Gender Identity in this World and of the Next
A lecture given by Mother Brigid of the St. Xenia Skete reflects thoughts on gender.
"The separation into male and female was made by God in foreknowledge of the Fall. It is a temporary condition, meant only for this world. In Heaven, we are told, we will be neither male nor female. The Holy Fathers also tell us that souls are neither male nor female; the souls of men and women are the same, with the same spiritual capacities and capabilities and needs. And yet, at the same time, the differing status among people in this world is very real and affects the whole course of our life here. St. Anthony the Great, a desert hermit, once asked God, 'Lord, how is it that some die when they are yhoung, while others dray on to extreme old age? Why are there those who are poor and those who are rich? Why do wicked men prosper and why are the just in need?' And one could easily add, 'Why are some men and others women?' God answered him saying, 'Anthony, keep your attention on yourself; these things are according to the judgment of God, and it is not to your advantage to know anything about them.'
"But one can be sure that the state in which one finds himself in this world is not without the Providence of God, Who died for both women and men, desiring His great love for us that all may be saved. Our temporal life here is one of trial and testing, to see whether or not our love for God is true. And as no two of God's creations are exactly alike, so also God calls each to salvation in different ways, through those differing cirucmstances in which God has placed one. All are equal before God, Who is no respecter of persons, yet each has his own calling, his own special path to salvation, guided by God's Providence.
"What about women, then? What is the special path given them by God?
"In the Holy Scriptures we see as a general rule that the responsibility for leadership and governing the affairs of this world is given to men, to Adam who at the Fall was bound to the earth and commanded to work it 'by the sweat of his brow.' Women are to keep themselves aloof from worldly affairs. Her care is to be not for outward adornment, as the Apostle Peter says, but for the 'inner life of the heart...the imperishableness of a quiet and gentle spirit (I Peter 3:4). She is called to be a living witness and reminder of the fact that our true life is not on this earth, but in Heaven. She is to be in this world the special bearer and transmitter of the spirit of the next life, of 'otherworldliness.' We see this calling most perfectly fulfilled in the Mother of God. She, the most wondrous and perfect woman and holiest of all the saints, was the instrument through which Otherworldliness Himself, Christ our God, entered into this world. Every woman, no matter what her outward cirucmstances, should keep in mind that she is especially called to reflect in herself this spirit of otherworldliness."
Mother Brigid goes on to discuss woman's role as mother and also the calling of otherworldliness in perfect expression through monasticism--the call to openly renounce the world as far as one is able. Yes, as far as one is able. Not farther, and not less, than one is able.
The otherworldly call of woman includes a certain essence and practice of silence. "The work of silence is prayer. The great Saint and worker of silence, St. Isaac of Syria, explains that silence 'Will make thee illuminated in God like the sun....Silence will...unite thee with God.... Love silence above all things.' And further he explains that 'silence is a symbol of the future world, while speech is an organ of this world.' Women, called to silence, become themselves a symbol of the future world."
The most pefect exemplar of the male and female aspects of monasticism is a woman, the Holy Mother of God.
St. Gregory wrote of Mary's entrance into Temple life as a girl. "The Most Pure One renouncing, as it were, the world's very dwelling and talk, moved away from people, and having fled from reproachable life, She chose a life unseen by anyone and uncommunicative, dwelling in the place where no one was allowed to enter. There, being freed from every material tie, and renouncing all contact with and love for anyone, and going beyond showing any mercy for the body, She concentrated the mind in a single turning toward Him and in dwelling with and heedfulness toward Him and in unceasing prayer. And by means of it, dwelling within Herself and placing Herself above multiform disturbance and thoughts and simply above every appearance and thing, She accomplished a new and unutterable path to heaven, which is, I shall say, the silence of thoughts. And applying Herself industriously to this and heeding it with her mind, She soared beyond all creatures and saw much better than Moses the glory of God."
For woman in the world and woman in monastic life, these virtues as goals hold true: meekness, humility, purity, submission, and obedience. Woman may strive after the model of the Blessed Virgin Mary regardless of married, single, or monastic state.
As for gender identity, without spurning or over-embracing our God-appointed sex, the soul grows beyond physical into spiritual, and gender disappears other than outward appearance. And even that outward appearance disappears to those who perceive from the soul, with the eyes of the soul, others who thus appear as souls and not genders, one or the other.
Perhaps this helps me comprehend the haunting burden I feel, the conflict of complicity in knowing those who have accepted great roles in perceived leadership and holiness, who are confused in their God-given sexual identities. And perhaps relief from the burdened complicity will come when I call myself, a woman, from worldly affairs. I must simply pray in silence for those with gender identity confusion, to not consider nor accept spiritual leadership roles, not in the Order of Melchizedek. Perhaps, in that sphere of spiritual unction in which the soul is ordained free of gender, not one or the other, could a confused sexual being, transformed, enter holy orders.
