Have Mercy

Yes, oppression and cruelty are systematically wielded on other human beings throughout the world in ways that I and women I know have never experienced. I am grateful to not live under such horrific circumstances, and can not help but wonder how such violence thrives. Is inflicting pain truly just human nature? Not even animals are so mean.

And so, understanding that there are degrees of oppression, I turn to a much smaller, more subtle expression of male dominance, that is not only condoned but considered reassuring by many contemporary Americans.

Last night, I attended Easter Vigil Mass in a beautiful modern church, celebrating the baptisms, confirmations and 1st communions that took place at that service, reaffirming my own beliefs in the process. It was a notably diverse congregation, welcoming. The priest was filled with holy spirit, and the choir sang beautifully.

During the service, the priest had used the phrase "pass over" a couple of times, acknowledging the concurrent Jewish holiday indirectly. Then, the traditional 1st reading was replaced by a dramatization of a student questioning a rabbi. Perhaps it is noteworthy that the student was portrayed by a woman. Presumably the rabbi was in a talmudic Q&A kind of situation with his student. However, the questions the woman asked were incredibly banal, not worthy of any of the four sons of the Seder, along the lines of "Tell me how the world was created". Religious insensitivity aside, the rabbi went on at great length recounting stories of the Old Testament. These are good stories to know, but I was struck by the lengths of the Rabbi's speeches given by the rabbi, relative to the one-line questions posed by the young woman. Very simply, the presentation reinforced the notion that men have all the answers.

May the Lord accept this sacrifice at your hands for the praise and glory of God's name, for our good and the good of all God's church.