The duty of Catholic laymen is to provide for their own, protect their own and do their military duty. Normally “prayer, sacrifice and devotion” while convincing others to consecrate themselves to the Immaculate Heart of Mary is, after all, women’s work. We men are made of sterner stuff.
How very sad and terrifying that you think so.
We do not hear God’s will from within the centers of ourselves. We learn God’s will from outside ourselves, from God Alone. If we can stop listening for God from inside ourselves and meet Him, so to speak, in the clouds above where He is, then we will understand that He wants us to actively fight against evil wherever we find it and not passively refuse to resist evil while complacently presuming God’s favors like the hypocrites and Pharisees do. What God wants from us is works, works and more works, to paraphrase the great Saint Theresa of Avila.
Sounds completely opposite from what is told to us by our Faith and the Saints, that God is heard in the peace and tranquility of our souls.
Dear Lady Wallflower:
Then why do we have women and clergy at all? Since the laymen can take care of everything, aren't the Catholic women and clergy rendered terribly redundant? By and large the Catholic laymen are out working and struggling hard against what and who opposes them. Roman Catholic manhood isn't easy and isn't expected to be. Yes, that would be something terrifying -- to sensible women. Women are very wise not to want to be men.
To your second point above, no, the doctrine of the Holy Trinity teaches us that creatures and God are truly and really distinct. We Catholics staunchly reject the pantheist notion that God and Creation are merged into one and that individuality doesn't truly and really exist. That's another of the many many glories of the Blessed Trinity. Although the Holy Ghost is within us, He is not of us. Within and above us, but not literally of us in any absolute or too literal sense. That would be Pantheism.
Sts. Paul and Francis of Assisi are the classic examples of Catholic men who do not hear God "in the peace and tranquillity of our souls", at least not usually or so often. Of course sometimes such men do hear the Good God in that more feminine way, but they also enjoy the more stormy joys of Roman Catholic manhood as well. Catholic manhood is usually more joyful and adventurous than peaceful and tranquil. Hence the great need among us for Catholic women in particular. The peace and tranquility is by and large located in your own more pleasant and civilised department. But for we men hearing God amid the lightning and thunder can also be tremendously empowering and rewarding at times.
While Catholic men and women share the same identical religion, humanity and adulthood, it’s also true that, as my lady French teacher used to say: “Vive la différance!”
God bless.
I am sorry, I don't know that I fully understand the response. If you mean that women have a natural tendency to piety and that men and women pray and sacrifice differently, then yes I agree and I misunderstood your first post.
If you literally mean that prayer and sacrifice is for women (and clergy), then I stand by my first reaction. No one is redundant if each gives glory to God, whether directly through the salvation of their own souls or indirectly by the salvation of those in their care.
We are supposed to be striving for sanctity no matter our sex and no matter our active or contemplative callings, whether in the foreground or the background. Though the expression of virtue may be different depending on the difference in sex and states in life, I don't know how anyone is capable of reaching that common goal of perfection without constant prayer and sacrifice.
As natural a tendency as piety is in women they still have hurdles to jump in practicing the supernatural virtue. They tend to be sentimental and overly human in their devotions. I'd wager that the supernatural virtue of piety in a man would be of 10 times more value than 10 women with natural piety. Now, the supernatural virtue in a woman is powerful too but even then, because so much of it comes so naturally, it doesn't make the impression that it does in men. I have only ever heard men be exhorted from the pulpit to be examples of prayer and sacrifice for their children since no such example is as powerful, even that of their mother. If it's just a "mom thing", then our sons, our future leaders tend lose the connection to the Holy Ghost and the practice of our Faith. From there it's just a short jump to losing the Faith itself and there goes society. The exact impression we are trying to avoid like the plague is that prayer and sacrifice are for women (and clergy).
Again, if you simply mean that men are generally more active, gallant, adventurous, militant in their lives of prayer and sacrifice, then I am simply misunderstanding and I apologize. That that is true is immediately apparent to anyone raising boys and looking to inspire them in their Faith.
