The Church says that celibacy is the highest vocation.
As for office, its a noble office to be a parent for sure, but again: Man is the only creature willed for his/her own sake.
So when people say that I can bear children, I know that God does not define my worth on that. I might live for the sake of the kingdom and still be told to be silent in the congregation or cover my head, to obey male leaders and call myself by my fathers last name.
My intention was for you to acknowledge that the opening post is about something that demands some consideration. The question is not whether you can be a dad and I can be a mother, the question of the OP is: can you men, if you place your sex in the Biblical statements and Christian cultural norms about women’s submissiveness and thus turning it around… can you then still deny any kind of understanding for where a feeling of being unequal and inadequate might come from.
I have as yet seen very few Catholic men saying: yes we can… what I have seen are Jewish and Pagan men who understand this simple task of empathy better than you, which I find sad.
Perceived bias against women in the Bible is the topic of the OP… you can start another thread if you have nothing valuable to say to that specific topic but only want to talk about the privileged - plus painful and dangerous task - of bearing children.
First of all, since you seem to be confused about what the original poster said, let me provide and excerpt of the original post:
“The whole family goes to church together on Sundays. You listen to the female priest give the sermon, because in this world the bible is clear that the church is domain of the woman, and the church is “her” husband. After all the bible states “let your men be kept silent in churches : for it is not permitted unto them to speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also saith the law. And if they will learn any thing, let them ask their wives at home: for it is a shame for men to speak in the church.” It is not god’s will that men be ordained, because after all, Jesus picked only women apostles.”
That is talking about the restriction of the priesthood to men. Therefore, I addressed that issue. Secondly, you will note that the highest honor in the Church for a human who is not also divine in origin is given to the Blessed Virgin. She is not so honored simply because of her celibacy, because there are other celibates, but because she is the Mother of God. Joseph, although he was celibate while he was Mary’s husband, and doubtlessly his entire life if he was married only once, who also participated in raising Jesus, does not receive the same level of honor. The reason for this is clear. As Pope John Paul II put it in Mulierus Dignitatem:
“Motherhood involves a special communion with the mystery of life, as it develops in the woman’s womb. The mother is filled with wonder at this mystery of life, and “understands” with unique intuition what is happening inside her. In the light of the “beginning”, the mother accepts and loves as a person the child she is carrying in her womb. This unique contact with the new human being developing within her gives rise to an attitude towards human beings - not only towards her own child, but every human being - which profoundly marks the woman’s personality. It is commonly thought that *women *are more capable than men of paying attention *to another person, *and that motherhood develops this predisposition even more. The man - even with all his sharing in parenthood - always remains “outside” the process of pregnancy and the baby’s birth; in many ways he has to *learn *his own *“fatherhood” from the mother. *One can say that this is part of the normal human dimension of parenthood, including the stages that follow the birth of the baby, especially the initial period. The child’s upbringing, taken as a whole, should include the contribution of both parents: the maternal and paternal contribution. In any event, the mother’s contribution is decisive in laying the foundation for a new human personality.”
Now the point I’ve been trying to make is that some women feel bad about their role in the Church because of the dominant paradigm of Western society pertaining to the structure of power. But there is nothing absolute about this image of reality, indeed it is a false image.
You make the point that God finds you worthy regardless of whether you are a mother. That, of course, is true. I’m not a mother either, or a priest.
I, of course, understand that social norms are what cause the misperception I am describing. And oppression of women down through the centuries is well known. It is, therefore, easy to see how women could misperceive themselves as second class citizens. It is also easy to see how women in the modern era would not understand motherhood to be as noble as it is. In fact, motherhood is looked down on in some quarters.
The topic of the OP is more expansive than “[p]erceived bias against women in the Bible.” I have addressed one aspect of the topic, albeit not to your satisfaction. I will therefore decline your invitation to start another thread and leave this one.
