Capacity for the Other

They devoted themselves
to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life,
to the breaking of bread and to the prayers.
Awe came upon everyone,
and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.
All who believed were together and had all things in common;
they would sell their property and possessions
and divide them among all according to each one’s need.
Every day they devoted themselves
to meeting together in the temple area
and to breaking bread in their homes.
They ate their meals with exultation and sincerity of heart,
praising God and enjoying favor with all the people.
And every day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved.

Acts 2:42-47

In the 2004 Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Collaboration of Men and Women in the Church and in the World, then-Cardinal Ratzinger reflected on the importance of feminine values in the life of society and in the Church: 

13. Among the fundamental values linked to women's actual lives is what has been called a “capacity for the other”. Although a certain type of feminist rhetoric makes demands “for ourselves”, women preserve the deep intuition of the goodness in their lives of those actions which elicit life, and contribute to the growth and protection of the other.

This intuition is linked to women's physical capacity to give life. Whether lived out or remaining potential, this capacity is a reality that structures the female personality in a profound way. It allows her to acquire maturity very quickly, and gives a sense of the seriousness of life and of its responsibilities. A sense and a respect for what is concrete develop in her, opposed to abstractions which are so often fatal for the existence of individuals and society. It is women, in the end, who even in very desperate situations, as attested by history past and present, possess a singular capacity to persevere in adversity, to keep life going even in extreme situations, to hold tenaciously to the future, and finally to remember with tears the value of every human life….

14. It is appropriate however to recall that the feminine values mentioned here are above all human values: the human condition of man and woman created in the image of God is one and indivisible. It is only because women are more immediately attuned to these values that they are the reminder and the privileged sign of such values. But, in the final analysis, every human being, man or woman, is destined to be “for the other”….

15. In the Church, woman as “sign” is more than ever central and fruitful, following as it does from the very identity of the Church, as received from God and accepted in faith. It is this “mystical” identity, profound and essential, which needs to be kept in mind when reflecting on the respective roles of men and women in the Church.

From the beginning of Christianity, the Church has understood herself to be a community, brought into existence by Christ and joined to him by a relationship of love, of which the nuptial experience is the privileged expression. From this it follows that the Church's first task is to remain in the presence of this mystery of God's love, manifested in Jesus Christ, to contemplate and to celebrate it. In this regard, the figure of Mary constitutes the fundamental reference in the Church. One could say metaphorically that Mary is a mirror placed before the Church, in which the Church is invited to recognize her own identity as well as the dispositions of the heart, the attitudes and the actions which God expects from her….

http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/cfaith/documents/rc_con_cfaith_doc_20040731_collaboration_en.html

“A capacity for the other”… “being there for the other”…  While these attributes run counter to today’s individualistic society, they are the attitudes and actions which God wills for each of our lives.  May we follow the model of Mary and the early Christians, joyfully reflecting to all our loving relationship with Jesus, our Risen Savior and Eucharistic Lord.

Pontifical Council for the Laity launches new website

http://www.laici.va/content/laici/en.html

Please visit the newly-launched site of the Vatican dicastery which is at the service of the laity.  Especially note the Women’s Section!

Alleluia

The Resurrection

Beato Angelico (1387-1455)

                                                                  

Then the angel said to the women in reply, "Do not be afraid! I know that you are seeking Jesus the crucified.

He is not here, for he has been raised just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay.

Then go quickly and tell his disciples, 'He has been raised from the dead, and he is going before you to Galilee; there you will see him.' Behold, I have told you."

Then they went away quickly from the tomb, fearful yet overjoyed, and ran to announce this to his disciples.

And behold, Jesus met them on their way and greeted them. They approached, embraced his feet, and did him homage.

Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid. Go tell my brothers to go to Galilee, and there they will see me."

Matthew  28:  5 - 10

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 “Brothers and sisters, do not be afraid to welcome Christ and accept his power. Help the Pope and all those who wish to serve Christ and with Christ’s power to serve the human person and the whole of mankind.

Do not be afraid. Open, I say open wide the doors for Christ. To his saving power open the boundaries of states, economic and political systems, the vast fields of culture, civilization and development. Do not be afraid. Christ knows “that which is in man”. He alone knows it.

So often today, man does not know that which is in him, in the depths of his mind and heart. So often he is uncertain about the meaning of his life on this earth. He is assailed by doubt, a doubt which turns into despair. We ask you, therefore, we beg you with humility and with trust, let Christ speak to man. He alone has words of life, yes, of life eternal.”

From the Homily of Blessed John Paul II, Pope, for the Inauguration of his Pontificate, 22 October 1978

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Pray that we may we be united with the women who were the first witnesses of the empty tomb, and respond as they did to the message of the angel.  Our joy can conquer fear as our encounter with the Risen Lord impels us to share the good news that God’s promises have been fulfilled.  May we receive the graces of ardent faith and apostolic courage to proclaim Jesus Christ to the world.

Way of the Cross

For your Good Friday meditations:

http://www.vatican.va/news_services/liturgy/documents/index_via-crucis_en.html

We are united in prayer.

Passion (Palm) Sunday

 Looking across the Kidron Valley toward Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives

           “Let us go together to meet Christ on the Mount of Olives.  Today he returns from Bethany and proceeds of his own free will toward his holy and blessed passion, to consummate the mystery of our salvation.  He who came down from heaven to raise us from the depths of sin, to raise us with himself, we are told in Scripture, above every sovereignty, authority and power, and every other name that can be named, now comes of his own free will to make his journey to Jerusalem.  He comes without pomp or ostentation.  As the psalmist says:  He will not dispute or raise his voice to make it heard in the streets.  He will be meek and humble, and he will make his entry in simplicity.

