiff and the Magisterium, stand firm when in matters of Doctrine and Tradition, and not be swayed by different winds. For even when Judas Iscariot killed himself and another was chosen to complete the twelve, it was Matthias under the Inspiration of The Holy Spirit who was called and not any of the women who may have been present.
The role of women within the Catholic fold IS integral and valuable as is shown by Mary's obedient "FIAT" and her Holy obedience to God, in bearing the Son of God which in effect makes Mary, The Mother of God, in which she is the Theotokos! Through her obedience and her free will she becomes with her Son and Savior Jesus Christ Co-Redeemer, but Mary within herself is not the Source of Grace but the recipient of Divine Grace, through which the Holy Spirit distributes Grace through Mary.
Mary the Theotokos at no time describes herself as equal with her Son, nor imposes upon The Divine Prerogative to make her more than what she is, the Handmaid of the Lord, and through her Fiat and obedience she joins her Son in His Salvific Mission to undo the sin of Adam and Eve. It is through the example of Mary that we gain our Dignity of purpose, to become Servants of the Most High God, and to live out the meaning of humble obedience to the One Triune God, in which Mary is our Exemplary and most perfect example, in which all women must follow.
For to sum up, if women were meant to be Priests, then this most August Mission would have been conferred on Mary The Theotokos, but, that is not what Christ instituted, which is not to negate women within the Church, but, to ennoble women in their attitude to Serve God as humbly as did our Perfect example, Mary the Mother of God!
For further information please read:
Vatican Documents:
Inter Insigniores Ordinatio Sacerdotalis
Early Church Fathers:
Irenaeus
Tertullian
Hippolytus
John Chrysostom
Augustine
Peace of Christ to ALL
Copyright © 2005 Marie Smith. All rights reserved.
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