Cecil McGarry, S.J.

The Gift Of Womanhood

In Consecrated Life
(An address delivered to the general assembly of the Association of
Sisterhoods oj'Kenya at Hekima College, Nairobi, on October, 17,1993).

Introduction

W
E meet today almost on the eve of two important events
in the life of the Church which are offered to us as
times of grace; times of challenge. These events call
for a response from us. I refer, of course, to the two impending
Synods. The first is, The Special Assembly of the Synod of Bishops for
Africa (10 April — 8 May, 1994), which we usually refer to as the
African Synod. Its theme is, "The Evangelization Of Our Continent
As We Approach The Third Millenium" so that, as a church, we
become more truly Christian and more truly African. This Synod is
a direct call to you religious women as agents of evangelization. The
second event is the ninth ordinary Synod of Bishops, to be held in
October 1994. Its theme is, "Consecrated Life and its Role in the
Church and in the World". It challenges you to ask yourselves who
you are as African religious women and what you are called to be and
to do in the Church and in the world. Is not this the theme on which
you have asked me to speak to you today: the gift of womanhood in
consecrated life? What gifts do you bring, and through you, what gifts
does the consecrated life of women bring to our Church and our
people in Kenya and Africa today? The centre of my reflection will,
therefore, touch on some aspects of the life and mission of religious

Fr. Cecil McGarry, S.J. is the Dean of Studies and Professor in

Systematic Theology at Hekima College. He is also a Visiting
Lecturer at CUEA (Catholic University of Eastern Africa) in
Nairobi. His address is: Hekima College, Jesuit School of Theology,
P.O. Box 21215, NAIROBI, Kenya.
 THE GIFT OF WOMANHOOD IN CONSECRA TED LIFE 161
women in Kenya and Africa today. I shall treat a few aspects which
seem to me especially important at this moment.

Consecrated life is a witness to the

Presence of the God of Love in our world
Let me begin by quoting some words of Fr. Francesco Pierli, former
superior general of the Comboni Missionaries, reported in a recent
Newsletter of the Young Religious Association of Kenya, which seem to
me to touch the heart of the matter:
What about us, 'the consecrated' he asks, plunged into the pangs of
this new-emerging world so marked by "absence"?. In this world
we are witness of a "Presence", of a personal loving presence. We
entered into this state of life because we believed that "Someone"
had called us by name. We might also dare say with Jeremiah that
"this Someone has seduced us". His name is Jesus of Nazareth, Son
of God and Mary. The aim of His life was to witness through His
style of living and actions, and to proclaim by word of mouth a
"Presence" — that the Kingdom of God is in your midst. To
proclaim that God's presence in our world and history has reached
its fulness.
Whatever the charism of your congregations, if you fail to witness
and proclaim this presence through your style of living, your work
and ministry, your words and message, you would be irrelevant and
void. To witness and proclaim a personal loving presence: what an
exciting challenge!
I want to make my own these words of Father Pierli; they point to the
centre of the meaning of our consecrated life.

The radicality of consecrated life

Many religious women may find the following questions uncomfort-
able: Is there any danger that we have diminished and tamed a way of
life that, in its origin and meaning, is a radical commitment to follow
and witness to Jesus Christ: the lover of sinners, the friend of the poor,
162 AFRICANECCLESIAL REVIEW
the one who was compassionate to all in trouble? Is there any danger
that religious life has become a privileged state of life? Is it a state in
which our very dress calls for respect and honour, instead of being a
sign that we are followers of the poor Christ and are willing to be
treated like Him, rejected, despised, persecuted? Is it a comfortable
and protected way of life? Is there any danger that we pronounce vows
rather than committing ourselves to live the Gospel in a radical way?
Do we pronounce vows and carefully calculate the juridical obliga-
tions of each vow, instead of making a total offering and consecration
of ourselves that is open to whatever God asks, and does not count the
cost? Is it possible that we tamed the lioness of religious life, pulled
her teeth, cut her claws, tied her up so that even children can come
close and play with her? Maybe even she has become a thing of fun,
feared by no one because she has no strength any more.
Consecrated life was not so in the beginning when it took the form
of the truly radical choice of consecrated virginity; understood as a life
completely dedicated to Jesus Christ and loved above all else. The
choice of virginity in the early Christian community brought some-
thing completely new to the society of the time. The wholly new and
original element in virginity was that a young woman claimed the
right to make an independent choice for Jesus Christ and for the
Kingdom, and of doing this in an exclusively male dominated society.
The woman who consecrated herself to Jesus Christ asserted her
right, in the face of this society, freely and independently to choose the
virginal state and she was ready to pay the price and accept the
consequences. This was a decision demanding great courage, not only
at the moment of choice but also in living it out.
Those women in the early church who set themselves in contradic-
tion to the accepted structures of family and society, to the laws, to the
established customs of the world, really understood the newness of
the Gospel, which proclaims the perfect equality and dignity between
men and women: a dignity that finds in Jesus Christ its meaning,
motivating force and fulfilment. "There is no more distinction
between Jew and Gentile, slave or free, male or female, but all of you
are one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3:28).
 THE GIFT OF WOMANHOOD IN CONSECRA TED LIFE 163
In the Rome of the early Christian community there were the vestal
virgins; young women sent to the temple for the service of the divinity.
It was the father of the family who decided if one of his daughters was
to be dedicated to this service, and if she refused she could be put to
death. The Christian virgins, on the contrary, claimed the right to
make a choice of virginity themselves and to become spouses of Christ
for the sake of the kingdom, often refusing the spouses chosen for
them by their fathers.

