WOMEN MODELS IN THE CHURCH AND EVANGELIZATION (II)
By Bishop Emmanuel Badejo
( Bishop of Oyo Diocese)
Part of our last month edition on: Women Models in the Church and Evangelization and what follows come from the book “Women in the Bible for Dummies”: Here are some other useful thoughts in favour of the place of women
1. Martha and Mary: (John11). These two sisters were friends of Jesus as the gospel teaches. They are so important, vocal and active that the gospel records the dialogue between them and Jesus instead of reporting just their encounters. Note that no dialogue is recorded between Lazarus himself and Jesus although they were so close that when he died, “Jesus wept”. The dialogue with the woman at the well (John 4) is a classic of a woman's typical role in evangelization, finding time and space to listen to God and then bring the good news to others. How about the encounter with the adulterous woman in chapter 8!
2. The Virgin Mary and Elizabeth (Luke 1, 2) The gospel of Luke records several dialogues about women, much more than all other gospels, such that it has been often called the “Gospel of Women”. Mary with the angel, Mary with Elizabeth, Mary with Jesus, etc
3. All four gospels attest that more women disciples were with Jesus at his crucifixion and death than his disciples, most of whom had abandoned him. All four gospels show that it was the women, like Mary Magdalene who first discovered the empty tomb on Easter morning before any apostle. When the apostles knew it they did so only from the women who had gone there before them.
4. Jesus healed and spoke to women and men and children alike. He established that spiritual equality which puts women on the same pedestal of responsibility in evangelization as anyone else. What they lacked in the authority to govern they more than made up for with their teaching, witness, example and courage. Does this not speak to us about the true role of the Religious in the Church?
5. The phrase “certain women” was used in the Acts of the Apostles to describe the women disciples present at the Pentecost, 50 days after Jesus' resurrection. In those days Jewish men and women normally prayed separately. The fact that men and women were reported present together at the Pentecost is noteworthy. God was doing new things for women right at the beginning of the Church and through his own people.
“Although the women weren't invited into the formal realms of Church leadership, they nevertheless provided a service to the faith community and ideally, leadership and service are inseparable. Women were indispensable in maintaining Christianity in the home which was often called the domestic church by many spiritual writers over the ages. Teaching children the faith was but one aspect. Just as Jewish women upheld various prayer rituals in the homes for certain holidays, so too, Christian women ensured that the faith was promoted not just on Sunday… but throughout the week”.
From the foregoing it is obvious to me that whether as mothers, wives or daughters, women have nothing at all stopping them from becoming indeed front-liners and trail-blazers in the work of evangelization.
The Church of today, like the Church before us, is also on her way to the Promised Land. Her only assignment is to “go and make disciples of all nations” as the great mandate dictates. In that great task women have an essential role to play like their great ancestors in the community of God's people. They have always been key players in the mission of the Church from the earliest times. Although women were not treated as politically and economically equal to men they got much more involved in the daily life of the Church than in the Old Testament. Hopefully all women will see how important it is to get involved indeed in the daily life of today's Church and not be weekly members alone. I hope that in this deductive way we see the special role of women in evangelization today because of the nature of women, the family and very composition of our contemporary society.
Women ought to make their contribution to evangelization with all the gifts they have which many cannot lay claim to in the same measure: their femininity, subtlety, persuasion ability, your generosity, compassion, etc. They should be spirit-filled, be available and be courageous. It is not easy but with a prayerful disposition coined in the words of Mary's fiat, (I am the handmaid of the Lord, let it be done according to your will) you will continue your leading role in this regard.
True enough, some Christian denominations today admit women to ministry as deacons, priests and even Bishops. They see the exclusively male ministry and administrative leadership as unjust. Some others including the Catholic Church take the exclusively male ministry as a divine arrangement, but do not by that, see women as inferior. They ensure rather that women wield power in complementary but vital areas. The validity of this can be seen in the work of some women who have done greater evangelization work in our time than most men, represented by Mother Teresa of Calcutta, Mother Angelica of EWTN etc. It is very significant that Jesus who came to take us all to heaven refrained from making his own mother an apostle, or one of the leaders of his Church! There was no need for that. Her special role was assured!
The role of women in the Church and in evangelization therefore will continue to be like salt in food. Often it can erroneously be seen as hidden and marginal but it is nonetheless indispensable and essential. Like the Blessed Virgin Mary, women must first and foremost be attentive to God's spirit. Consider what would have happened had Mary been too busy to listen to God's angel and His spirit. Nowadays it is simply becoming more and more difficult to create that space but created it must be! It will take an attitude of prayer and attentiveness to the scripture and a keen reading of the signs of the times to see where the areas of need are. These could range from prayer for vocation within the families and groups to the sponsoring of vocations; from a certain kind of “ministering to the ministers of God” to raising funds and resources for the work of the Gospel. Even, simply being good housewives and being charitable in speech about one another can win souls in ways that we cannot imagine! Let me stop here and leave other imaginative ways to your fantasy, intelligence, experience and faith.