I am certain that @BlackFriar already has it sufficiently figured out.
Do you honestly believe that all males ordained for priesthood are “virgins”?!?
I would be very interested to see the statistics on this. Where are they published? Does the Vatican have a website on the sexual activity of person prior to becoming priests? Prior to becoming Catholic, or Christian?
I agree. I think subjecting oneself brings freedom, but being compulsed to do so is slavery.
I think it is a mistake to assume that there cannot be a balance without “women included in he hierarchy”. Unless you are saying that Jesus and his merry band of 12 Apostles were “imbalanced”?
I think there are appropriate, free, and God willed roles for women in a patriarchal system. Women “rule” very differently than men.
This is interesting. I thought it was strange to include women in this ceremony, since it was to re-enact what Jesus did for the Apostles. But it seems even more bizarre to not celebrate it just because some people think differently.
To be fair, some women need to be controlled! This was the experience of St. Paul, which is why he made them be silent in Church.
Well, you seem to have quite a warped view of what it means for women to participate freely.
I am sorry you feel this way. The Church teaches the opposite, as evidenced by 2000 years of celebrating women saints. It also disregards the pinnacle of womanhood found in Mary, the Mother of God, from whose flesh was taken our Lord’s human body. If anyone were to receive “Holy Orders”, would it not be His mother?
This seems to be a lack of faith, really. If we are willing to submit ourselves to the Holy Spirit in service and in prayer, can we not expect that He will change the minds that need to be changed, rather than we ourselves questioning it?
I think this is the crux of the problem. No one has a “right” to Holy Orders, including those who eventually receive them. It is a gift that is to be received by those who are called to it. This idea that women are being denied an inalienable “right” seems to be a cultural projection into the Church.
Only if those women are kicking against the goads.
This is just a misunderstanding of Catholic teaching. The priest is not “another Christ” but stands in the place of Christ.
This is the case for all human beings. And priests may be the most restricted of all, having to relinquish so much of themselves to serve in their role.
True. Sometimes they are more effective. I have known a number of powerful female preachers and evangelists (not all of them religious, but many). They are also able to be available and active in the world in a way priests cannot because of their obligations.
This says more about your attitude and state of mind than it does anything else.
In that case, perhaps God is calling you in some way to a greater participation in your parish that helps create more balance to the clergy there?
Yes, we are all called to give our utmost to His highest. We do this within our vocation in life.
I certainly have that impression, when reading your posts. This is a very interesting turn of phrase I have not encountered before.
Women do lead, and in many ways have that privilege. But that service is not the same as the priesthood.
Just ignore it.
To be fair, some women need to be controlled! This was the experience of St. Paul, which is why he made them be silent in Church.
Well, you seem to have quite a warped view of what it means for women to participate freely.
I am sorry you feel this way. The Church teaches the opposite, as evidenced by 2000 years of celebrating women saints. It also disregards the pinnacle of womanhood found in Mary, the Mother of God, from whose flesh was taken our Lord’s human body. If anyone were to receive “Holy Orders”, would it not be His mother?
"In these days he went out into the hills to pray; and all night he continued in prayer to God. 13 And when it was day, he called his disciples, and chose from them twelve, whom he named apostles; "Luke 6
Actually I don’t ‘feel’ that way, I’ve read different opinions, reasons etc on why a female shouldn’t be ordained as a priest in the Catholic church, but not yet been satisfied with the official church’s answer.
And I have never thought that Mary the mother of Jesus would have been ordained by Jesus as though she’d be the obvious one, because she is the Mother of Jesus, that is her role, one that no other woman on earth could ever imitate.
The authority was given to the Church (apostles) by Jesus Christ to bind and loose sin on earth. Sex is a major source of sin, so the Church has to speak to it.
The likely reason the converse is not permitted is because the “Bride” (the Church collectively) is not the minister of a sacrament but is made up of many members who are all saved by Christ’s sacrifice on the cross. We use ordinary natural things as sacramental signs. (bread, wine, water, oil). In the case of the Eucharist, the priest is standing in the person of Christ the Head. Christ is the Head of the Church. There is only one Head whereas the Body has many members. He is male. He is the Divine Son to the Father. It is His body that suffered on the Cross and is offered to the Father. A male priest shares a natural resemblance to Christ and is vital as a sacramental sign in which the Holy Spirit works in and through to bring about the Body and Blood of Christ in the bread and wine on the altar. It’s the same reason that we can’t use some other liquid in baptism or saltines for hosts. Do you believe these elements are interchangeable? If not, why would the priest, having a natural resemblance to Christ, be interchangeable?
But has she not mediated Christ to the world more than any other human?
No not really. It’s proposes a deception that women are excluded from the life of the Church and excluded from evangelization.Just some humor, with a touch of truth added in.
The anointing of Jesus for his passion, done by a woman, and recorded as such.
First, the “many members” who make up the Body are signs of Christ to the world through their attitude, words and actions.