"The separation into male and female was made by God in foreknowledge of the Fall. It is a temporary condition, meant only for this world. In Heaven, we are told, we will be neither male nor female. The Holy Fathers also tell us that souls are neither male nor female; the souls of men and women are the same, with the same spiritual capacities and capabilities and needs. And yet, at the same time, the differing status among people in this world is very real and affects the whole course of our life here. St. Anthony the Great, a desert hermit, once asked God, 'Lord, how is it that some die when they are yhoung, while others dray on to extreme old age? Why are there those who are poor and those who are rich? Why do wicked men prosper and why are the just in need?' And one could easily add, 'Why are some men and others women?' God answered him saying, 'Anthony, keep your attention on yourself; these things are according to the judgment of God, and it is not to your advantage to know anything about them.'
"But one can be sure that the state in which one finds himself in this world is not without the Providence of God, Who died for both women and men, desiring His great love for us that all may be saved. Our temporal life here is one of trial and testing, to see whether or not our love for God is true. And as no two of God's creations are exactly alike, so also God calls each to salvation in different ways, through those differing cirucmstances in which God has placed one. All are equal before God, Who is no respecter of persons, yet each has his own calling, his own special path to salvation, guided by God's Providence.
"What about women, then? What is the special path given them by God?
"In the Holy Scriptures we see as a general rule that the responsibility for leadership and governing the affairs of this world is given to men, to Adam who at the Fall was bound to the earth and commanded to work it 'by the sweat of his brow.' Women are to keep themselves aloof from worldly affairs. Her care is to be not for outward adornment, as the Apostle Peter says, but for the 'inner life of the heart...the imperishableness of a quiet and gentle spirit (I Peter 3:4). She is called to be a living witness and reminder of the fact that our true life is not on this earth, but in Heaven. She is to be in this world the special bearer and transmitter of the spirit of the next life, of 'otherworldliness.' We see this calling most perfectly fulfilled in the Mother of God. She, the most wondrous and perfect woman and holiest of all the saints, was the instrument through which Otherworldliness Himself, Christ our God, entered into this world. Every woman, no matter what her outward cirucmstances, should keep in mind that she is especially called to reflect in herself this spirit of otherworldliness."
Mother Brigid goes on to discuss woman's role as mother and also the calling of otherworldliness in perfect expression through monasticism--the call to openly renounce the world as far as one is able. Yes, as far as one is able. Not farther, and not less, than one is able.
The otherworldly call of woman includes a certain essence and practice of silence. "The work of silence is prayer. The great Saint and worker of silence, St. Isaac of Syria, explains that silence 'Will make thee illuminated in God like the sun....Silence will...unite thee with God.... Love silence above all things.' And further he explains that 'silence is a symbol of the future world, while speech is an organ of this world.' Women, called to silence, become themselves a symbol of the future world."
The most pefect exemplar of the male and female aspects of monasticism is a woman, the Holy Mother of God.
St. Gregory wrote of Mary's entrance into Temple life as a girl. "The Most Pure One renouncing, as it were, the world's very dwelling and talk, moved away from people, and having fled from reproachable life, She chose a life unseen by anyone and uncommunicative, dwelling in the place where no one was allowed to enter. There, being freed from every material tie, and renouncing all contact with and love for anyone, and going beyond showing any mercy for the body, She concentrated the mind in a single turning toward Him and in dwelling with and heedfulness toward Him and in unceasing prayer. And by means of it, dwelling within Herself and placing Herself above multiform disturbance and thoughts and simply above every appearance and thing, She accomplished a new and unutterable path to heaven, which is, I shall say, the silence of thoughts. And applying Herself industriously to this and heeding it with her mind, She soared beyond all creatures and saw much better than Moses the glory of God."
For woman in the world and woman in monastic life, these virtues as goals hold true: meekness, humility, purity, submission, and obedience. Woman may strive after the model of the Blessed Virgin Mary regardless of married, single, or monastic state.
As for gender identity, without spurning or over-embracing our God-appointed sex, the soul grows beyond physical into spiritual, and gender disappears other than outward appearance. And even that outward appearance disappears to those who perceive from the soul, with the eyes of the soul, others who thus appear as souls and not genders, one or the other.
Perhaps this helps me comprehend the haunting burden I feel, the conflict of complicity in knowing those who have accepted great roles in perceived leadership and holiness, who are confused in their God-given sexual identities. And perhaps relief from the burdened complicity will come when I call myself, a woman, from worldly affairs. I must simply pray in silence for those with gender identity confusion, to not consider nor accept spiritual leadership roles, not in the Order of Melchizedek. Perhaps, in that sphere of spiritual unction in which the soul is ordained free of gender, not one or the other, could a confused sexual being, transformed, enter holy orders.
posted by The Catholic Hermit | 8:32 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home