By Dr. Jeanette Pinto –
No matter what country we live in, where we reside, what we believe, our backgrounds, and our education, or faith, we women should together embrace, lift each other up, and reach out to the marginalized and less privileged. This will simply show that women are life-givers, concerned, compassionate and courageous. When other women see this it will inspire them to do likewise having a ripple effect.
Look at the world around you. Don’t you feel sad to see the chaos and suffering of humanity? As a woman; don’t you want to be in the centre of building community harmony? Don’t you want to be one who can connect and strengthen women’s networks? Don’t you want to give support to other women in leadership roles? Don’t you want to uplift the poor and marginalized? God created everyone to be happy human beings.
In reality, the KEY role that women should be passionate about is motherhood and rightly so. Being a mother, a Mom is the greatest job that women are called to do. Women are created to nurture life and that makes them very special. Sadly modern thinking has moved away from this and women consider children as an inconvenience. Women are intelligent, sensitive, understanding, caring, patient, tender, respectful, and empathetic and should cooperate with God’s given plan.
The 20th century has gained for women equal rights with men, equal opportunity at work and equal pay for work done etc. They have struggled and juggled their role of wife, mother and working woman. We are proud of Indira Gandhi our first female Prime Minister – she was a life giver for the poor Indian masses. Who doesn’t know Mother Teresa, the Epitome of Compassion; by her life example, she gave hope and life by reaching out to the destitute of this world, and so today she lives not only in the heavens but in the hearts of the human race. Medha Patkar a social activist is constantly struggling on behalf of the peasants, tribal, Dalits and farmers, through the Narmada Bachao Andolan. The list of such women is commendable.
We Catholics have Mother Mary who is the most impactful life giver – with her Fiat & Yes to God, she connected humanity to Heaven. It is heartening to note that in the history of the Catholic Church laywomen and women in religious institutes have played a variety of roles and the church has affected societal attitudes of women throughout the world in significant ways. In 2010 there were around 721,935 professed women religious. Today, the Church has women who are canon lawyers, judges and Chancellors. The Church has allowed female altar servers at Mass, and so many parishes have both altar girls and boys.
The Catholic Church has influenced the status of women in various ways condemning infanticide, divorce, incest, polygamy and counting the marital fidelity of men as equally sinful to that of women. In keeping with the social teaching, many religious institutes for women have devoted themselves to service of the sick, homeless, disabled, orphaned, aged or mentally ill, as well as refugees, prisoners and others facing misfortune.
Who says ‘women are the weaker sex,’ ‘women are fragile for work’; in fact History has shown they have inner strength are versatile, capable, determined and strong. Women need Freedom, to be free from fear, free from repression, from violence, free from any sort of enslavement. Many have empowered themselves despite the horrific social norms; they have become beacons of light to their families, to society, and an inspiration to gen next.
What is the secret weapon of women who have been life giving? The answer is simple a four letter word…LOVE…it helps one to fathom the pain of the human heart. From that word follows another word, COMPASSION. The world desperately stands in need of Compassion today. A compassionate heart can reach out to the unloved, the ostracized, the marginalized and the vulnerable; it helps one to take a stand against all victims of injustice.
Women are called to overcome hate, racism, and communalism, rather be life-giving without counting the cost. There’s too much of violence, pain and suffering all around us. Some may say, well in my situation what really can I do? Well, keep yourselves open to your Creator, be in tune with Him and He will show you the way.
Have you heard the story of the seed? One seed declared: “I thrust my sprouts through the earth’s crust. I want to unfurl my tender buds like banners to announce the arrival of spring. I want to feel the warmth of the sun on my face and the blessing of the morning dew on my petals.” And so she grew.
The second seed said, “I am afraid if I send my roots into the ground below, I don’t know what I will encounter in the dark. If I push my way through the hard soil above me, I may damage my delicate sprouts. What if I let my buds open and a snail tries to eat them, and if I open my blossoms, a small child may pull me from the ground. No it is much better for me to wait until it is safe” And so she waited. In the early spring a farmyard hen scratched the ground for food, found the waiting seed and promptly ate it.
The Moral is simple. Those of us, who refuse to risk and grow, get swallowed up by life’s experiences. Be courageous and do what you have to do today. Realise your worth, take the time to build bridges of empathy, compassion and understanding; do whatever you can to uplift the downtrodden and be life-giving. It’s time that women rise above pettiness and jealousies. Try to be life-givers and make this world a better place. Let’s help others to laugh not to cry. Remember, do all you can, to be the person, who can be loved by all.
Dr Jeanette Pinto, an educator for the past 5 decades, headed the Department of History was Vice Principal of St. Xavier’s College Mumbai, and retired as Principal of Sophia College, Mumbai. She is a counsellor and conductor of Personal Enrichment Programmes for students and teachers.
She set up the Human Life Committee in the Archdiocese of Bombay. As a sex educator she has given talks on Human Sexuality in India and abroad. In 2014 she received the Rachana Outstanding Woman of the Year for her Pro-life work presented by the Diocese of Mangalore. She has attended many National and International Pro-life conferences and given talks at other fora on various women’s issues.
She is author of a couple of books, her most recent ones are titled: I’m Pro-Life Are you? & Sex Talk: Parent to Child. She has also written a number of articles on a variety of themes and subjects, which have been published in research journals, The Examiner and other Catholic publications.