Woman’s World

Understanding and appreciating the role of women

07/22/2024

Jn 20:1-2, 11-18 On the first day of the week, Mary Magdalene came to the tomb early in the morning, while it was still dark, and saw the stone removed from the tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and to the other disciple whom Jesus loved, and told them, "They have taken the Lord from the tomb, and we don't know where they put him." Mary stayed outside the tomb weeping. And as she wept, she bent over into the tomb and saw two angels in white sitting there, one at the head and one at the feet where the Body of Jesus had been.

Katy Perry, the pop rock musician, recently released a new song called “Woman’s World.” She sings: “It’s a woman’s world and you’re lucky to be living in it! Uh, huh!” And in a sense, she gets the answer right – it is a woman’s world – but for all the wrong reasons, like arguing the only way women can be equal to men is if they do all the things men can do.

And I would suggest that today’s feast of St. Mary Magdalene is the Church’s response to that song, and that sentiment, that it is a “woman’s world.” That is, the Church also believes it is a woman’s world, but for very different reasons. The Church would not say that women should become indistinguishable from men, but rather that they should rediscover their unique and irreplaceable role in society and in the Church.

Let me share three insights that can help us see how, as Katy Perry sang, this is “a woman’s world and we are lucky to be living in it.” First, G. K. Chesterton made the brilliant observation that when men perform the highest functions in society they wear a dress or frock. He said that when men act as a king, or as a judge, or as a priest, they don a dress and look a lot like women who perform these same functions at home with their children. He wrote: “The world is under petticoat government.” In other words, it is a woman’s world and men appear as women when we wish to govern.

Secondly, Louis Bouyer made the point that when the Bible speaks of the “purification” of women, it does not mean that there is something unclean in women but rather there is something super-holy, even other worldly, in women. There is a source of sanctity and grace in women that men do not possess. To drive home his point, he compared the purification of women after their menstrual cycle to the purification of the chalice after Holy Communion.

Have you noticed how meticulously the priest or deacon cleans the chalice after Communion? That gesture is called “purifying the sacred vessels” obviously not because they are "dirty", quite the opposite, it is because they have come in contact with the Blood of Christ. That is, a woman’s body needs purification like a chalice needs to be purified. It is indeed a woman’s world and we are lucky to be living in it.

And thirdly, more and more women are embracing the habit of wearing a veil when they attend Mass. That special veil is called a mantilla. Some people mistakenly think it is a sign of submission, that somehow women are second class citizens in the church. But again, the exact opposite is being asserted. The traditional way to show that something is sacred or holy is to cover it with a veil. So, for example, the tabernacle is often covered with a veil, and the chalice on the altar is covered with a chalice veil, and the traditional habit of a consecrated nun included a veil.

In other words, the holiest objects should not be lying under the sun in plain sight as all other mundane and unimportant objects. Rather, they should be hidden from view like a special secret that only the most fortunate few ever discover. But in our modern culture completely oblivious to the meaning of modesty, clothes are worn at a minimum, and what little is worn is designed to reveal rather than to conceal.

Back on July 22, 2016, Pope Francis elevated the memorial of St. Mary Magdalene to a feast. That is why at this Mass we began by reciting the “Gloria,” which we only do on very special occasions. The pope wants to underscore the singular role that Mary Magdalene played as the “apostle to the Apostles” because she announced the good news of Jesus’ resurrection first to the apostles. A fearless woman shared the glory of Christ’s victory over death to fearful men.

And fearless and faith-filled women still do that today. How many young men learned the faith from their mothers and grandmothers? In how many households is the mother the one to insist that the family attend Mass? Why is the church packed with people on Mother’s Day, but just the usual crowd shows up for Father’s Day? That is the deepest meaning of living in a woman’s world. And if women abdicated that role to become more like men, it would be a tragic and irreparable loss.

Praised be Jesus Christ!