Catholic religious and consecrated women should become ‘Mother’ once they hit age 40 or 15 years of religious life, whichever comes first. That will nudge the attitudes and behavior of a generation of Catholics towards ‘seeing Christ in women’.
For those who object that Mary is Mother, just want to remind Christ is the Incarnation. Mary represents conformity with the Holy Spirit and pure intention.
I need to read a lot more. I am not a theologians and I didn’t grow up in a religious home. I didn’t get that religion was meaning-making and narrative until I encountered some warm-hearted, humble, funny, friendly, unpretentious English learners in Russia, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Poland. Mostly Russia, though – I do believe there is a national character and I think the Russian national character is … spiritual and psychological depth. No surprise; the literature and poetry of Russia speaks for itself, but I encountered people first, not books.
Back to what Mary and Christ represent, and in light of Magnificent Humanity, published yesterday, the Body of Christ needs to let up on coercive control over lay women. I am dealing with a toxic legal coercive arrangement because of what I know and the documents in my closet. Getting buy in intentionally during initiation is the way to decide who gets “in”. I didn’t want to “be part of the family” as David Roche (priest) suggested. I wasn’t after belonging to a club; I already a strong sense of belonging before I knocked on the door of the Church.
If there are going to be ‘Fathers’ there should be more ‘Mothers’ – not just the one head of a congregation but it should be a title that kicks in once a woman arrives at a certain milestone of experience. All religious sisters in their 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s should be addressed as and thought of as ‘Mother.” Knowing that their vocation, their journey is to being ‘Mother’ may influence how they think of themselves, and it’ll certainly influence how lay and ordained men think of religious women.