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Saturday, August 13, 2022

Funny Thing About Gender Roles in the Church

Back when I identified as a feminist, I lamented the lack of women priests, and I celebrated whenever I saw girl altar servers.

Now that I've regained my senses and realized I cannot go through life with a world view based on anger (my feminist motto was: "If you're not angry, you're not paying attention!"), I have noticed something quite different.

When I see girls and women veiling for Mass or Divine Liturgy, for a split second I feel for the boys and men. They don't have some special way to distinguish themselves between the mundane and divine atmosphere. And then in those same environments, I see all-male altar servers and priests, and I think, ah, there's the balance.  It's not a person-to-person balance, but rather a balance between the genders as a whole.  While not every boy or man is called to serve at the altar in vestments, every girl and woman can veil, without any special training or permission.

It seems like such a small and inconsequential comparison, and yet I've caught myself several times thinking we females have an advantage because we are called to veil before the throne of God to demarcate our very selves, our bodies as holy temples of God.  Now, men's and boys' bodies are also temples of God, yet they aren't called to this additional layer of reminder.  They have to just remember it some other way.  

It's funny how when you turn your will over to God, God will find a way to comfort you and make you feel special just as you are.

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