As a young person noticeably seeking Christ in my life, being part of the Catholic Church, and discerning consecrated life, several times I have been asked: “Do you want to be a priest?”
In short, I cannot be Father Jacqueline! I would make a terrible father, just as a priest would make a terrible mother.
What I think many do not realize is that there is the Petrine part of the Church as well as the Marian part of the Church. In other words, it is not all about the priests. They are not the high leaders and only role in the Catholic Church. In fact, there is a whole feminine dimension of the Church.
The Petrine dimension represents the work of men in the Church, most visibly in the order of the priesthood, handed down by the first apostles of Jesus—Peter, being the rock, the first pope, and the leader of the apostles.
The Marian dimension represents the work of women in the Church, most visibly in sisterhood, motherly leadership, and bridal love. There is a Trinitarian (or three-fold) work involved with the Marian dimension of the Church. Just think of Mary. She is the daughter of God the Father. She is the mother of God the Son. She is the spouse of the Holy Spirit.
So, Mary is the daughter of God the Father. The responsorial psalm at Church that we sing on Marian feast days is, “You are the highest honor of our race.” We get these words from the book of Judith (it is about a woman, who singlehandedly took on the whole Assyrian army by cutting off the head of their leader, Holofernes). Women are daughters, just as Mary is a daughter. Daughters are especially beloved by the king. They were designed to give themselves to a husband, be it God, or be it a man who is under God. “Hear, O daughter, consider and incline your ear; forget your people and your father’s house; and the king will desire your beauty. Since he is your lord, bow to him” (Psalm 45:10-11). A woman marries a man and they become one flesh; the man is a son of God; the woman is a daughter of God. Their different characteristics as man and woman come together as one (Genesis 2:24).
Women are mothers as Mary is the Mother of God and the mother of all of us. If Mary is considered to be everyone’s mother (As we learn when Mary was with St. John at the cross of Jesus in John 19:25-27), then we women should do the same. Women are called to be mothers, biologically and spiritually. To everyone. For example, I consider myself a mother to many priests. I usually do not tell the priests that I am their mother, so I do not “freak” them out as many are older than me, but I pray for them as a mother prays for her children.
Then, women are called to be spouses of the Holy Spirit as Mary’s spouse is the Holy Spirit. A woman is called to give herself to her husband “until death do us part.” As Mary receives the Holy Spirit, women receive the love of man, and with such love, a child is born. For Mary, we all know who that child is! Nuns and consecrated women are spouses of the Holy Spirit. They receive Him and bear much fruit, be it by continuous prayer and work, missionary activity, contemplation, and just being a presence in the Church.
So, yes, Father Jacqueline does not fit me. I am no theologian or scholar, however, as a personal witness to being a daughter of God Most High, a mother of many spiritual children, and a spouse to the Holy Spirit, I am a witness to the wonders of womanhood. I would want this precious role no other way.
Nuns and religious sisters are at a very low right now. That is one of the reasons why we do not always see the “Marian” side of the Church. We do not realize the importance of consecrated life. This goes for the same as priests right now. I am from the Archdiocese of Detroit. We had no priests to ordain this year. Thus, our dear Archbishop has called for a year of prayer to bring forth vocations to the priesthood. Not as Father Jacqueline, but as Miss Jacqueline, I pray daily for Archbishop’s intentions, taking all priests and seminarians as my “sons.”
I visit religious sisters and consecrated virgins as my “sisters” in Christ, but I also have sisters in my bible study, friends, cousins, and of course, my biological sisters.
My twin sister is married with a son (my godson!). As she married an earthly man and is having physical children, I am discerning if I will marry a heavenly man (Jesus) and will take all people as my spiritual children.
I can do all that I have written and do not have a call to be a priest.
10 thoughts on “Why a Woman is Not Called to be a Priest”
Maybe you are not called to the priesthood. Perhaps others women are. If you haven’t already, you might want to pay a visit t the catacombs of Priscilla and church of St Praxides in Rome (close to St. Mary Major) for a perspective of women’s roles in the early church. Going back even further to the early house churches, women ran the households and likely would have been the principal celebrant of any event held in the house – including early versions of the Mass. There is a repressed history contradictory of the notion that the priesthood has “always been” exclusively male.
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Jacqueline,
Thanks for taking the time to respond to my comments.
Happy New Year.
I’m a Catholic that went through the RCIA program. As I read more scriptures, I find that I am confronted by what the Bible says versus statements made by the RCC, as well authors on Catholic stand.