As to the other point, I have no Pantheist leanings. I realize God is distinct from us. But His voice, the whisper of the Holy Ghost, is heard most in silence. If He decides to come to us in thunder and lightning (a la St Paul) then that is His choice and He will make Himself heard above the noise. He will BE the noise. But from what I have always understood, we would be presumptuous to voluntarily raise a ruckus and surround ourselves with drama and constant action, then expect Him to compete with it in order to be heard. No matter what action this world brings to us, we must still maintain a level of peace within our souls.
Dear Lady,
Thank you for your polite consideration. Of course women have a natural tendency to piety and men must make much greater efforts in order to fulfil their duties of prayer and sacrifice. Most assuredly none can reach our common goal of perfection without constant prayer and sacrifice. But for men this is often more complicated and gradates off into more hard work in studies and the more public sacrifices of work and combat. Your estimate of 10:1 for the relative values of piety between the sexes makes perfect sense. That is about the standard ratio that has been reached by the general consensus on that topic. (Although the much greater perseverence of feminine piety and devotion goes far to balance the scales.) What this writer was trying to refer to was essentially the tendency of hypocritical men to use what are often called “mincing devotions” and “oily unction” as plagiaries of genuine devotions and real piety among Catholic men. There are always all too many Tartuffes among us and that obnoxious male character is never far to seek, most notably at present nearby in Boston, Kentucky.
Prayer and sacrifice are different for laymen, laywomen, women religious and clergymen. Of course prayer and sacrifice are crucial for every Catholic, but we are extremely unequal in our talents and duties. Prayer is most important for the clergy while women are called much the most to self-sacrifice and men are called to greatly emphasise the masculine virtue of magnanimity. Laymen would usually be more bold and militant in the performance of their religious duties but also focus much more on their military duty and their obligation to earn a living while laywomen should be morally much freer to pursue and enjoy the many benefits of Christian civilisation, including the fulfillment of their duties of religion in more beautiful and civilised ways than would be proper for the men.
In general Catholic fathers should be examples of dutifulness and heroism to their sons and the boys’ connection to the Holy Ghost and practice of the Faith would be best maintained through the men’s hard struggle to provide for their families and the willingness to shed their own blood in the fulfillment of military duty. Catholic laymen have always excelled in their military prayers, such as in the chanting of the Psalms when going off to battle. That is the way laymen might best connect with the Holy Ghost in their prayers and maintain the Faith. Military song and epic should always be integral to the prayer life of Cathollc boys and laymen; the men should pray and perform devotions, but not in the manner that the women should do them. For example, the rosaries of men and boys should have dignified black beads, not lovely pastel ones.
The standard religious practice of our contemporary Marxist world is to listen to the God within one’s own Self (in other words, to Oneself) and never to the Just God of the Roman Catholics. Whereas the Catholic approach has always been to have the Roman discipline to take a part in the Christian Drama and discover what we can do to increase the external Glory of God. Catholic men are meant to be magnanimous and when no ruckus is raised around them, then Catholic men should worry what is wrong with them. How does a lightning rod not attract lightning or the war songs of Catholic warriors not echo loudly?
Catholic laymen are born to be heroes. Heroes don’t surround themselves with drama and constant action; such drama and action is simply the air they breathe, the inevitable effect of their existence; Christ is invariably soon heard and seen loud and clear. How would He not be?
As for the absolutely essential level of peace within our souls that you mention, for we men that is usually first and foremost the Mother of God in our lives. And then that level is in accord with how well the Catholic women in our lives faithfully reflect her. She and they are our main personal connection with the Holy Ghost.
It is you, dear lady, who have brought the Holy Spirit of Christ into our humble discussion. We men contribute the glorious sound and fury, but it is for you Catholic women to maintain that level of peace you gently mention, whether inside or outside our souls.
Topic: Fr. Voigt exposes Fr. Pfeiffer, Boston KY seminary, SSPX-MC, OLMC (Read 26853 times)