1 Cor 15:12-20 / Luke 8:1-3
Paul talks about our resurrection: Christ has been raised.
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Women in the Church
New
Testament scholars confirm that, in comparison with the literary works of the
then times, the gospels contain unusually high number of references to women.
According to some scholars, of all founders of religions and sects, Jesus is
unique in his welcome and affirmation of women. Jesus was humble enough to
learn even from a pagan woman – the Syro-Phoenician woman who reminded him that
gentiles were not to be excluded from the mercy of God (cf. Mt 15:27). In an
age when the testimony of a woman was given only half the weightage of that of
a man, Jesus chose Mary Magdalene to be apostle to the apostles, to be the
first bearer of the good news of his resurrection. Today’s gospel testifies to
how women felt free and welcome to be his followers. If Jesus welcomed men and
women without any discrimination, our parishes, faith communities, and homes must
also become places where women play significant roles in discipleship,
evangelization, and leadership.
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For the apostles, the Cross and resurrection are the center of their faith. "If the dead are not raised, Christ has not been raised either". The connection between our resurrection and his is this: Christ came down for us and for our salvation. The life of Christ, God-made-man, has no meaning unless it is for the salvation of men. He came down to make good Adam's sin, to open heaven for us. If he had died and not risen again on the third day, death would have been the end and his life meaningless. Our faith would be in vain. Redemption would have no meaning. The apostles would be false witnesses, our hope an illusion; those who have fallen asleep in Christ are lost like all unbelievers. There is no remission of sins; we are still in our sins. Every Christian is drawn into the mystery of Christ's death and resurrection. It is the question of our whole existence. Life without this faith is meaningless.
St. Paul expressed his conviction about the resurrection of Jesus even to the extent that he and those who proclaimed the resurrection and are shown up as witnesses would have committed perjury before God since they swore before God that He had raised Christ to life.
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Where do we find other evidence of the resurrection? "We are Easter people." St. Augustine of Hippo
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Good news, like all news, wants to be spread. For this, Christ needs an organized effort and teamwork. He chose for his team a motley but dedicated group. Already the team of his apostles was a selection of different characters and temperaments. There were women in the company not as preachers, but to look after their needs of them. This astonishes me even today. The Jerusalem Bible gives this passage the heading. "The women accompanying Jesus", forgetting the Twelve and the many others that were with him. The first name is that of Mary Magdalene, traditionally the sinful woman he had met in Simon’s house; Joanna the wife of Chuza, who was the steward of Herod, which means his finance administrator. This made her a woman of wealth and influence. Susanna is just a good efficient woman, anxious to serve. Did he call them sisters? Every talent was welcome. They had to work in unity as a team and make many sacrifices touring. Their job was the greatest: Bringing Christ to the world.
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To do volunteer work is a matter of choice. We can choose to do it or we may choose not to do it. And if we choose to do volunteer work, then we will see if it suits our availability and our suitability. In other words, we usually do volunteer work according to what we choose to do, and usually, it is at our convenience.
In the gospel, we hear of a group of people following Jesus in His mission of preaching and proclaiming the Good News. It was like a motley collection of people of various statuses in society. Besides the Twelve, there were also some women who had been cured of evil spirits and ailments, like Mary Magdalene and Susanna. More than just being volunteers, they provided for the group out of their own resources. They don't choose to give out of their own convenience but according to what the group required. For these women, they have a conviction of who Jesus is and of His mission. They had experienced it for themselves and that led to their conviction.
For St. Paul and those who followed Jesus, to serve God is certainly not a voluntary work that is done in their terms and conditions. For them to serve and witness to the Lord is a choice and a conviction. May we also have the conviction to make the same choice.
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Let us pray: Lord our God, men and women are responsible together for the life of faith of our Christian communities. As they were disciples of Jesus and his companions on the road, may they also accompany us today, with their identity and potential, that the Church may grow and its faith be alive and imbued with love. We ask you this through Christ our Lord.
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Saints Andrew Kim Taegon, Paul Chong Hasang, and
Companions
Feast day September 20
Today we remember a whole group of courageous Korean
Christians—113 martyrs canonized together in 1984. Among them were Andrew, a
21-year-old priest; Paul, a 45-year-old seminarian; Columba Kim, a 26-year-old
single woman, and her sister Agnes; and Peter Ryau, a 13-year-old boy. Some
10,000 Catholics were martyred for their faith before religious freedom came to
Korea in 1884. Today Korea has nearly 4 million Catholics.
During a Japanese invasion in 1592, a small number of
Koreans were baptized. Soon after, Korea cut itself off from the rest of the
world. Around 1777, some Confucian scholars decided to follow Christ after
reading books brought into the country by Catholics from China.
When a Chinese priest secretly arrived about 12 years later,
he found 4,000 Catholics who had never seen a priest. Korea’s first Christian
community was made up entirely of laypeople! Between 1839 and 1867, there were
fierce persecutions. One hundred three members of this community were martyred
along with three bishops and seven priests from the Paris Foreign Mission
Society.
Andrew Kim Taegon was the first native Korean priest. He was
the son of converts. His father, a farmer, was also martyred. Andrew was
baptized when he was 15. He then attended the seminary in Macao, China, 1,300
miles away from home. After six years Andrew returned to Korea and assumed the
job of bringing missionaries into the country secretly. Almost immediately he
was arrested, tortured, and beheaded.
In a letter written to fellow Christians, Andrew stated, “We have received baptism, entrance into the Church, and the honor of being called Christians. Yet what good will this do us if we are Christians in name only and not in fact?”
