The Femininity of God

All the 73 books in the Bible were written by male authors and the Author behind these is God. Therefore, it is understandable that God is presented mostly in masculine images. However, Genesis 1:26 makes it clear that God created human beings in His image, male and female. Therefore, we cannot ignore the feminine images of God in the Bible. We will not search in vain for feminine images of God and in the readings today, we found one in Isaiah 49:15.
Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you.
It is both consoling and revealing to read it. Consoling because we may rest assured that God will not abandon us. Revealing because the human situations can make life difficult. In particular, working women are torn between career and child-rearing in our modern society so much so that they my forget their children. Living standards are so high that many couples have to work in order to maintain a decent life. They are not working for a luxurious way of life, just a more comfortable and convenient one. In view of the structural exploitation gradually built up these days, some families even could not keep their heads above waters no matter how hard they have tried in earning a living. Whether you work to keep your heads afloat or to enjoy luxury, it is now well-known that these families have to pay a price --- their children, if they have any, suffer the most. When we look back, Jesus' teaching is once again revealing.

But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things shall be yours as well. (Matthew 6:33)
Let us put down, for a while, the criticism against the Church's teaching on women. The Church has on intention to impose her view on non-believers. But I am sure feminists definitely do not buy this. Women, and women alone, are capable of bearing children. They are indispensable and there can be no substitutes. Therefore, following the logic of Natural Law, the highest achievement a woman can have is to give birth to children and rear them in cooperation with her spouse. This is exactly what feminists don't want to buy. Many of them see this as a male conspiracy to enslave them. Both sides are right. In predominantly patriarchal societies, giving birth and rearing children were the highest vocation for a woman. It became so oppressive that some women did rebel. After all, there has been a long and respectable tradition in the Catholic Church, of women becoming nuns, partly in order to run away from this obligation. These nuns must have been the first feminists!
Had they just run away from their obligations, some of them would not be canonized. The crucial factor is that they were responding to the call of God to serve Him and the needy. They attain Christian perfection as religious nuns, not as wives. However, married life should not be despised. In the last century, the Catholic Church honoured family life with what it deserves. Family life is hard and another form of martyrdom. A humourous story circulates in the Church. A pope had dinner with his mother. The conversation drifted onto the topic of sacraments. The pope casually said that the sacrament of Holy Orders was more respectable than matrimony. His mother immediately retorted that with her matrimony, there would not be a pope at this moment lecturing her. The pope squeezed an embarrassing smile on his face and turned into a good baby of his mother.

Here, rationality fails. There can never be any hard and fast rules to help strike the right balance between making money and serving God, though we cannot serve both God and mammon (6:24). Many people are able to serve God and the needy with their money. This is the reality of life. Most of the time, we are working both for God and for money. But we need wisdom to discern when we have overworked for money and to stop to work for God. To put it in another way, our children should be good reminders that we should not overwork ourselves at their expenses. Here lies the wisdom which only God and give.

I, for one, am a perfectionist and sometimes work towards a goal whatever it takes, even beyond my means. For example, I did not go to Church this morning but returned to school to do something which could only be done there. I had attended mass last night but somebody had paid a price for me. My mother could not attend mass. Thinking back, the thing which I did in school this Sunday morning might not worth the effort I put into it. Yet, I craved for getting the thing done before Monday!

Dear Lord, Forgive me for my craving. Grant me the wisdom to discern when and where I should stop to turn to Your righteousness. Amen.