The Beauty of our Masculinity and Femininity

June 10, 2021

The Beauty of our Masculinity and Femininity

  We have been raised in a couple of generations of the feminist movement. In this climate we rally for equality. That is good because men and women are different but equal in dignity. What is not good is that masculinity has ben forced into a nature unlike how God created men to be. Masculinity is beautiful in its truest nature and form. Jason Evert shares a witness of this here.
Both men and women are to be self gift. To turn out of themselves, thus overcoming their disordered nature of sin that makes one selfish and individualistic. In this gift of self man lives a sacrificial life. He becomes the head of the household as spoken of in Ephesians 5. To do this properly man needs to know the voice of God so he can discern God’s will for his wife and his family.
To know the voice of God and discern his will one needs to be a person of prayer. Adoration is a wonderful way to sit in silence and begin to know how God speaks to us. I encourage all of you to sign up for one hour of adoration per week. It does not need to be an adoration hour that is ‘open’. You can sign up for an adoration hour that is already full and that way you are available if that person cannot come and vice versa.
As the head of the household men are complimented by the heart of the household, woman. Men are called to ‘cover her’ as seen in Genesis. To cover her nakedness. If our bodies transcend the state of the soul, then men are called to cover his wife and his children in the protection from the disordered nature of sin – that we all have due to original sin. Man is called to provide what is needed such as being a witness as a Father, being a man of courage, being a man of honor. When your wife and children see you discerning God’s will for them, acting on God’s will to provide and protect them – it is the greatest gift of sacrifice and witness you can give them.
Fatherhood is to mirror our Father in heaven. Daughters from infancy to old age, need the affirmation of their father. A women’s femininity is affirmed by her father’s love. Without this relationship, women lose who they are and struggle with God the Father. So, too, sons need their fathers to show them how to live out their vocation of masculinity. Taking time to go camping, hunting, play sports with their sons or supporting their sons’ activities by being present. Another way is showing them how to respect their mother, protect their sisters and the sacrificial love of Christ.
As women we need to allow men to lead. We need to allow men to live their masculinity. We also need to be women of prayer so that we can be the heart that our family needs. The voice of reason, the voice of understanding and a guiding light. In women’s feminine genius we have been uniquely gifted to be that heart of the family. Children need their mothers to care, nurture and protect them. Men need their wives to guide, council and affirm them in their masculinity.
Women’s feminine genius is a wonderful gift that God has chosen for us. We are the creators both physically and spiritually of our children. God knits life within our wombs. God knits wisdom within our hearts by an intuition that men have not been gifted with. The unique gift of the feminine genius can easily be manipulated by the evil one. To protect oneself from such manipulation and be the guiding light in the family, women also need to be a person of prayer and discernment. Taking time to be with God, know his voice and learn how God speaks to us is imperative to become the women, mothers and wives we are called to be.
Alice Von Hildebrand wrote a wonderful book entitled: The Privilege of Being a Woman.   In this book she says “The woman is more mysterious than her male companion.” She says that man must transcend themselves in order to enter into a deep communication with woman. In other words, woman transcend men to holiness by their nature of holiness. As we grow in holiness and transcend to God, so we witness and call men to greater depths. It is by men’s love and yearning for us that they are willing to make this climb of transcendence. Our wombs are hidden, enclosed as should be our hearts until God awakens in us that love to be shared (Song of Songs 4:12-16). Our true beauty is the inner disposition of our heart to God. In that disposition we transcend our husbands, our children and others to a great arc of holiness. This is why many of the mystics of the Church are more women than men.
To learn a bit about the feminine genius you can watch Sister Miriam video here. A shorter video is provided by the culture project. There is also a beautiful letter on the feminine genius by St. John Paul ii entitled Mulieris Dignitatem (The Dignity of Women).
   As men rise to this transcendence and seek the will of God regarding their families and the choices they make, women can come under this holy mission. That is the true nature of Ephesians 5 - that men seek to be like Christ and lay down their lives for their families in a sacrificial love. This is how man is the head of the household; as he is on this journey of transcendence in seeking God's will for the family, discerning God's voice and growing in holiness. Woman can come under that mission and be the true heart of the family as she advises and shares the depth of her mystery, the feminine genius with her husband.