The google tells me that dignity is "the state or quality of being worthy of honor or respect." Reading that, I have to wonder if my "dignified woman" is really worthy of honor or respect. Looking at her (I have a vivid imagination), the scene is more focused on the honor or respect she is getting and not at all focused on her worthiness. Hmmmm....maybe my dignified woman is just a well-dressed Lady Gaga living for the applause. Yikes.
In his encyclical, Mulieris Dignitatem, Bl. John Paul II said, "[U]nderstanding the reason for and the consequences of the Creator's decision that the human being should always and only exist as a woman or a man. It is only by beginning from these bases, which make it possible to understand the greatness of the dignity and vocation of women." It is only in understanding God's reasons for making me a woman that I can even begin to start trying to be a dignified woman, worthy of honor or respect.
Bl. John Paul II went on to explain that the particular genius or manifestation of God's image in woman is her particular fulfillment of the "order of love." "Unless we refer to this order and primacy we cannot give a complete and adequate answer to the question about women's dignity and vocation. When we say that the woman is the one who receives love in order to love in return, this refers not only or above all to the specific spousal relationship of marriage." Mulieris Dignitatem. Thus, it is my natural state, or my destiny, to receive love and to love in return. How does my dignified woman hold against this measure? Not very well. She isn't receiving love at all, she is holding court, presiding over awe-filled worshipers.
It is my life-long task to become worthy of honor for my ability to receive love and to love in return. And, yet, my ideal is a cold, detached - even if well-dressed - demi-goddess. So, now you see why I'm trying to achieve some dignity. I have a long way to go. I hope you will join me on my journey from the mundane to the sublime as I learn to receive love and to love on my way to heaven. I hope.
Bl. John Paul II went on to explain that the particular genius or manifestation of God's image in woman is her particular fulfillment of the "order of love." "Unless we refer to this order and primacy we cannot give a complete and adequate answer to the question about women's dignity and vocation. When we say that the woman is the one who receives love in order to love in return, this refers not only or above all to the specific spousal relationship of marriage." Mulieris Dignitatem. Thus, it is my natural state, or my destiny, to receive love and to love in return. How does my dignified woman hold against this measure? Not very well. She isn't receiving love at all, she is holding court, presiding over awe-filled worshipers.
It is my life-long task to become worthy of honor for my ability to receive love and to love in return. And, yet, my ideal is a cold, detached - even if well-dressed - demi-goddess. So, now you see why I'm trying to achieve some dignity. I have a long way to go. I hope you will join me on my journey from the mundane to the sublime as I learn to receive love and to love on my way to heaven. I hope.
