All these “Women of Lent”
that we’ve considered since the first Sunday of Lent give us inspiration to continue to
live into our calling as Princesses of the Kingdom. To Love God with heart,
soul, mind, and strength and to live lives of faith, hope and love. God doesn’t
call anonymous or stray people. God knows our names and calls us beloved, and
calls us God’s own. We are assured in Isaiah 43:1, “But now, this is what the LORD says-- he who created you, Jacob, he who
formed you, Israel: "Do not fear,
for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.” In
this same way we are named, called, and loved by God.
As called and chosen and
beloved Princesses of the Kingdom, we can look to Mary of Nazareth and Miryam
of Magdala as inspirations for stepping out in faith, even when we are asked to
do something very uncomfortable, or anti-societal. We can know that as God was
with those 2 Marys, God will be with us. We can make the choice each day to
walk in Hope of new life like Joanna and Salome did. The sisters Mary and
Martha demonstrate that we are loved whether we are busy servants, or
contemplative listeners. All of our gifts are important and necessary in
building up the Kingdom.
Each of these women stepped
out of the normal life of women of their time. They looked beyond their initial
images of God’s work in their lives. They found more than they expected in
following Jesus and they inspire us to look outside the boxes we may make for
ourselves and for God. Fr. Mike Gemagani, the Provincial chaplain for the DOK
is also a poet. One of his poems is called Walls of Words and describes what we
too often try to do with God.
My God, I
will wall you in with words.
Imprison you in attributes so grand I know you will be pleased.
All-good, all-knowing, all-powerful, three walls;
And the fourth wall - perfect.
Four walls to hold you fast
So I can find you when I need you.
How thrilled
I was to look upon the room containing God,
Bounded by the constructs of my mind,
Walls of words, words to please and praise,
Walls to bound a God of my design.
But when I peeked inside the room to see
what God was doing,
The room was empty.
When we try to confine God
to our own definitions, we’ll also find that God isn’t in our rooms. When we
chose to follow and let go of our plans and notions, we will be found by God
and we will be changed. Each of these women, these Princesses of the Kingdom,
have shown us that living into I Corinthians 13 is the way to make a difference
in the world.
The Rev. Monica Whitaker
(who will be our leader at the Women’s Bosque Retreat in November), in light of
Elizabeth Warren being silenced in Congress, and the rallying cry #she persisted, re-posted an article
about some Biblical women who were ‘warned, received explanations, and yet
persisted. Of Mary of
Nazareth she writes It is most
appropriate to begin with Mary, the mother of Jesus. We can only speculate the
warnings and explanations she heard as a young girl regarding appropriate
social behavior for a first-century Jewish woman. No wonder she was perplexed when the Angel Gabriel announced God’s plan
for her. Nevertheless, she persisted. Her fiat was not only a yes to bear
the son of God, but a yes to the daily
struggles that that task would require. She was a prophet, bearing all the
pain that came with bearing God’s good news into the world. She persisted in
her yes through pregnancy, through labor, through fleeing her homeland, through
child-rearing, and through her son’s ministry. She persisted in her yes even
when she watched her son being brutally crucified and die. She persisted in her yes as she too learned of Jesus’ resurrection,
pondering all of God’s work in her heart.
We are called to Persist in living a life of Faith, Hope, and Love! Paul’s Letter to the Philippians reminds us, “Yet whatever gains I had, these I have come to regard as loss because of Christ. More than that, I regard everything as loss because of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things, and I regard them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but one that comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God based on faith. I want to know Christ and the power of his resurrection and the sharing of his sufferings by becoming like him in his death, if somehow I may attain the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already obtained this or have already reached the goal; but I press on/persevere to make it my own, because Christ Jesus has made me his own. Beloved, I do not consider that I have made it my own; but this one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on towards the goal for the prize of the heavenly call of God in Christ Jesus” (Phil 3:7-14)
After Aslan
returns to life, in the Lion, Witch & Wardrobe, he invites Lucy and Susan
to ride him as he soars to the White Witch’s castle to free all her captives,
the statues of her enemies. Jesus invites us to persist, soar, and work with
him to free captives too. Live outside
your box. Step onto the unfamiliar escalator and go to wonderful new places!
It’s not an easy adventure, but we are not alone!
What can we do to live into our legacy as Women of the
Kingdom/princesses?
How
are we princesses, beloved, holy, called, chosen?
