Covered Graces: Feminine Faith in the Gospels
Any man who prays or prophesies with his head covered dishonors his head, but any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled dishonors her head – it is the same as if her head were shaven…. [W]omen ought to have a veil on her head, because of the angels. (Nevertheless, in the Lord woman is not independent
of man nor man of woman; for as woman was made from man, so man is now born of woman. And all things are from God.)1 Corinthians 11:4-5, 10-12
In many faith communities in America, this passage from St. Paul is written off as a cultural anachronism rather than a spiritual principle – even among those women who take great pains to interpret every other word of Scripture as literally as possible. To do otherwise, it is supposed, is to relegate half the human population to second-class citizenry in the kingdom of heaven, fit for nothing but dishing up Jell-O salads and washing dishes at church suppers.
The words and actions of Jesus – who revealed to St. Paul His heart for the Church – suggest otherwise. This paper will examine three types of encounters, in order to provide a way to juxtapose the equality and uniqueness of the masculine and feminine persons, and how St. Paul was in fact expressing a vision of complementarity that he received from the Lord Himself. We will further explore how the “hiddenness” of the covering expresses not a woman’s weakness or inferiority, but the source of her true strength and God-given purpose: to be a true partner in the redemption of the world.
Human Face of the Divine
Though she is extolled for her purity and obedience, the most remarkable contribution of the Blessed Virgin Mary was giving the Word of God a human face. For the first time in human history, we could truly see and touch the divine. Her genes determined the shape of His eyes, the curve of His jaw, the wave of His hair. Hers were the hands that held His own, leading Him out into the world to explore and learn for many years before the world would discover Him.
Our “glory” covered with lace or cotton, the eye is naturally drawn to our faces. In a very real sense, the words we speak and the things we do are another incarnation of God and His love to a world desperately in need of the touch of the divine. Time and again in the Gospels, it is woman who catches a glimpse of that reality, and through her words and actions compels the Lord to reveal Himself even more fully and plainly.
While the crowd pressed closer to hear the Teacher and Healer speak about the indissolubility of the family, the apostles jostled to create a human barrier that would protect their Master. It is likely the women, however, who had a singular goal: to bring their children forward, for His blessing. Immediately Jesus saw and affirmed their intent: “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:13-14).
With a word from His mother, Jesus launched His public ministry (see John 2:1-7). The radiant countenance of the Samaritan woman at the well, along with her public affirmation of faith, compelled the crowds to see for themselves the Savior of the World (see John 4:42). In the Gospel of John, the tears of the Magdalene prompt the Risen Christ to reveal Himself (see John 20:15-16).
St. Paul wrote: “…any woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled, dishonors her head…” (1 Corinthians 11:5). There is no question that she may pray or prophesy – that is understood to be the task of every believer. And yet, by drawing attention away from her natural “glory” – her hair – she causes the angels to contemplate a deeper mystery: How Woman in word and deed presents a unique revelation, the human face of God.
This presentation, of course, extends to every aspect of life. We reveal the God of love when we extend ourselves with spiritual and corporal acts of mercy. We encourage children to trust our holy God by carefully instructing them both in words and example to follow Him in obedience. In a very real sense, as the “Body of Christ” we continue to reveal the hands and heart of God moment by moment, one person at a time.
Intuitive Seeker of Wisdom
Because of her unique feminine nature, woman is often able to transcend mere rationality to embrace deeper underlying truth. As wife and mother, she relies on her intuitive and relational powers to care for her family. As daughter of God, she sometimes perceives spiritual realities that are not always immediately apparent to her brothers. This intuitive power, combined with her instinct to place intellectual knowledge within the context of relationship, is the path to Wisdom. This may account, at least in part, for the reason the “wisdom literature” of the Old Testament presents Sophia (Wisdom) as a woman.
Intuitive Seeker of Wisdom
Because of her unique feminine nature, woman is often able to transcend mere rationality to embrace deeper underlying truth. As wife and mother, she relies on her intuitive and relational powers to care for her family. As daughter of God, she sometimes perceives spiritual realities that are not always immediately apparent to her brothers. This intuitive power, combined with her instinct to place intellectual knowledge within the context of relationship, is the path to Wisdom. This may account, at least in part, for the reason the “wisdom literature” of the Old Testament presents Sophia (Wisdom) as a woman.
