Newspaper Page Text
May 28,1981
PAGE 5
The Key Roles
Of Women
BY FATHER PHILIP MURNION
The U.S. bishops voted recently to make
some changes in Mass prayers - a vote that
reflected a concern for the church’s women
The bishops’ voting took place in the fall of
1980. For most people, no doubt, a change in
the words said during the consecration of the
Mass is the most noticeable result of the
bishops’ deliberations. At the time of the
consecration, where the priest once referred
to the blood of Christ shed “for you and for
all men,” he now says, “for you and for all ”
The bishops’ vote concerned what is often
called sexist language or, as they referred to it,
exclusive language. Today some people find it
objectionable to use male pronouns -- “men”
or “his’’ -- to refer to all people, women
included.
The vote of the bishops reflected increased
awareness in the church of how certain
practices can suggest that women are inferior
to men. Obviously, the revisions approved by
the bishops also reflect the general push in our
Women and men today face a bewildering
array of choices -- in careers, in lifestyles, in
relationships, in education. In U.S. society,
many people are searching for self-fulfillment
and satisfying ways of life. At the same time,
many people experience anxiety and
confusion when conflicting desires collide.
In the provocative view of psychologist
and social researcher, Daniel Yankelovich,
many Americans feel caught in a “world
turned upside down.” Material based on a new
book of his appeared in the April 1981 issue
of Psychology Today magazine. In it,
Yankelovich explains that American society is
WOMEN STUDENTS preparing for
a life of service in the church have more
options open to them than ever before.
In addition to traditional opportunities
such as teaching, health and social
society toward recognition of the equality of
the sexes.
Few issues are likely to yield more conflict
for the church in the years ahead than the
issue of women’s roles.
In many ways, of course, women are
fulfilling highly responsible roles in parishes.
It has been my observation, for example, that
in a great many parishes, women -- lay women
and sisters - have played roles that have
proven instrumental when it came to
increasing the participation of parishioners in
the life of the Christian community.
Even apart from such developments,
however, women have played key roles in
education and social services, in work with
youth and the elderly, on parish councils and
in the creation of parish celebrations that
often do more than anything else to foster
parish spirit.
A recent study of women who are active in
parishes revealed that the major areas of
involvement for the women are education,
liturgy, administration and support services.
The vast majority of the women find their
experiencing a “cultural revolution,”
characterized by a vast shift in values
concerning marriage, family, careers and the
raising of children. He backs his conclusions
with surveys, including a late 1950s survey
which contrasts dramatically with another
done in the late 1970s.
What, then, might this changing American
landscape look like to a young woman
growing up in 1980s?
Let’s think about a 17-year-old girl whom
I'll call Marilyn Corey. A junior at a
metropolitan high school, soon she will make
some basic decisions on the direction of her
life. But she is having a difficult time doing
this.
work, a woman can consider many new
ministries in the parish, either as a
volunteer or as a paid staff person. (NC
Photo by Ellis Herwig)
involvement a source of great satisfaction.
Most of the women intend to remain involved
for some time. If they have difficulties, they
are often the constraints of finances and
resources that are encountered by all those
who serve in the church. If the women report
they are supported in what they are doing, the
support is about as likely to come from
pastors and other members of the parish staff
as from the laity.
The kinds of positions women occupy in
parishes have been changing. A great number
of women serve as parish directors of religious
education -- meeting with teachers and
parents, conducting weekend workshops,
planning programs for groups of all ages.
Increasing numbers of women serve on
parish staffs as pastoral associates, whereby
they are led to involvement in a broad range of
parish activities.
Some women - especially in parishes that
lack a full-time priest - have been appointed
by bishops to serve as “pastors” in all but
name. A woman appointed to such a position
might conduct the day-to-day work of the
parish, with a priest coming in on weekends to
celebrate the Eucharist and at certain other
times for sacramental celebrations --
weddings, for example.
It is interesting to note that in a survey
conducted among Catholic men and women
by the Gallup organization, almost twice as
many men complained of a lack of
representation in church decision-making as
did women.
It seems that while one important set of
current questions concerns the roles of
women in the church, another set of questions
concerns the roles of men and the
relationships between men and women in the
church. In addition to the challenge of making
room for women to fulfill responsible roles,
there is the challenge of encouraging many
more laymen to take an active part in the full
life of the parish.
What are the specific reasons why it
sometimes has been difficult to engage
laymen in the parish? Why, in many cases,
have laymen restricted their involvement to
material concerns about finances, building
programs, fund raising, etc.? What can
parishes and their people do about this?
When she looks around, she sees how
dramatically the lives of women - and men -
are changing. She sees people making a strong
attempt to fulfill what they regard as personal
needs.
First there is her uncle, Michael Corey.
Five years ago he was a California
businessman preoccupied with making his
way up the corporate ladder. Then, at age 33,
dissatisfied with what he felt was a
meaningless career, and following many
intense discussions with his wife, he resigned
his lucrative position.
Now the couple live with their four
children in a rural, two-room home they built
themselves. Because cash is short, Mrs. Corey
works as a bookkeeper in the nearby town.
The Coreys try to be as self-sufficient as
possible by raising vegetables, milk and meat
on a small farm. The couple express
contentment at living in tune with “the
rhythms of nature,” because they now have
sufficient time for family and friends.
Then there is Miss Corey’s sister, Martha, a
senior at a Midwestern college for women.