Virginity and martyrdom

Already in the first century of the Christian era there were many
virgins in the Church who dedicated themselves to Christ alone and
exercised various ministries such as prophecy, catechetics, the service
of the poor, care of the sick, assisting the bishop during the baptism
of women and various other services during the celebration of the
liturgy. It was a radical and dangerous way of life, as is witnessed by
the number of virgin martyrs commemorated in the early martyrolo-
gies. Some of these are well known to us and the Church still
remembers and honours them in the first Eucharistie Prayer of our
liturgy: Agnes, Agatha, Perpetua, Felicity, Lucy, Cecilia, Anastasia
and many others. There was often a high price to be paid for a virginity
consecrated to Christ, chosen and loved above all. From the begin-
ning of the Christian era virginity and martyrdom were often closely
related for the consecrated woman. They became the new Christian
image of the valiant woman totally captured by the love of Christ and
living by His Word.
How many martyrs for virginity have we had in Africa? Have we not
rather witnessed, and do we not continue to witness, too many tragic
failures in consecrated virginity? Do we not witness many ambiguous
relationships? Do we not even sometimes hear the question, 'How far
can one go?' — a question that shows that consecrated virginity has
not been understood at all and is not being lived. I am not for a
moment attempting to excuse us men or priests. Why have we not had
in our continent and in our day, as in the early church, the witness of
164 AFRICAN ECCLESIAL REVIEW
fidelity even unto death of the virgin martyrs? I ask the question
seriously because I believe we should have had such witness, if we
really understood what we do when we consecrate ourselves to Christ
in virginity. I ask again: Do we really understand the radicality of
religious consecration to Christ? Is there any danger that conse-
crated virginity may have lost its radicality among us and become a
privileged, even a comfortable state, rather than a true existential
expression of a prophetic way of life that is ready to denounce the
sinfulness of a world that has lost all idea of the sacredness of sexuality
and the glory of chastity, whether in consecrated life or in marriage?
Why have we had no prophetic denunciations by our religious
sisters of the ever increasing number of cases of rape of women and
young girls, of the ever more common sexual harassment of women?
Why have we had no demonstrations of support for them by those
who have put consecrated virginity with Christ at the heart of and as
the meaning of their lives? Do we not care? Are we afraid of the
consequences? Will we risk nothing for what we proclaim to be of such
great value to us? Has the fire of consecrated life burned down to cold
ashes? Are we neither hot nor cold? Have we become so 'respectable'
that we can no longer have the courage to bear witness and to be
present to our sisters so violated and humiliated? What is the gift of
womanhood in consecrated life? Is it a carefully calculated response
or a total and wholehearted following of Christ, who defended women
who were the victims of men's aggression and sinfullness?
"Nothing is impossible with God" (Lk 1:37). Everything is possible
for one who believes that to be a consecrated woman in Africa today
means, above all, to give one's femininity totally to God, who is Love,
and to believe that it is possible to become in Him a spiritual presence
and a loving oblation for our world, so lacking in both. First, it is a
spiritual presence. A woman who consecrates her virginity to God in
poverty and obedience is witnessing publicly to the values of the spirit
in a world increasingly committed to material values. She is a presence
among her people which recalls the primacy of spiritual values.
People have a right to expect from the consecrated woman, from her
very presence among them and her style of life, a constant invitation
 THE GIFT OF WOMANHOOD IN CONSECRA TED LIFE 165
to be open to and to live by the values of the Spirit, so beautifully
described by St. Paul in Gal 5:22ff; a spiritual presence and also a
loving oblation. The consecrated woman gives herself, not only to
Christ, but in service to His people, and especially His little ones, in
the existential present of Africa. She is in this world, but not
belonging to it, because she belongs to Christ. The consecrated
woman is called to let the word of God in the Scriptures nourish in
her, day by day, the fire of love that Jesus came to bring, without
which her life has no meaning, either as a consecrated person or as a
woman. It is by confronting the word of God in the actual historical,
cultural, economic, religious and political reality of Africa today that
the image of a woman consecrated to Christ, and given to His people,
is formed and continually perfected: receptive, sensitive, courageous
and free, rich in self-giving and living in a prophetic poverty and
availability to proclaim the presence of Christ and the Kingdom of
God among His people. Doing this, the Spirit of God will over-
shadow her so that, like Mary, it may be done unto her according to
God's word.

