To my dear Catholic sisters: I am very fortunate to have received a copy of a new book about Catholic teaching on the importance of women in modern society. The book is The Supreme Vocation of Women According to St. John Paul II, by Melissa Maleski.
Certainly, with the secularist morality that dominates popular culture today, it is important that we start fighting to win back the narrative and heal our world. Exploring this idea, I found that St. John Paul II taught extensively about the “feminine genius” and the important role of women in the mission of the Church. His teaching inspired many strong Catholic women who are showing us the way. Clearly, Melissa Maleski is one of those women.
My favorite thing about the book is that she highlighted a work of John Paul II that I hadn’t read before, his homily on Sunday, August 15, 2004, for the 150th anniversary of the Blessed Mother’s visitation to Bernadette at Lourdes. Melissa described the pope’s special call to women to be “sentinels of the Invisible.” Exploring this key message from John Paul II, including the significance of this homily being delivered at a time when the Holy Father acknowledged he must be in the final days of his life on earth, reveals a deeper understanding of his teaching about women than I have ever read.
You can find this book at Sophia Institute Press. (Click here.) I promise, no matter how much or how little you have explored our roles and responsibilities as Catholic women, this book will clarify your vision and enhance your commitment to the cause. Let me sum it up with the author’s final words to us:
“You and I have the opportunity to do some real good for each other and for future generations. Nothing we do is insignificant, and nothing is wasted. Everything we say and everything we do, and how we say and do these things, pushes the world in one direction or another. Let’s be sure of what direction our lives are pushing toward.” (p. 140-141)
Keep pushing forward. 🙏🏼