Tom Thomas –
International Women’s day is celebrated on March 8th. It is also a good time to reflect on the role of women in the Gospel narratives, particularly Women at the foot of the Cross, during this Lenten season.
The weekly Friday fourteen stations of the cross take us through the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ starting with the sentencing by Pilate to the laying of the body in a tomb. The Churches are packed on Fridays, during the Stations of the Cross and the hot atmosphere of the Church as summer gets hold adds some physical discomfort to the Stations, though this is not a tiny fraction of what our Lord suffered. It is significant that some of the Stations mention women, in particular:
Station 4: Jesus meets His mother
Station 6: Veronica wipes the face of Jesus
Station 8 : The women of Jerusalem weep for Jesus.
Let us reflect on the boldness of the women mentioned in these stations. They did not run away from the crucifixion terror but were with Jesus on his final journey. Veronica willingly came forward to wipe the drops of sweat from our Lord’s grim visage unlike Simon of Cyrene who had to be forced to carry the Cross for a little while ( Station 5).
Additionally, we know from the Gospel narratives that women were present at the foot of the Cross during the Crucifixion. The presence of women at the Crucifixion of our Lord Jesus Christ is highlighted in all four gospels ( Mt 27:55-56, Mk 15:40-41, Lk 23:49, Jn 19:25). In the Synoptic gospels, the women are at a distance away, however in the Gospel of John they are at the foot of the cross of Jesus. John, places Mother Mary, her sister, Mary the wife of Clopas and Mary Magdalene at the scene. Mt says many other women were present there. In Jn 19:26, we see the reference where the Lord Jesus sees the disciple he loved (assumed to be John) and his mother standing nearby, and asks the disciple to accept His mother from now on.
It looks like all the other twelve disciples had deserted the crucifixion scene and only one, John, remained. This speaks about the courage of the women who stood by our Lord Jesus Christ at His every last hour, even while the thousands he had healed and ministered as well as His own disciples (barring John) abandoned Him.
Was it the courage of the women that enabled them to keep standing or the fact that they were less likely to be punished by the authorities than men, in an era when women were not considered sign significant to even be counted in a census( The multiplication of loaves in the Gospels only counts the number of men among those fed- ignoring the women and children).
It is poignant to ponder upon the silent strength of these women, who are sharing the last moments of our Lord Jesus Christ on earth. In their anguish and tears, especially Mother Mary, one can also feel the anguish of mothers who have lost their children in their prime. I lost a dear cousin in a drowning accident more than thirty years ago. He had just completed 22 years of age, and even now his mother, my aunt, cannot get over the anguish of losing her son. Yet there is a quiet strength in her that has allowed us to bear this great loss over the years with fortitude. This is the inner strength of a woman that a man does not have.
Women have had a tremendous influence on our Catholic Faith over the years. Starting with the women at the feet of the cross, so many examples are before us: St Joan of Arc, St Teresa of Avila, St Clare of Assisi, St Catherine of Siena, St Elizabeth Ann Seton, St Alphonsa, St Mother Teresa and the list goes on.
We are grateful for these women who stood at the foot of the Cross and for us in times of crisis, just like our earthly mothers would have. Happy Women’s Day!
“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.”
Mulieris Dignitatem, an apostolic letter by St John Paul II on the Dignity and Vocation of Women, was published on 15 August 1988, and written in conjunction with the 1987-88 Marian Year.