I don’t quite see how John 19:27 equates to establishing Mary as our mother.
I’m also familiar with your references to writing by Paul.
No where in the Bible does it suggest that you can marry Jesus and become the spiritual mother of others.
We are entering the end of the age. Jesus repeatedly warned that we should not be deceived.
Cling to the Word of God (i.e. the Bible) in these difficult times!
Beautiful essay! Thank you for celebrating the feminine genius that Jesus recognized and instilled in His Church!
Where in scriptures does it suggest that you can “marry a heavenly man (Jesus) and will take all people as my spiritual children.“?
Hi Robert,
Thank you for your question. As you know, Scripture does not say verbatim that I can marry Jesus and take all as my spiritual children. However, with Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition, it becomes clear that Jesus is indeed a bridegroom and I can take part in having spiritual children.
For starters, St.Paul in 1 Corinthians 7:34 explains that “the unmarried woman or virgin is anxious about the affairs of the Lord, how to be holy in body and spirit; but the married woman is anxious about worldly affairs, how to please her husband.” As I am not married to any earthly man, I am not bound by “world affairs” and “how to please her husband.” Instead, I am concerned with holiness of body and spirit. As a virgin with no earthly children and no earthly spouse, I get to take on the Lord’s affairs in which I can be “anxious” about all people, taking them as my spiritual children.
Furthermore, St. Paul in 1 Corinthians 12 writes about the Body of Christ, which is also called the “Bride of Christ.” (Revelation 19:7, 2 Corinthians 11:2, several passages in Isaiah, and many more refer to Christ as the bridegroom and the Church as His Bride.) If I am married to Christ, who is the Head of the Church, then I get to take the whole Body of Christ as my children, for my heavenly spouse is “Everlasting Father” (Isaiah:9:6). As He has come to take us, the Church as His children, I too get to take all people as my children.
Israel, in the Old Testament, is repeatedly referred to as a bride prepared for her groom. Now, as the new Israel is the Church, the Church is also a bride prepared for her groom. As a part of the Body of Christ, I too am a bride prepared for my groom. See Matthew 25:1-13 in which the wise and foolish virgins go out to meet the bridegroom. The five wise virgins bring extra oil for their lamps, while the foolish virgins have to go “to the dealers” to buy more oil. I pray that I am a wise virgin, like the ones in this parable, ready and alert for the bridegroom to come at any moment.
Mary is the perfect example of taking all as her spiritual children. As a virgin who is the spouse of the Holy Spirit, she takes all people of the world as her children. We know this by John 19:25-27. Jesus, on the cross, gives Mary the beloved disciple as her son (each of us is the beloved disciple). Likewise, the beloved disciple will be “your mother!” (John 19:27). We are all children of Mary. We also have the opportunity to imitate Mary in her generous love for all people.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church explains “The Church is the Bride of Christ” (CCC 796). If you would like more information specifically on consecrated virgins–be they nuns, religious, or virgins living in the world, take a look at CCC 922-924.
I hope this is helpful! Thank you for reading and commenting 🙂
It sounds like God is calling you to be His bride perhaps in an order that prays specifically for the priesthood and all our faithful priests.I hope so.
Dear JSC, In 1st grade, 1953, we were blest to be taught by Brigidine nuns, CSB, from Ireland (who thought San Antonio TX was the atrium of hell). They were all addressed then as “Mother.” To this day I am in touch with my 2nd grade teacher, Mother Cabrini, as are many of her other former students.
You have hit on one of the many reasons women cannot be ordained priests – a priest serves us in persona Christi, in the person of Christ, and it is sound catholic doctrine that a person is not just a soul or not just a body, but an ensouled body or an embodied soul. “The “person” of Christ includes His body – and that is a male body. When Jesus, through one of His ordained priests, says “This is My Body,” it is a male body. A woman, a person who does not have a male body, cannot be in persona Christi as is an ordained priest. This is one reason why, just like you cannot baptize a rock, a woman cannot be ordained. [Another reason is that this is one of the New Testament’s “Commands of the Lord.”]
Thank you for your writing. Happy 2023!
Guy, Texas
[I figure 2023 will be the best year ever OR will be the end of the world – I’m good either way]
There are many types of “mother” , please pray for us. We need as many mothers and fathers as possible in this world.
If you’re the “mother” to priests, it’s a strange kind of mother that has to follow her children’s orders.