Posted by The WORD in other words (2021) by Fr. Roderick Salazar, SVD (CKMS, Quezon City)
Friday 24th Week in Ordinary Time
Image Source: Brooklyn Museum – The Holy Women (Les femmes saintes) by James Tissot, French, 1836-1902
The women in our lives. These we honor today. We thank You for them: mothers, wives, sisters, friends. They accompanied You, providing for You, out of their own resources. You entered this world through Mary, Your mother. You assigned Mary Magdalene the task of telling Your Apostles that You had risen from the dead and that they were to go to Galilee so that You could have a fresh beginning with them, after the horror of Your crucifixion.
Another Mary sat at Your feet, contemplatively listening to You. A Syro-Phoenician woman helped You expand Your mind to the reality that Your message was also for non-Jews. To a woman caught in adultery, You showed compassion and so taught us how to love and forgive. More women than Your men disciples stood by You when You were crucified and died. A woman was the first proclaimer of Your Resurrection.
In the Gospels, women play significant if quiet roles in Your company. In the Old Testament, strong and honorable women stand out as models of relationship with the divine. Without them, our world would not be what it is and what it was meant to be. Thank You, Lord, for the women You have given to us.
Today, I pray for them. The good and the not so good ones. The holy ones and those still on the path to holiness. The victims of male domination and discrimination. The heroines who give life, cure the sick, comfort the dying, make homes, provide love and companionship to the many lonely people in the world. Please help those in trouble and in pain. Help us love and respect them: mothers, wives, sisters, friends. Thank you for them. We honor them today. The women in our lives.
One comment