Post Synod Blues
I had high hopes that my Church through Synodality we would become a Missionary Church by recognising the myriad ways in which many groups are disadvantaged both within the Church and in Society. Particularly the female half of the population.
At church on Sunday, we listened to the story of Martha and Mary. Our priest gave a homily that started extremely well, by describing our need to find regular solitude and quiet to facilitate individual reflection and prayer. As an SVP member who had spent the previous two weeks supporting someone in crisis I felt the homily would have been improved by stating the need to balance prayer and contemplation with practical works of community and charity.
In this case a beneficiary had been attacked and moved to a place of safety outside Leeds when discharged from hospital. However, they had only the police tracksuit they were wearing on discharge (their clothes being taken as evidence) with them .
They had no cash as it had been stolen. Their essential monthly costs exceed their benefits (bedroom tax and frozen housing benefit being the main reason). Thus they were left in a strange place with no food, clothes, toiletries, or fares back to Leeds for hospital visits. Providing the necessary help on an ongoing basis took its toll.
I often feel that most of the voluntary work done to keep the parish going and via charities like SVP, is done by women. And that an exclusively male Church hierarchy largely focussed on Worship don’t notice. It is women of Faith who do most of the outreach work. Recent Appeals for male vocations made no mention of our need for this type of work in Jesus’s name.
Then a talk by 40 Days for Life at the end of Mass irritated me. An over coffee discussion showed I wasn’t alone.
The talk was given by a man who acknowledged that many women seeking abortion feel that they had no choice. There wasn’t a single mention of the role of the prospective father in creating a situation where the mother felt she had no choice. After all, had he and his family offered to bring up the baby there would probably be no need for an abortion! No mention of the father being sinful, only the mother.
In all the years I have attended Mass I can recollect no homily that has talked about the sin of domestic violence, stalking, coercive control or child abuse. No mention of how the increasing poverty in our society disproportionately impacts women.
Additionally I recollect no media interviewer, when talking to a female single parent about their struggle to make ends meet, asking them if their partner pays towards the upkeep of their children.
If my Church does not guide us towards responsible relationships based on a partnership of mutual respect who will?
If my Church continues to overlook the practical work of women of Faith in Jesus’s name and continues to discriminate against us why would my daughter come to Mass more often? Why would I?
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