St Thecla

This morning I read the following tribute to St. Thecla in a Catholic daily devotional.  Normally it probably would have had only minor impact on me, but after the recent discussions over on de gustibus, this took me by surprise.  I find it encouraging and marvelous that the Catholic church while withholding the priesthood from women, nonetheless honors as saint a woman who saw herself as commissioned by Christ to baptize and preach in his name.

"St. Thecla is one of many saintly virgins of the early Church whose witness, though steeped in legend, has exerted a powerful influence in Christian history.  Her story is preserved in The Acts of Paul and Thecla, a second-century text that was warmly celebrated by many Church Fathers, including Augustine and Ambrose.

"According to her Acts, Thecla was a beautiful young woman whose life was transformed when she heard St. Paul preaching in the street outside her window and was 'subdued by the doctrines of the faith.' Under this influence, she announced her intention to break off her engagement and to embrace a life of chastity.  Her family, scandalized by her behavior, denounced her to the governor and caused her arrest.  Sentenced to death, she twice found miraculous deliverance from her fate and went on to enjoy a long life.

"Seeking out Paul, she revealed that she had been commissioned by Christ to baptize and preach in his name.  According to the story, Paul recognized her as a fellow apostle and authorized her to spread the Gospel.  Wherever she went, 'a bright cloud conducted her in her journey.'

"Eventually Thecla retired to a cave and later formed a monastic community of women, whose members she instructed 'in the oracles of God'  Her feast is celebrated on September 23."

the value of weakness

"the more a community deepens, the weaker and more sensitive its members become.  you might think exactly the opposite - that as their trust in each other grows, they in fact grow stronger.  so they do.  but this doesn't disperse the fragility and sensitivity which are at the root of a new grace and which mean the people are becoming in some way dependent on each other.  love makes us weak and vulnerable,  because it breaks down the barriers and protective armour we have built around ourselves.  love means letting others reach us and becoming sensitive enough to reach them.  the cement of unity is interdependence."  -   jean vanier  ( founder of L'arche) in community and growth - chapter entitled  'one heart one soul one spirit'

at the very beginning of his book on community jean vanier is insistent upon demolishing idealistic notions of what community living is about
he emphasizes throughout that the essence of success in community living is to be found more in human weakness and our approach to it than in the collection of our strengths
often he makes the comparison to marriage where the man and woman are often confronted with their weaknesses in very real ways and are forced to either realize that weakness finds some solace in love or perhaps they become frightened and mistrustful the inability to face up to weakness becomes a destructive wedge

i live in a community where there are some amazingly talented people
and in fact it is a community that takes great comfort in knowing there are some living "heroes" in our midst
but i was rivetted to this quote for a particular reason
i realize i came into this community as a way of acknowledging my weaknesses
i had no designs on a profession or a place of strong service

i have been contented to be carried
i have been willing at times to be the lowest guy
i have a few talents i can offer
but i don't have social status the way other monks do
i'm just at the point in my life where i'm willing to accept that

it would seem that christ accepted the lived weakness of his disciples
and he still does

a community is bound together on the realized weaknesses of
those who realize they have to be there
they are dependent upon what the community has to offer