St Teresa and Feminism

I have been working for a long time now on a book on the legacy of St Teresa, and one of the most interesting parts of this book concerns the impact of our saint on modern feminism.  Quite a number of feminists love Teresa - whom they see as the prototypical strong and courageous woman.  And of course they are right, but they focus on her personal strengths and on her leadership qualities, ignoring her advocacy of Catholic living and Catholic principles.  Moreover they like to portray her as engaged all her life in conflict with the male patriarchy, whereas the truth is that although some priests opposed her, she had powerful supporters among them.  All this is a typical example of the ‘pick and choose’ mentality in regard to historical figures: we like to recreate them in our own image, we like to see them as we want to see them, not as they actually were.  This habit of believing what I want to believe rather than bowing to the truth out there is a commonplace of our everyday lives and I doubt that many people are entirely free from it.  The famous poet T S Eliot famously remarked that ‘humankind cannot bear very much reality.’  We need to pray to be relieved of any delusions we may have and of any reluctance to bear difficult truths.

Intercessions:

Cancer: Brian Davis, Bernard (and wife Angela caring for him), Jacqui, Theresa K, Fr Jon B, Catherine

Siena, Elara – sick children

Wojtek – massive heart attack leaving him incapacitated

David OCDS – housebound

Sophia – blind infant

Joy Smith OCDS – seriously ill

Grace – troubling ailments, job difficulties, family (deceased mother and health of father)

Lucia – Overwhelmed by weariness

 Mark – brain infection

 Defence of the unborn and the elderly

 RIP Martin Gilham, Sue Burton, little Matthew (six years old, died of cancer)