The following is taken from my journal on February 13, 2014…
Yesterday I participated in the “Women in Ministry” conversation (at the non-denominational church I was serving—by this time I am four months into my investigation of the Catholic Church). I kept very quiet, to the point that it actually attracted attention. (Previous to this I was known as an advocate for women’s ordination, following the lead of the denomination that ordained me.) My reading and research is having an impact on my thoughts and particularly as it relates to women in ministry.
On the train down to the meeting I was reading from Karl Adam’s “The Spirit of Catholicism” as he laid out the sacraments and how Christ ministers directly to His Church through the sacraments. The idea of “shadow” came to me. Hebrews 10:1 says, “The law is only a shadow of the good things that are coming—not the realities themselves.” We understand that Christ is the fulfillment of the law in every way.
What hit me though is that at the Reformation we threw out five of the seven sacraments and the two we kept we watered down and we are left with a “shadow” reality once again. We long for the fullness of what Christ offers, but we are hamstrung by our pernicious interpretation of His ministry to us through the church. Hence we attempt to offer something greatly reduced or weakened that lacks authority or saving grace to our lives.
This led me to consider what we are trying to do with the women in ministry question. We are returning to Scripture to get our own interpretation of what the Bible allows or disallows women to do, having thrown out the long history of Church Tradition and engaging in biblicism where everyone can find basis for their pet doctrine or belief.
Back to the present…
Over the past ten years I have grown in my understanding and fully accept what the Church teaches about holy orders. Jesus Christ is the Head of the Church, and He choose twelve men (apostles) and their successors to carry on His ministry in the world. His successors—bishops and priests—carry on His ministry through the sacraments in persona Christi (in the person of Christ). I value greatly, as does the Church, the beautiful and powerful role that women play in the life of the Church. The Church has always honored women: the Blessed Virgin Mary and many saintly women, including four doctors of the Church: Hildegard of Bingen, Catherine of Siena, Teresa of Avila, and Therese of Lisieux.
This was one of many experiences that I had to wade through as I considered the claims of the Catholic Church. I plan to talk about others in the posts to come. The bottom line is that I have discovered that I can trust Christ and His Church and the long tradition that flows uninterrupted down through 20 centuries.