Today’s Gospel reminds us that we need to be a light in the world, which reminds me of a message I heard almost a year ago. I was moved by comments made at the Greater Cincinnati Catholic Women’s Conference about our responsibility as Christian women to take back the culture that has been so damaged by secular feminists.
Christian women, on the whole, tend to focus on our homes and careers and stay out of public forums where we might impact culture. As such, for the last half century or so, the culture has been heading down a dangerous path. Pop culture icons preach a way of life that replaces God with “the earth,” and replaces service with “taking care of number one (self)” and ultimately devalues human life, in general. This is a dangerous road, and it very well may be that Christian women are the group called by God to turn it around.
We have great examples in the lives of the female saints. In many cases, they faced impossible trials, but they were focused on God’s call and had the courage to follow it.
As St. Catherine of Sienna said so beautifully, “Be who God meant you to be, and you’ll set the world on fire.” I am excited for the potential that we have to put our feminine genius to work in the world. Who’s with me? What will you do today to set the world on fire? How will you be a light to the world?