God’s great gift given to us? Women …
According to Vatican Radio, Pope Francis stressed this to faithful during his daily morning Mass at Casa Santa Marta, as he reflected on the creation of woman, as told in Genesis, and on how God created woman, in his personal opinion, so that we would all have a mother.
“Without women, there is no harmony in the world, ” the Pope stressed, noting men and women are not equal. While clarifying that one is not superior to the other, he explained that it is the woman, and not the man, who brings that harmony which makes the world a beautiful place.
For this reason, he also pointed out, that while exploiting all people is a crime, exploiting women is worse, for it destroys harmony.
During the homily, the Pontiff considered three moments in Creation: the solitude of the man, the dream, and the destiny of both the man and the woman: to be “one flesh.”
His Dream
Pope Francis was continuing his reflections on creation, and how God, seeing man all alone, took a rib from Adam and created woman, who the man recognized as “flesh of his flesh.”
“But before seeing her,” the Pope said, “the man dreamed of her… In order to understand a woman, it is necessary first to dream of her.”
Francis recalled that once during one of his audiences, he asked a couple celebrating their 60th anniversary, who has had more patience.
“And they looked at me, they looked me in the eyes – I’ll never forget those eyes, eh? – then they turned and they told me, both together: ‘We are in love.’ After 60 years, this means ‘one flesh.’
Harmony
The woman, Francis stressed, brings the capacity to love one another, which makes possible harmony for the world.
“This is the great gift of God: He has given us woman. And in the Gospel, we have heard what a woman is capable of, eh? She is courageous, that one, eh? She went forward with courage. But there is more, so much more. A woman is harmony, is poetry, is beauty.
Without her, the world would not be so beautiful, it would not be harmonious.
For Us All to Have a Mother, Not for a Function
“And I like to think – but this is a personal thing – that God created women so that we would all have a mother.
The Pope went on to lament how often, women are spoken about or thought of in a ‘functionalist’ manner. Instead, he underscored, we should see women as bearers of a richness that men do not possess: women bring harmony to creation.
“When women are not there, harmony is missing. We might say: But this is a society with a strong masculine attitude, and this is the case, no? The woman is missing. ‘Yes, yes: the woman is there to wash the dishes, to do things…’
“No, no, no!” he said, “The woman is there to bring harmony,” and who “teaches us to caress, to love with tenderness; and who makes the world a beautiful place.”
