Lay, married, and Opus Dei: "This is an adventure for me".Susan Longhurst:Sycamore wants to empower the laity".Pilar RíoThe laity, men and women "of the world at the heart of the Church" : The laity, men and women "of the world at the heart of the Church".Let me be a layperson. Just like that. Or priestessNeither deaconess, nor member with the right to vote in a Synod... Laywoman. Like the women at the foot of the Cross, who had their eyes fixed on Christ, not on the keys of the Kingdom that jingled as St. Peter ran away.
Let me be a laywoman in peace. Not because I lack ambition, not because I think that men are better equipped for the tasks of governing the Church or because I think that we women have to shut ourselves away. I do not want to be anything other than a laywoman because that is what God has asked of me. And if He says so, why should anyone come and demand that I claim another place?
The bad luck of being a secular woman
I see many people in the church pointing to a black spot on the white tablecloth. My surprise comes when I realize that they are the ones with the dirty fingers. They are creating the problem and then blaming the tablecloth, nothing and everything, for the dirt.
Is women inferior because they cannot receive priestly orders? Who said that? Didn't Christ appear to women in the first place after his Resurrection? Yes, the apostles have the power to cast out demons and forgive sins (I will not be the one to say that this is not cool) but they were witnesses of the Resurrection.
The problem lies in constantly wanting to "quantify" vocations. It reminds me of the fights between little brothers and sisters because mom gave Pepe a piece of cake a millimeter bigger. Mommy doesn't hate you, Miguelito, take a breath.
Certain currents that spend their days demanding rights have convinced us that the life of the Church can also be measured. They want to convince me that the Church is deceiving me, that it is locking me into my role as a laywoman because it does not want the best for me. You are lucky if you can climb the ladder a little and consecrate yourself as a religious, but being a laywoman... That's bad luck.
Only one measure
And how do I explain to you that I love being a laywoman? That I do not think that I have been locked up, that my vocation is not imposed on me by the Church, my vocation is a gift from God. Try to measure it yourself if you want, because I can't, nor do I want to.
The only measure a Catholic should know is the measure of the Cross. Perhaps it is not necessary to explore whether as a woman I could be ordained a priestess, but to know more deeply how I can best serve Christ, within His Church, in my role as a laywoman. Maybe I don't have to fight for that supposed extra millimeter. Maybe what I have to do is to recognize that the Church is Mother and knows better. And I say Church as a whole, without reducing it to a single Pope, a college of cardinals or an era.
This does not mean that there are no tasks to advance, roles to better recognize or teachings to deepen. It would be absurd to think that we already understand all the richness of the Church instituted by Christ, that there are no areas in which to improve. That is not the point.
Let me be a laywoman in peace. I don't want that inferiority complex that makes me think that my vocation is less valuable. I don't want that superiority complex that makes me think that I know so much more than all the wisdom of the world. Magisterio of the Church. Let me be a laywoman. And if you want us to measure vocations, compare them only and exclusively with the Cross. Perhaps on Calvary we will realize that our problem is not the lack of rights but the lack of love.