            Let us run to accompany him as he hastens toward his passion, and imitate those who met him then, not by covering his path with garments, olive branches or palms, but by doing all we can to prostrate ourselves before him by being humble and by trying to live as he would wish.  Then we shall be able to receive the Word at his coming, and God, whom no limits can contain, will be within us.”

From a sermon by Saint Andrew of Crete, bishop

Office of Readings for Passion (Palm) Sunday

Dear Friends:

Let’s take a few moments to meditate on “our meeting” with Christ as described above by Saint Andrew of Crete.  The Gospel passages relating to Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem can be found in Matthew 21:1-11, Mark 11:1-10,  John 12:12-16, and Luke 19:28-40.

            We have all seen artistic images of Christ, seated on a rocky outcrop on the Mount of Olives, high above the Kidron Valley, overlooking the city of Jerusalem.  Jesus has been on a journey, accompanied by the disciples, and His triumphant entry into the holy city is about to commence.  In accordance with Divine will, unparalleled events of Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection begin to unfold. 

The Lord calls each of us to prepare for His entry.  Jesus knows that there are many demands on our time and attention, but He asks us to accompany Him to His passion, as well as to His eternal glory. Shall we make time in our busy lives to really focus on our relationship with the Lord?  Please, join me now to listen to Jesus’ words of everlasting life.

Let us pray for and with each other.  May we humbly accompany our Lord Jesus Christ and live according to God’s will.  May we place at the Lord’s service the gifts and talents He has given to us.  May all our actions give praise to God as our hearts cry out, “Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!” 

                                                                                In Christ Jesus,

                                                                                Karen M. Hurley

A rainbow over the Mount of Olives as seen from Jerusalem

Gratitude

I am most grateful for the affirmation and appreciation expressed on various occasions by His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI.  Our Holy Father has never missed an opportunity to offer the Church’s thanks, as well as his own, to the women of the world for all the good that is being done and to encourage our efforts to continue and grow.  He has blessed us!

The Vatican Secretariat of State, Pontifical Council for the Laity, Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, Pontifical Council for the Family, and so many dicasteries, have welcomed WUCWO—and the millions of faithful Catholic women the World Union represents--for dialogue, conferences, and ongoing collaboration.  The mutual exchange of insights during visits and meetings has resulted in gifted encounters for all present.  Truly the voice of women is heard and valued in the Church!

In the words of Mulieris Dignitatem:

Therefore the Church gives thanks for each and every woman: for mothers, for sisters, for wives; for women consecrated to God in virginity; for women dedicated to the many human beings who await the gratuitous love of another person; for women who watch over the human persons in the family, which is the fundamental sign of the human community; for women who work professionally, and who at times are burdened by a great social responsibility; for "perfect" women and for "weak" women - for all women as they have come forth from the heart of God in all the beauty and richness of their femininity; as they have been embraced by his eternal love; as, together with men, they are pilgrims on this earth, which is the temporal "homeland" of all people and is transformed sometimes into a "valley of tears"; as they assume, together with men, a common responsibility for the destiny of humanity according to daily necessities and according to that definitive destiny which the human family has in God himself, in the bosom of the ineffable Trinity.

The Church gives thanks for all the manifestations of the feminine "genius" which have appeared in the course of history, in the midst of all peoples and nations; she gives thanks for all the charisms which the Holy Spirit distributes to women in the history of the People of God, for all the victories which she owes to their faith, hope and charity: she gives thanks for all the fruits of feminine holiness.

The Church asks at the same time that these invaluable "manifestations of the Spirit" (cf. 1 Cor 12:4ff.), which with great generosity are poured forth upon the "daughters" of the eternal Jerusalem, may be attentively recognized and appreciated so that they may return for the common good of the Church and of humanity, especially in our times. Meditating on the biblical mystery of the "woman", the Church prays that in this mystery all women may discover themselves and their "supreme vocation".

Excerpted from the Apostolic Letter, Mulieris Dignitatem (On the Dignity and Vocation of Women), Pope John Paul II, 1988
http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/apost_letters/documents/hf_jp-ii_apl_15081988_mulieris-dignitatem_en.html

Reflections on a Journey

Dear Friends:

Thanks be to God for bringing us together on a journey of faith!  With your support and encouragement I have discerned the Lord’s call to offer reflections on blessings received as well as experiences shared during more than twenty (20) years of service to the Universal Church and women around the world.  By the grace of the Holy Spirit I hope these writings will present opportunities to continue to grow in faith, hope and love.

In 1996 I began my service as the National Council of Catholic Women (NCCW) Representative and USA Board Member of the World Union of Catholic Women’s Organizations (WUCWO).  Early in my term I had the privilege to meet Cardinal Agostino Cacciavillan, who was then the Apostolic Nuncio to the USA.  His Eminence kept in contact these many years and has been very affirming of my work for the Church.  He has graciously referred to me as the "apostolic lady,” and I think the title is appropriate for this presentation of ideas.   I am thankful to him and each one of my dear family and friends who has accompanied me in spirit and prayer.

Please let me know if indeed you would like to subscribe to “The Apostolic Lady” or receive an occasional message from me based on scripture, spiritual writings, teachings or other riches of the Church. 

As members of “one, holy, catholic and apostolic Church” we are sent by Christ to be His witnesses to the ends of the earth.  May we share incredible peace and joy as we discover the beauty and prophetic character of fidelity to the Gospel and faithfulness to the Church’s Magisterium. 

God bless you!