WOMAN AS PROPHET OF LOVE
by Kristen West McGuire
Pope Saint John Paul II said in 1995, “The cold war is over, science and technology have achieved unheard-of progress: from flights in space to landing on the moon, from heart transplants to genetic engineering, from telecommunications to the most advanced …technologies.” Thirty years later, artificial intelligence has many people unsettled. Is technology more real than human endeavors?
In Mulieris Dignitatem, Pope St. John Paul II reminds us that in the midst of huge changes, Jesus Christ remains our stable center. And Jesus was born of a woman.
Truth comes from Jesus Christ, who is “the same yesterday, today, and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). The Holy Spirit grants “light and power” to help us discern His Truth. Through His Spirit, He helps women find their dignity and vocation.
Here is the surprising truth in Mulieris Dignitatem:
“In God’s eternal plan, woman is the one in whom the order of love in the created world of persons takes first root.” (MD 29). Receptivity is prior to creativity. The dignity and vocation of women is rooted in this fact: in the order of love, women take precedence.
Women have a unique and irreplaceable role to be prophets of love. “The analogy of the Bridegroom and the Bride speaks of the love with which every human being - man and woman - is loved by God in Christ. But in the context of the biblical analogy and the text’s interior logic, it is precisely the woman—the bride—who manifests this truth to everyone,” says Pope Saint John Paul II. (MD 29)
This shines brightest in Mary, the Virgin Mother of God. At the Annunciation, the angel said the Holy Spirit would come upon her (Luke 1:35). Within the Holy Trinity, the Holy Spirit manifests the shared Love of God the Father and Jesus Christ His Son. Mary received their Divine Love first and said, “yes,” to God.
Similarly, a woman’s dignity flows from the love she receives and gives. All people are capable of caring for each other, but women are unique. God entrusts women in a special way with human life, both bodily and spiritually. “A woman is strong because of her awareness of this entrusting…This awareness and this fundamental vocation speak to women of the dignity which they receive from God himself…” (MD 30)
Bible stories show strong women in the Old Testament and during the apostolic era. Even when discriminated against, a woman can find her true dignity through the grace of God. She becomes a support for families and nations, like the “perfect woman” in Proverbs 31:10.
The stark reality is that sharing love in this created order leads to the Cross. Being a prophet of love is risky business. And Mary found herself at the foot of the Cross, abiding with Jesus in the most solemn and heart-breaking moment of His life. Women are often present to others in these profound moments.
When a woman is hurt and in need of healing, she may not be able to give a gift of self in a pure and life-giving way. But the healing of God is a surprising force. Often, a woman looks back and sees evidence that God himself had set her free from the hunter’s snare (Psalm 91:3). And she may not know where that Love came from. Generosity flows from this awareness, radiating out to the poor and vulnerable.
Women are called to combat evil and help families and communities to envision the Kingdom of God. The Bible shows this in the ‘woman’ figure—from Eve to Mary. In Genesis 3:15, God promises victory over evil through the woman. In Revelation 12, a woman clothed with the sun fights the dragon (Satan). She gives birth in pain but protects her child. This pictures the long battle against evil for all people. It’s a fight to say, “yes,” to God—and women have a particular role to play in winning that fight.
And when the struggle is too much, the humble and vulnerable woman knows that only Love can fortify a soul to do God’s will in evil times. Only Love can bubble up from the interior-most part of the heart and burst forth into the public arena. We receive in order to give.
Forty years after Mulieris Dignitatem was first written, we know that technological progress has dulled our sense of justice and charity. Businesses are racing to harness the banal insights of AI-generated reports. Many critics decry the ways that social media can make us forget our deepest identity as humans. We need the “feminine genius,” the special gift of women to care, love, and nurture humans.
The dignity and vocation of women is rooted in the constantly flowing Love of God into our lives. Like the Virgin Mary, women receive love to give it back, fighting evil like biblical women, nurturing the vulnerable like the saints, and believing love will be victorious over sin and death like the martyrs. Ave Maria! Lead us to our heavenly home!
