Low Sunday
J.M.J.
 
 
As the system of Christian dogma is ever more abandoned
by the "civilized" world, it should not surprise us that morals
have also rapidly disintegrated. Truth is the life of the mind and
when it is abandoned the mind becomes diseased and decays.
The modern mind, by throwing aside Christian principles, has
opened itself to the disease of false principles and therefore is
unable to think clearly or coherently in the metaphysical or
spiritual spheres. With the decay of thought values there soon
follows the decay of moral values.
 
It is, however, surprising to see that many, who strive to
cling to the Christian faith and its practice, are also affected by
this dissolution of faith and morals. Christian principles, which
alone can give stability to all elements of society, are put aside
or at least watered down to avoid the conflict caused by going
against the modern trend of "political correctness". This causes
a dulling of minds with the result that things which ought to
shock peoples' tastes and feelings no longer do so.
 
The change produced in society would be bad enough if
man alone was affected, but the effect is much more disastrous
when woman comes under the influence of false principles,
for she remains the fountain of life, not only in a physical, but
more importantly in a moral and spiritual sense. Because of
her sensibility and adaptability, the danger of being swayed by
fashions of thought or thoughtlessness is greater for her.
 
When fundamental principles are not clearly defined and
those disputing have unsound or incorrect views regarding the
ultimate values of life, such controversies are difficult to settle
mainly because there are some elements of truth on both sides. In
order to define these fundamental principles we must first clearly
understand the end to be aimed at in this life. Any discussion
would be fruitless unless we understand rightly the function that
woman, by her nature, with all its physical, moral and mental
gifts, is called on to fulfill in the world and what contribution
to the good of the human race she has been aptly fit for.
 
To understand the true role woman has to play in the world
we must go back to the origin of things to see what Almighty
God, the Author of Nature, has destined her for. The book of
Genesis tells us that God made woman to be a helpmate for
man. This being so, it is unnatural and therefore bad for her to
be a rival of or an echo of man. As a helpmate, she should be
able to have an intelligent and sympathetic interest in his work
and the difficulties to which it gives rise, without usurping his
place. For this reason she may and ought to have knowledge
of all the subjects that ordinarily enter into the intellectual
formation of men. But, while studying the same subjects, her
study should be in a different way and for another purpose. It
must be more cultural than competitive, with a bias towards the
practical arts and accomplishments needed for the management
of the home.
 
We also read in Genesis that Almighty God has said that
women shall be saved by childbearing. Here we see an indication
of the maternal instinct that is present in all women. Not all
women will be married, but even in the virgin this maternal
instinct exists and therefore must be fostered, not stifled, in
her education, and directed toward the care of the weak, the
suffering, the wayward and all who are in need of sympathy,
insight and understanding. The maternal instinct is not just
for the care of children, it also moves a woman to stimulate the
fading energies in the man whose courage in life's struggles is
failing, or to encourage to high endeavors one whose lack of
confidence in his own powers threatens to make him a traitor
to himself and to his destiny. The motherly instinct will cause a
woman to cherish greatness of an intellectual, moral or artistic
kind in those entrusted to her, and move her to stir in them the
efforts that are needed for success. Thus she must possess dignity,
sweetness, self-restraint, objectivity and the power of giving.
 
Man's greatness is always of a conquering nature - it lies
in acquisition. Woman's greatness lies in giving and securing
around her life and its expansion. She grows by inspiring vitality.
In contact with her, things take life, for she is, in the design of
Providence, the source of life. From this the virgin finds her
motherhood. The true woman must have the grace, modesty
and restraint of the virgin combined with the dignity, tenderness
and devotedness of the mother. Here lies her perfection and her
true beauty. How significant it is that the Blessed Virgin Mary,
the ideal woman, was both Virgin and Mother.
 
But today this beauty is no longer coveted by modern woman.
Spurred on by false economic principles and fostered by the
modern educational system, she has become selfish. Selfishness
ruins her nature, because it conflicts with her natural disposition
of self-sacrifice. Her role in life calls upon her to be a universalist.
Because every woman has the nature of mother in her, she must
be an educationist, an economist, a doctor, a nurse and a hundred
other things to be truly successful. Specialized study does not
equip her for her task. She must study to be wise. She must
be ready to concretely handle all the different problems of life,
whether physical, mental, moral or religious, through the exercise
of practical and rapid intuitions. Man studies to be learned and
dominates by force and intelligence, a woman by tenderness and
devotedness. Initiative suits the man: adaptability is called for
in the woman. Her universality, her concrete logic, her practical
common-sense and dislike for abstraction, are required to maintain
the equilibrium which could easily be lost by the specialization,
and therefore narrowness, in any given department of life.
 
The modern educational system has been consciously
set up to educate girls the same way as boys. The intent is to
eliminate as much as possible the psychological and physiological
differences between the two sexes. Their studies are given the
same objective; their games take on the same selfish and violent
spirit, with the passions they engender. Such keen competition
helps boys to gain the qualities they will need to succeed in the
battle of life, but is unsuited for girls as it tends to rob them of
that modesty, reserve, dignity, grace, tenderness, sensibility and
devotedness which is proper to their formation as women. A girl
should aim at the acquisition of that strength and grace which
becomes the woman. Games for her should be for the proper
and harmonious development of her physique as a woman
and not for the fierce joy of overcoming a rival. It is good to
develop in boys the spirit that makes for conquest, but for girls,
it should be the spirit of helpfulness. Education is training for
life, which in nature's scheme is different for men and women.
The harmony of the world is lost when it is composed of men
and would-be men.
 
Behind this false trend in education is also the false notion
asserting equality between men and women. There is only one
sense in which they are equal and that is found in their calling to
the same destiny - the Beatific Vision. Here there is a common
standard - sanctifying grace. Woman is greater, less than or equal
to man according to the measure of grace in the soul. Men and
women are not meant to be equal in any other sense of the word.
It would be a pity if they were. For the good of the human race,
it is quite necessary that they should be different and equipped
with complimentary qualities. There is no common standard
of measurement as reference. Apples are not equal to oranges
or to plums.
 
Intellectually, women are endowed otherwise than men.
Generally, as a rule, man's intellect works to conclusions by a
process of reasoning, whereas woman's works more by intuition.
Man excels at seizing principles and making abstract conclusions,
while woman excels more in attention to detail and concrete
conclusions. Man as a rule excels in invention, woman in
arrangement and adaptation. Man looks to the building of the
city, while woman looks to the building of the home. Which
is the more important work? The feminist will say: "the work
that man claims for himself - the building of the city." Yet the
city is there for the interests of the home and not vice-a-versa.
How dull the world would be if there were a simple, clear cut,
mathematical equality in the physical and mental endowments
of men and women. From the dissimilarity of the sexes there is
derived the richness, variety and mystery of human life.
 
The truly great woman is the one who diffuses light in the
home, who calls forth worth and goodness in those around
her, who is the inspiration of brave undertakings, who fosters
idealism, who sustains the weakening arms, who takes away tears
or dries them, who creates high moral tradition, who civilizes
society and increases the sum of happiness in the world; who,
in a word, dominates by wisdom, goodness and sound vision,
not by force and by rivaling men in the domains where they
are expected to excel. The true woman strives for the ideal of
womanhood, not that of manhood.
Mary, the Mother of Jesus, stands as the perfect model of
womanly achievement, of gracious motherhood, and of fruitful
virginity. Girls should be trained and educated so as to help them
mirror in themselves the excellence of her womanly character. It
is only to the degree that they do so that they can truly become
the great women that today's world needs.
 
Sincerely in Jesus Christ and His Blessed Mother Mary,
Fr. John D. Fullerton