The condition of the youth in Africa

with special reference to Kenya
There are many ways in which the gift of womanhood in consecrated
life can be given to our people in Africa today. I choose just one, our
youth, because the gift of womanhood is by its very nature intimately
associated with youth. Young people form the majority of our popu-
lation in Africa today. Of the 400,000 refugees and the between 50 and
100,000 internally displaced people in Kenya today: How many are
women and young people? A great number. The experts tell us that
the projected number of those who will be AIDS victims in 1995 in
our country is some 25,500. Again, many of them are young people.
A great number of our young people drop out of school — What
happens to them? Who cares for them? Is anyone present to them? We
know that many of those who do finish school cannot find jobs and feel
unwanted in our society. The number of boys and girls who are taking
166 AFRICAN ECCLESIAL REVIEW
to the streets in our towns and cities is on the increase all the time. We
know of the number of abortions. How many of our youth do we see
in church? And even among those who do come, how deep and
sustaining is their faith? Who is caring for them? Both government
and church leaders say frequently to our young people: 'You are our
priority; you are the future of the church, of society'. In the absence
of policies and measures taken to help them, these ringing assurances
sound inceasingly hollow to too many of our young people. It is they
who are marginalized in the present difficult economic situation of
our country. A sense of hopelessness is beginning to take hold of them.
So many of them are unemployed or underemployed, so many
drifting without any purpose or sense of being needed by anyone.
They are left to fend for themselves in darkness without the hope of
a coming dawn. Those still in school watch those ahead of them with
nothing to show for their hard work, and are increasingly dropping
out because they have no hope it will be any better for them.
Who will give hope to our youth? Who will be present to them as a
sign that someone cares? Who will give them a voice? Who will be
present to them in a way that is not exploitative, in a way that they can
trust? They have no one present to them today as Mary, the mother
of Jesus, was present to the disciples in their hopelessness after the
death of Jesus. "We had hoped that H e . . . " (Lk 24:21). Now they had
no more hope. Their lives were in ruins. But even in face of the evident
finality of death, Mary did not lose hope that the promise made to her
would be fulfilled, and she was present to them to give them hope.

The gift of consecrated womanhood to youth

Will religious women give hope to our youth? Will they be a loving
presence to them? Can they sufficiently renew the radicality of their
consecration so as to be able to give our youth a voice? Can they so gain
our young people's trust that they can speak to them about Jesus
Christ and remind them that His degradation, His suffering, even His
death was not the end of the story, was not the last word. It was the
end of the story, which was a new beginning, life, joy, peace and love.
 THE GIFT OF WOMANHOOD IN CONSECRATED LIFE 167
Can they out of their faith, hope and love bring our youth to faith and
hope in the love of Jesus Christ for them — a love that to be credible,
must be manifested to them in their lives by religious women's
effective commitment to work with them for a better future? Out of
the freedom of their consecrated life, can they be the young people's
voice to cry out against what is happening in our country/continent
when we ignore and trample on our youth? Can religious women cry
out against the selfishness of those who exploit the youth and the
corruption of evil men who could, but do not, come to the young
people's aid?
I offer you, religious sisters of and in Africa this challenge on the eve
of the African Synod and The Synod on Consecrated Life, Welcome
these two ecclesial events as a kairos; a time of grace for you and the
whole Church in Africa. These two Synods call on you to make
consecrated life what it truly should be in this continent and to make
it truly African. How better can you learn what this means in practice
than by allowing the freedom that your consecrated virginity brings
you to dedicate yourselves to the liberation of the many young people
in Africa enslaved by the conditions in which they have to live;
allowing your consecration in poverty to place you firmly and un-
equivocally on the side of the poor, the marginalized and most
neglected in society; allowing your consecration in obedience to make
you available to study and then serve as best you can the needs of the
youth. Christ wants to be among, and lift up the youth of Africa
through you.

