Humble Obedience
Her master, seeing his goods multiply, as it were, in her hands, gave her [St. Zita] ample leave to bestow liberal alms on the poor, which she made use of with discretion, but was scrupulous to do nothing without his express authority.
From: St. Zita
“Without his express authority”. Saint Zita was always careful to respect and obey the authority of her master. Wise words for all of us, not least in respect to the authority of our Mother the Church. As Catholics, we are called to obey the Church. There are many who would disagree with that statement, and espouse the right of the faithful to question and sometimes even disobey. The trouble is, when we do that, we are no longer the faithful. 
Don’t get me wrong, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with questioning, especially when we come across something we don’t understand; there is nothing wrong with wanting to know the whys, hows and wherefores of our faith, but questioning needs to be done with a supple and compliant spirit, and with a desire to surrender to God’s will and be conformed to His way. The right kind of questioning is that which leads us to obedience to the Church’s teachings, and not into willful disobedience.
I saw, on a dissenting blog pertaining to be Catholic, a picture of a woman “priest” elevating the Host, in direct contradiction to the teachings of God, the Church and our Holy Father. It was a blasphemy. Questioning which leads to disobedience ultimately leads to blasphemy. As women, we are not called to be Priests, and those who decry this “lack of equality” have got it wrong. No woman is more elevated in any expression of the Christian faith than Mary is in the Catholic Church. God’s honouring of Mary honours us too, as women.
Sait Zita was humble and obedient to her station and her calling. May we always be humble and obedient to our Lord in thought, word and deed.
This is our rightful place, kneeling in humble adoration before our Lord…
This post is one of a series on Saint Zita I have posted on my blog, Life on the Home Front. You will find the rest HERE
Beautiful post & picture!
ReplyDeleteAWESOME POST!!! And, I LOVE the picture also!!
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed this..but kneeling at the Lords feet doesn't equal letting men walk all over you,and a lot of Feminists and Atheists don't see it like that do they?
ReplyDeleteGood point, diddleymaz.
ReplyDeleteI believe that it is kneeling which elevates us, just as Mary's submission to God's will elevated her. But there will always be those who don't understand this. It takes faith to know that submission to God is what empowers us, in His strength, and gives us value and worth :)
Autumn xx
Interestingly a priest friend emailed me today saying about the new blog "That's Catholic feminism at its very best!"
ReplyDeleteI am chuffed :)
ReplyDeleteAt this year's service for the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity which took place in an Anglican church, I heard a Baptist or Methodist woman minister preach on "the God who kneels". It was an inspiring sermon. She was referring to the washing of the feet by Our Lord kneeling before the disciples. Our priest was sitting next to me and he was clearly moved as were we all.
ReplyDeleteJackie P - The ACWB is off to a flying start so should we not share our good fortune and "Catholic feminism" with the Guild as Dylan has requested.
They have changed the picture to include women (after complaints I think) so how about a nice article from you and other women bloggers.
They need us!
Excellent idea Anne-Marie..I've put someone on the case!
ReplyDelete