A group of Polish nuns have made it their task to save boys from going down the ‘path of evil’ if they would fall under the temptation of using the services of ‘ladies of the night.’ Twelve nuns, to be exact, are sitting by the phone ready to be of help. ‘Instead of prostitutes, call us,’ says their ad.‘Being a man is a great thing. God gave man the privilege of being a father, to take care of a family. They need to act bravely and not be subject to weaknesses,’ said Sister Teresa behind the project hotline.
The Dominican Sisters do not scare the men by talking of the eternal flames of hell.
‘Even when someone sets out on the path of evil we should not be judgmental, but return them to the correct path,’ says the emergency line in Krakow.
‘I don’t know if it’s because of Spring… but we have been bombarded with phone call these last few days,’ says Sister Teresa.
Found this story posted at Fr Milovan’s blog Again and Again, which gave rise to the following thoughts…
An unusual and unexpected ministry, to be sure, but even if out of the help of the twelve sisters just one man is saved just once from 'the path of evil', that might lead him to better things and have a more lasting effect. These sisters are planting seeds that may bear fruit in righteousness and even holiness. Nothing we do for Christ, no matter how ridiculous it may look to others or even to ourselves, is wasted. God is economical. He saves us.
My question is, but why send women to do 'a man's job'? I'm, not asking this of God, or questioning His providence, but thinking out loud, and wondering why the art of being a true man is not passed on from man to man, from father to son, from spiritual father to spiritual son. If even one father handed over the image of Christ in himself to even one son, what would society look like? By 'handed over' I mean, not just sit down and have a 'father to son' talk—even that isn't done anymore!—but to hand over the image of true man, one day at a time, but every day, by nurturing, supporting, challenging, teaching, keeping close enough but not enslaving, rehearsing, reviewing, testing, praising, warning but not blaming, revealing what love means when it walks as a man.
Lord, have mercy on us! that we cannot hand over to our sons what You and Your holy apostles try so hard to hand over to us! Or have we or they, our sons, not been willing to receive what would be handed over, if we wanted it? It’s never too late, Lord, in Your time until You come again for us, so give us grace to seek You, both to give You and to receive You, for 'You are so strong, we are so weak, and our brothers so hungry.'
It seems to be true that men have abdicated their rightful authority or partnership in the family. Some things should be passed on from father to son--by role-modeling and through explanation in a sort of Proverbs style.
ReplyDeleteHowever, this may sound old-fashioned and sexist, but it is still women who have to set the limits and say "stop." Some men will still listen to that. The nuns are saying "stop." The nuns are women and the prostitutes are women: they could be mothers, sisters, daughters. I think the nuns represent purity more than monks or men in general (not a "true man," but generally speaking and perhaps stereotypically speaking). Maybe in some places like Poland there is still automatic respect for nuns as a class of people.
The Virgin Mary represents purity more than Joseph. St. Mary of Egypt represents repentent purity even though (or because) she lived a life of sexual impurity.
But I do agree that men should be examples and teachers of purity: in our world today, however, I think the downward spiral of family roles and unity will only get worse. Remember the Protestant movement called "Promise Keepers?" What happened to that?!
You make some good points in your second paragraph, particularly as it relates to the Polish culture, which is strongly Catholic, and where nuns are still in evidence and represent a traditional standard that has not been spoiled.
ReplyDeleteI see 'Promise Keepers' as a movement in reaction not only to the breakdown of male roles in the family, but also one of trying to 'restore' men to some code of biblical ethics that they are accused of abandoning. I see it as a reaction to accusations made by the feminist movement.
Though this will make me many enemies, I do not go along with movements such as 'Promise Keepers' because they automatically put men in the role of 'not to be trusted, let's reform them.' I find this highly offensive.
Feminism, to me, is a worse cultural and spiritual poison than communism, than atheism.
I don't live my life out of a desire to prove my faithfulness to anyone, as when I once did, I was still accused and convicted of unfaithfulness. The world, the flesh and the devil make a convincing team of liars and accusers, from which there is only one escape, the way of the Cross.
I still believe in the ancient order that is written in the Bible, and which I call 'divine', but even in the Church that order is rarely followed. When it is followed, there is honor and respect for the husband, love and protection for the wife, authority and faith for the children.
Men create the outer world with their brothers, women create the inner world with their sisters. Two realms of totally different yet naturally compatible creatures, male and female, are joined in what becomes—if they persevere—a spiritual union, and on a macro scale, a healthy culture. Yet this plan, this economia, this way of salvation, has been blocked, ploughed up and its paving stones scattered, and now, it's very hard to identify its path.
I try to pass it on to my son (and my daughter, to some extent) what it means to be a Man. How well (or not well) it is going - the time will show... I probably need to be more diligent about it. I try to teach, as the good situations come up, about the human dignity which, in my mind, is the same as the Biblical, Christian ideal.
ReplyDeleteBrother, even though I don't know you well 'factually', I think I know you well 'actually', and what I know of you makes me believe you are living (not just trying to live) the gospel way, as Christ and His holy apostles have laid out for us. I thank God whenever I think of you, and keep asking Him to preserve you and your family from the attacks of the evil one.
ReplyDeleteMost of the 'handing over' of the image happens when we are not even aware of it, but especially in the case of your son, never let any human convention come between you and him, but always keep fathering him at every age of his life, so that he too can become what you are, in Christ. And it is important, too, for your daughter to receive the same fathering, as befits her womanly development. The difficult part comes later, when you must help her find a man like her dad, who will live up to the call of Christ, and know how to love her, as you love.
You only think of me that way because you don’t hear my confessions. I know, to some extent, how ill and sinful I am, and that is enough to see that I am “like whited sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all uncleanness” (Matt. 23:27).
ReplyDeleteBut thank you for your prayer and the encouragement, brother!