This is not to say woman is incapable of rational thought – clearly this would be an untruth. Nor is it true that all men are devoid of intuitive gifts. However, woman’s characteristic ability to “enliven” sheer rationality through her intuitive and relational gifts – and his ability to channel those gifts constructively with his gifts of systematic reason – is an exquisite example of the gender complementarity of God’s original design.
Jesus’ encounter with the woman at the well in John’s Gospel is a compelling example of this. She notices social peculiarities: “How is it that you, a Jew, ask a drink of me, a woman of Samaria?” (John 4:9). She engages Him with humor: “Sir, give me this water, so that I may never be thirsty or have to keep coming here to draw water!” (4:15). She is not put off by his bold exposure of her shortcomings, but seeks to “connect” the truth she is hearing with that of her people by questioning Jesus on the proper place of worship. In her thesis, Anne Dietterich explains, “The woman recognizes that Jesus is revealing something far more important than proper ritual location…. The continuing dialogue nurtures the woman’s faith as she contemplates the possibility of Jesus being the Messiah.”[1]
Another moving example is found in the eleventh chapter of John, at the death of
Lazarus. While Mary sat at home, receiving visitors, her sister rushed ahead, struggling to reconcile the death of her brother with the love of the Master. Didn’t He know they needed Him? Didn’t He care? Her quiet words are both a statement of faith and a gentle reproach: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21).
“Your brother will rise again…”
“I know. He will rise on the last day.” But we want him with us now. Can’t you see that? Don’t you understand how much we love him, need him?
Jesus squares His shoulders, lifts His voice. “I am the resurrection and the life… whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Somehow, through the fog of grief and pain, Martha sees the light of revelation. “Yes, Lord. I believe you are the Christ, the Son of God, he who is coming into the world” (John 11:27). Only Peter would speak the words as plainly, his declaration prompted not by “flesh and blood,” but through the Father (see Matthew 16:17). Dietterich notes, “[Note] … the way the Evangelist treats the faith development of the disciples and the two sisters. Martha comes to full Christological confession in a couple of verses in contrast to nine chapters for Thomas![2]
Selfless, Unseen Worker of Virtue
The first time I wore a head covering to church, it had an immediate affect upon me. In that state it is impossible, I discovered, to yell at my children for dawdling, or snipe at my husband for wearing grubby work shoes. I could feel the angels watching me. And while in the past I had run out the door without giving much thought to my appearance, I now started pulling on skirts and hose and adding a touch of lipstick. What sense is wearing the headdress of a woman, if I look decidedly un-feminine from the eyebrows down?
Selfless, Unseen Worker of Virtue
The first time I wore a head covering to church, it had an immediate affect upon me. In that state it is impossible, I discovered, to yell at my children for dawdling, or snipe at my husband for wearing grubby work shoes. I could feel the angels watching me. And while in the past I had run out the door without giving much thought to my appearance, I now started pulling on skirts and hose and adding a touch of lipstick. What sense is wearing the headdress of a woman, if I look decidedly un-feminine from the eyebrows down?
And yet, in another sense, the covering also reminded me of other, and far more important, interior qualities and virtues. As a single woman and musician, there was a time when I equated fidelity to God with visibility of service. There was always one more piano to play, one more choir to direct, one more Bible study to lead, one more event to plan. As a Catholic woman, I came to realize that God was far more concerned about the state of my heart, the things I said and did when no one else was watching.
The women Christ most admired in the Gospels were those who lived lives of courageous virtue that went all but unnoticed – or drew negative attention. He commended the courage of the widow who gave two copper coins to the Temple treasury (see Luke 21:2ff; Mark 12:42). He responded to the faith of the Canaanite woman, who trusted Him to make her tormented daughter though they were not of the “house of Israel” (Matthew 14:24). And he immortalized the love of the sinful woman who poured out her devotion, exposing herself to public ridicule (Luke 7:37ff).[3]
Despite His evident affection for the elder sister of Lazarus, Jesus chided Martha – not for continuing to work while He taught, but for complaining that her sister did not leave His feet to labor alongside her: “Martha, Martha, you are troubled about many things…” (Luke 10:41). [4]
The virtue of hidden service is not unique to women – indeed, Jesus proclaimed that to be first in God’s kingdom is to be “last of all and servant of all” (Mark 9:35). Similarly, He urged discretion in acts of charity, such that “when you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing” (Matthew 6:3), and “When you hold a lunch or dinner… invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you” (Luke 14:12-14). The hidden life of women is particularly suited to such powerful testimony in this life, and spiritual greatness in the next.