Engaged to a law student, she plans to work
for a year and travel in Europe before going on
to law school herself. She is thinking seriously
about a career as a canon lawyer, perhaps
working on a marriage tribunal. For this
young woman, marriage and children are
important - but she is in no hurry to make this
lifelong commitment - even though her fiance
is pressing for an early marriage.
On the other hand, Barbara Corelli,
another high school senior, does not inend to
marry. Raised in a family of 16 children, she
does not intend to go to college, preferring
instead to prepare for a career as an
electrician. She has enrolled at a vocational
school and will serve as an apprentice with an
electrical firm.
Finally, another sister, Pamela Smith is a
full-time homemaker who is raising three
small children. An artist and teacher before
marrying, she hopes to resume a career later.
Mrs. Smith finds herself occasionally
overwhelmed with the responsibility of small
children but feels it is important to be home
now. v
For 17-year-old Marilyn Corey, making
decisions about the future is not made easier
by the many choices open to her. And, if
Yankelovich is correct in his assessment of
what is happening in America, some of her
desires may well conflict with others -
producing a measure of frustration for her.
Her desire to maintain a high degree of
personal independence could easily collide
with her wish for friendship and intimacy
with others, for example.
Nonetheless, in the final analysis,
Yankelovich is cautiously optimistic about
what is happening during what he seems to
regard as a transition period in American life.
While he sees great confusion about values in
society today, he feels Americans, slowly and
painfully, will develop a sense that real
self-fulfillment only comes from commitment
to others.
MARION CRAIG PROCLAIMS the
first reading at St. Mark's Parish in
Vienna, Va. In many parishes women
are fulfilling the same roles as men. It is
common to see women serving as
lectors and eucharistic minister but in
BY FATHER JOHN J. CASTELOT
“To each person is given the manifestation
of the Spirit for the common good . . . But it
is one and the same Spirit who produces all
these gifts, distributing them to each as he
wills.”
In these statements in Chapter 12 of the
First Letter to the Corinthians, Paul
acknowledges the presence of a variety of
charisms or special gifts, in the members of
the community and insists that the gifts are to
be exercised for the common good. No one
has any right to boast of his particular
endowment or to use it selfishly for his own
purposes. Whatever the gift may be, it comes
from one and the same Spirit.
In order to illustrate both the diversity and
the unity of the gifts, and their mutuality,
Paul then introduces an analogy for which he
has become famous, that of the human body.
“The body is one and has many members, but
all the members, many though they are, are
the one body, and so it is with Christ.” The
first part of this statement is obvious enough;
the second part, however, calls for serious
reflection.
It often is remarked that, for Paul, the
community is Christ, his concrete
continuation in time and space. For instance,
in introducing his account of the institution
of the Eucharist in Chapter 11 as something
he received “from the Lord,” the context
makes it quite clear that, for Paul, this means
the Christian community.
Again, to be baptized “into Christ” means
both to be joined in an intimate union with
the risen Lord and also to be incorporated
into the community. This community is not
just a social club, a society made up of people
who get together to accomplish some
some areas women are serving also as
counselors, school principals and
superintendants, assistant pastors and
canon lawyers. (NC Photo by Miriam
A. Kilmer)
purpose. It is a “body,” a living organism, in
which the members are joined in an organic
living unity, with one vital principle: the
Spirit.
However, if the human body is marked by
a marvelous unity of being and operation, it is
also characterized by an amazing and essential
diversity. So many members, so many organs
working together in perfect harmony, and all
of them important! Still, they are important
precisely as members of the body, apart from
which they lose their very reason for being.
An amputated finger still looks like a finger
but, cut off from the body, it distintegrates.
So it is with individual Christians: they need
the body, and the body needs them.
Within the body all the members are
important to each other. “If the foot should
say, ‘Because I am not a hand I do not belong
to the body,’ would it then no longer belong
to the body? ... If all the members were
alike, where would the body be? .. . Even
those members of the body which seem less
important are in fact indispensable.”
In other words, no matter how humble
one’s gifts may seem, they nonetheless are
important, and no one can look down on
people whom they consider less richly
endowed. And, just as in the human body, “if
one member suffers, all the members suffer
with it.”
Paul makes his point inescapably clear
when he states: “You, then, are the body of
Christ. Every one of you is a member of it.”
And of necessity, there has to be a variety of
functions: “If the body were all eye, what
would happen to our hearing?” And while
some of the gifts may seem more valuable
than others, one should not strive selfishly for
the apparently more attractive ones, as some
Corinthians apparently were doing, to the
detriment of the body.
Discussion Points And Questions
1. How have the United States bishops demonstrated their concern for
women, according to Father Philip Mumion?
2. What are some of the roles that women today are holding in the
church? Do some of these positions differ from those women have held in
the past? How?
3. In Katharine Bird’s article, explain the phrase a “world turned
upside down.” Then, discuss what psychologist Daniel Yankelovich feels
is happening in American society today. Is he optimistic about the future?
Why?
4. Ms. Bird describes some of the many choices people in the United
States are making today. In what way might these choices lead to conflicts
for people?
5. Take a few minutes to think about your own life over the past few
years. Have you made changes in any area? Have you changed careers?
Why? Have you chosen to marry or to remain single? Have any of your
choices been in conflict with each other? How did you decide what to do?
6. In Father John Castelot’s article, how does he describe St. Paul's use
of the analogy of the human body?
KNOW
YOUR
FAITH
(Alt Articles On This Page Copyrighted 1981 By N.C. News Service)
J
Young Woman’s Time Of Challenge
BY KATHARINE BIRD
For The Common Good