An exchange of gifts
If you do this, the young people will give you as much, probably more,
than you will give to them. You will no longer have to ask: How do we
inculturate consecrated life in Africa? It will be evident to you in your
service of the needy, provided you learn from them how to serve them
truly according to their needs, and not according to pre-conceived
ideas of how they should be served. This will lead you, too, to discover
anew that the meaning of consecrated life cannot be anything other
168 AFRICAN ECCLESIAL REVIEW
than a living of the Gospel in all its radicality, and a readiness to suffer
and even to die for the One whose Good News it is. Then, too, you will
discover that the consecrated life is not for everyone. It, certainly, is
not for all those who are knocking on the doors of our formation
houses in Africa at present. Do they know what they are asking,
namely, "to drink the cup that I must drink and be baptised with the
baptism with which I must be baptised?" (see Mk 10:38)
A great number of the religious sisters in this continent are them-
selves youth, who must surely feel deeply the plight of their age mates.
The grace of the call to consecrated life is a grace in you for these
brothers and sisters of yours. It is power and strength and the
knowledge of God's love for them. Kenya alone has over 2,000
religious women — no small number! Will they rise to the challenge
put to them in the call to consecrated life and in the voiceless cry of our
youth? The answer to that question lies with each religious sister and
in a special way with leaders of religious institutes. Do not fear to
challenge your leaders to take hold of this time of grace, when the
Lord has sent His angels of the churches of Africa and of the church
of Rome to tell you that He has need of you. Will it be done unto you
according to His word? Will it?

African womanhood
In traditional African cultures, roles and relationships were clearly
established and known. Each individual, whether man or woman,
knew exactly what role he or she had to play in society. If a person
failed to accept his or her proper role, he or she was regarded as a
deviant. When this happened some societies called for the total
alienation of the individual. Recall the fate of Okonkwo in Acehebe's
novel, Things Fall Apart.
The roles and relationships formed what we may rightly call the
structures of African societies, in which the family held the central
position. The dignity of a woman in African society rested on her
ability, suitability and capacity to play her assigned roles. What were
the special roles assigned to women? While they could differ slightly
 THE GIFT OF WOMANHOOD IN CONSECRA TED LIFE 169
from one tradition to another, I think we can say that the following
were basic in every tradition: to be a mother, wife, daughter, sister,
and most importantly, a friend, a person who brings joy, love,
understanding and justice in the home and in the village. Through the
grace that women had of being a friend and bringing these blessings
to the community, women moulded traditional society and created an
environment in which young people could grow up secure in the
experience of real belonging in their family, clan and village. The
woman was mother and friend, dispenser of joy, love, understanding
and justice not just to her own children but to all the children and
youth of the village. In this sense a good woman, like Mary, was full
of grace for the whole village. She fed her own family but she was
available to all, with an ear for their troubles, compassionate to all who
suffered and accountable with the other women for the quality of life
in her environment.

The gift of African consecrated womanhood

With the breakdown of traditional roles and values in present-day
Africa, I am wondering if many of the roles traditionally accom-
plished by women in African society are not precisely roles that
women religious are called to play in a broken society, which increas-
ingly lacks norms and traditions, and in which our young people
increasingly feel no sense of belonging? Women have traditionally
been the shapers, guardians and creators of the sense of human worth
and belonging, without which young people cannot grow to maturity
in wholeness. It is this sense of security, of belonging, of wholeness
that is denied to the youth growing up today, especially in our towns
and cities. In traditional African society, built on and animated by
these values, life was always bearable in spite of much pain and
suffering. One belonged, and life had meaning. People could with-
stand the hardships of droughts, floods, disease, hunger and survive.
Just like all the others, youth participated and shared according to
their roles and they could aspire to fuller roles in the future. They were
secure in their roles and in their sense of belonging. They could turn
170 AFRICAN ECCLESIAL REVIEW
to their elders and to one another for mutual support in the face of
sudden and unexpected changes of fortune. In society, reciprocoal
obligations supported and protected the individual and, at the same
time, demanded commitment in return. The underlying value was
human worth, the value and place of each individual. People are more
important than anything else. All this is expressed in the common
African saying: "People are made people through other people."
This traditional network of relationships has been gravely damaged
in our society today, especially in our towns and cities. Our youth
grow up rather with a sense of not belonging, of insecurity, of having
no place and no future, except for the fortunate few, who can be well
provided for spiritually and materially by their parents or relatives.
More and more these are becoming the exception, where traditionally
they were the norm. I conclude with the question: Are you the people
through whom the young people of Africa will be made people; people
with hope, people with a future? Can they rely on you? If not, to whom
shall they turn? ι |
 ^ s
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