Conclusion
In writing this paper, I have presented a perspective on Paul’s admonition on head coverings that is highly compatible with the liberating message of the gospel. The most vital organs of the human body are covered with layers of bone and muscle and tissue, to protect the delicate functions for which the organs were designed. Similarly, the structure of the Church’s hierarchy, including her authoritative “covering” of men, provides women with a level of freedom to engage her particular gifts to the fullest degree.
Conclusion
In writing this paper, I have presented a perspective on Paul’s admonition on head coverings that is highly compatible with the liberating message of the gospel. The most vital organs of the human body are covered with layers of bone and muscle and tissue, to protect the delicate functions for which the organs were designed. Similarly, the structure of the Church’s hierarchy, including her authoritative “covering” of men, provides women with a level of freedom to engage her particular gifts to the fullest degree.
“It is not good for man to be alone,” we read in the Creation account. Biology alone does not account for this necessity of complementarity. Equal in dignity and fidelity, we are nevertheless necessarily distinct in function from our brothers. Jesus – and Paul after Him – acknowledged the singular contributions of women by including them in His ministry, despite cultural taboos and prohibitions. It is likely the hidden life of women, dedicated to prayerful service, that Jesus had in mind when He proclaimed in the Gospel of Matthew (6:1-6):
Beware of practicing your piety before men in order to be seen by them; for then
you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Thus, when you give
alms, sound no trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in
the streets, that they may be praised by men. Truly, I say to you, they have
received their reward. But when you give alms, do not let your left hand know
what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be in secret; and your
Father who sees in secret will reward you.
And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites; for they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by men. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward. But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret; and your Father who sees in secret will reward you.
Bibliography
Cassidy, Father Richard. Society and Politics in Acts. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books (1987).
Dietterich, Anne Carr. The Women of John’s Gospel in Narrative Perspective. Clarence, New York: St. Joseph Center for Spirituality (undated).
Getty-Sullivan, Mary Ann. Women in the New Testament. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press (2001).
[1] Anne Carr Dietterich, The Women in John’s Gospel in Narrative Perspective (Clarence, New York: St. Joseph Center for Spirituality), 25.
[2] Dietterich, 34.
[3] As Getty points out in her work Women in the New Testament, the woman’s loosened hair – her “glory” according to Paul – was not necessarily indicative of prostitution. “There is no indication that she is being flirtatious or calling attention to herself; rather, she is focusing on Jesus” (p.110).
[4] Referencing Father Richard Cassidy’s work Society and Politics in Acts, Getty notes, “In the eighth decade, when Luke was writing, the respective role(s) of women was much debated. At least one of Luke’s concerns is showing that being a Christian did not conflict with the Greco-Roman ideals for men and women living in the empire…. Luke tries to show that Christian life is compatible with the social patterns of Roman-administered Judea and Galilee. Jesus praises certain behavior in women, as if suggesting they could serve as models to others” (193-194).
Cassidy, Father Richard. Society and Politics in Acts. Maryknoll, New York: Orbis Books (1987).
Dietterich, Anne Carr. The Women of John’s Gospel in Narrative Perspective. Clarence, New York: St. Joseph Center for Spirituality (undated).
Getty-Sullivan, Mary Ann. Women in the New Testament. Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press (2001).
[1] Anne Carr Dietterich, The Women in John’s Gospel in Narrative Perspective (Clarence, New York: St. Joseph Center for Spirituality), 25.
[2] Dietterich, 34.
[3] As Getty points out in her work Women in the New Testament, the woman’s loosened hair – her “glory” according to Paul – was not necessarily indicative of prostitution. “There is no indication that she is being flirtatious or calling attention to herself; rather, she is focusing on Jesus” (p.110).
[4] Referencing Father Richard Cassidy’s work Society and Politics in Acts, Getty notes, “In the eighth decade, when Luke was writing, the respective role(s) of women was much debated. At least one of Luke’s concerns is showing that being a Christian did not conflict with the Greco-Roman ideals for men and women living in the empire…. Luke tries to show that Christian life is compatible with the social patterns of Roman-administered Judea and Galilee. Jesus praises certain behavior in women, as if suggesting they could serve as models to others” (193-194).
posted by Heidi Hess Saxton @ 4:14 AM
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