Extra thoughts on Mary Hines

I am taking a "Biblical Perspectives on Feminist Theology" seminar this summer. Last week was the classroom and F2F part of the course... Now we have a few webinars and a mongo paper and the course will end in August with only about another gajillion hours of work. Oy.

Anyway - part of the in-class assignments were to present the main teachings and lives of the writers in "Freeing Theology" (ed. by Cathering Mowry LaCugna). I was clueless on who to pick. This whole discussion is new and extremely fascinating to me... at any rate, I had the great fortune to randomly choose Mary Hines, Prof. of Theology at Emmanuel College in Boston.

I won't bore you with the points of her article (she is wonderful to read -- as is the whole book!) but I have been pondering what she wrote and what we discussed in class. And since this assignment is done and turned in, and I have "extra thoughts" that are percolating, you get a bit of a brain dump...

In the process of sifting through the arguments and discussion on the patriarchal and hierarchical nature of the Church... and wanting to validate and hold dear some of the greatest teachings and praise saints through the ages, I've been pondering...

It seems that the Virgin Mary’s lessons for us include:

• submission and direction by God
• recognizing and holding to a holy task
• acknowledgment of Christ’s calling and role

Many a fundamentalist would disagree, but we must not forget that Catholicism brings to the evangelical community:

• a richness of church history and liturgy
• a clear and holier understanding of the Passion
• great depth and meaning to the Eucharist in its celebration and reverence (even if we are not transubstantiates)

In issues of women’s ordination:

• we can not ignore it -- HELLO!
• mistakes were made in the past for the sake of the status quo
• godly people have been hurt by the impact of unexamined tradition
• it is an issue for Catholics, Orthodox and Protestants

Catholicism and the history of Church in Europe:

• we are indebted to their careful recording and preservation of the Scriptures
• our family records are embedded in their genealogical records and local history
• the politicalization of the Church (especially in France!) was to the overall detriment and health of the Church today

OK.
Brain dump over...

Deb