Women around Jesus.

I once heard the remark, “Faith is only for women. The answer may be. Well, only women will go to heaven. Even in our church there are more women than men. We know why. We can often acknowledge the circumstances. When the scientist was rebuked for his strong faith, he said: “Too bad I only believe like a Breton peasant. I should believe like a Breton peasant woman.”

In the Gospel we read the names of the women around Jesus who obeyed him and the apostles. “Mary, called Magdalene,… John, the wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, Susanna, and many others…” (Lk 8:3). There were more. Scripture mentions the Woman – the Mother of Jesus – in the first place. The enemies tell untruths about Lazarus’ sisters Mary and Martha. The woman sick of the issue of blood was healed by Jesus… In Bethlehem at the manger are the women, the wives of the shepherds. In the Jerusalem temple, Annam daughter of Phanuel of the tribe of Asher is mentioned, she was a pious widow. Elizabeth, the mother of John the Baptist. The mother of the apostles John and James called Boaneges – sons of thunder. Other apostles’ mother. The woman who washed Jesus’ feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair, a sinner they called her. Another woman who was caught in the act of sin. A woman who paid homage to Jesus by addressing his mother… The mother of Jairus’ daughter, other women from the crowd that was fed, where many women were present. What about the other women of the New Testament? And the women of the Old Testament: Susanna, David’s concubine, the mother of the sons of the Maccabees… and in the beginning, Eve, mother of Cain and Abel…

Why do we remember this? In the genealogies of the Lord Jesus, women of honor and women of sin are mentioned… Jesus came to all. The sinful woman is also a lost sheep. Yes, God has bestowed many gifts on both men and women. To whom did Jesus first appear after the resurrection? Who stood with the apostle John and the mother of Jesus at the foot of the cross? Who were the women in the Upper Room who ministered to Jesus and the apostles at the Last Supper…? Who were the women who were with the Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit descended upon them? And what about the first Christian woman, Lydia, the scarlet letter seller?

Women, girls, mothers and old women, be proud of your faith. You are equal to men, fathers, husbands… Every man is a child of God. Even a woman. Thank you for being. Thank you for believing. Thank you for setting an example, for praying for men, for giving us life, for loving us… Today’s Gospel is the power of God’s Word as we remember each of you by Jesus. Jesus loves you, blesses you, loves you.

And that is the memento of today’s Gospel. Jesus, thank you for godly women and all of womankind.