01.03.06 Tuesdays Reflection

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I don't really regret losing the</div> <div> Circumcision - it was an awful big word for a six-year old to learn and its</div> <div> meaning couldn't be explained until much later when I had already become</div> <div> aware that there were lots more ceremonies for males than females.</div> <bR> <div> Yesterday, I couldn't help but think that the male-directed Catholic church</div> <div> with all its feasts for Mary is a bit like Latin America where women and</div> <div> girls are badly treated in a machista culture and yet Mothers' Day is one of</div> <div> the most fervently celebrated feast days.</div> <bR> <div> Yesterday, the lector didn't modify one word from the lectionary (Numbers</div> <div> 6:22-27): Brothers, sons of God, men. The reading spoke of God as Lord, of</div> <div> Moses, of Aaron and his sons.</div> <bR> <div> Women were forgotten. As they were in most of the events of 2005. How is a</div> <div> child affected by seeing the photos of the 13 premiers of Canada: all men.</div> <div> Half of the population is not represented either in the church.</div> <bR> <div> In his fifth lecture (Massey Lectures printed in Race Against Time), Stephen</div> <div> Lewis addresses "the huge and growing and terrifying vulnerability of the</div> <div> world's women to violence, disease, poverty, and conflict." He suggests that</div> <div> these urgent concerns must be addressed by empowering women, giving them</div> <div> power and resources to take the leadership, to network, plan, share, plot.</div> <div> "We're talking here about a whole new locus of power - the unleashing of a</div> <div> feminist dynamic to transform Africa..."</div> <bR> <div> Isn't that what churches need to do to face today's problems, to achieve</div> <div> genuine transformation, to be relevant?</div> <bR> <div> There was one positive note in Sunday's service. When I was six, my father</div> <div> gave the New Year's blessing to my mother and children. Now, it is suggested</div> <div> that the parents, mother and father, do so!</div> <bR> <div> Here is the blessing from the first reading:</div> <bR> <div> God bless you and keep you; may God make her face to shine upon you, and be</div> <div> gracious to you and give you peace.          </div> <bR> <div> Cecily</div> <bR> <bR> <bR> </td> </tr></table></body>