Women in Ministry

As a young woman who attends a Jesuit school it is next to impossible not to consider religion in everyday life. After taking theology last semester I pretty much decided I did not really believe in a certain religion. I feel that I am more spiritual. I concluded this after being told throughout the course that most of my questions should just not be asked. But how was I supposed to just accept that woman were responsible for so much evil? That was only the beginning of my doubts concerning religion. Although I have personal confusions at this current time I really did enjoy the Women in Ministry speaker.
On April 25th I went to the Women in Ministry event given by Minister Christopher Jack Hill in the VIP Sellinger lounge, although it was not literally in Sellinger. After some preliminary issues of wandering the floors of Sellinger we finally found the correct place above the student center. In the small room there were a handful of people, most of which didn’t attend Loyola. When Hill finally began, a good twenty minutes late, a woman entered who didn’t realize he was speaking and started talking to the crowd, stealing his thunder in a way. She announced to the group, or perhaps just herself that she needed to go to the bathroom. As Hill continued the woman re entered and interrupted again. She sat down next to us and continually said very loud that she couldn’t hear what was going on. Although this seems like a random detail it really affected the speaker and the audience as the attention was directed more toward this lady.
Hill spoke about woman in ministry and the vital role that they play. I was confused at first because being brought up Catholic I know woman don’t really have a place in the church. Hill explained that woman face many defamations and that women are still not equal to men in many ways. Women do not get as much as money as men do. Many times during the speech we were asked to repeat certain phrases. One of my favorite ones was “Girls need to be valued equally as boys by their parents.” Although I am one of three girls and just have one little brother I can see how he is valued differently. For example I was not allowed to drive on the highway until I physically had my license. My little brother drives on the highway when he just has his permit. I often wonder why is he allowed to and yet I was not?
Women also affect politics. As Hill explained women have the power to sway votes. And despite women’s obvious importance to the world they are still being treated unfairly. Hill explained that since the start of organized religion women are always valued less then men. Hill explained that he believes the bible, specifically Genesis, is misread. He believes that Genesis is not about creation but is a social literary text that confirms people are created different from animals for Gods purpose. Hill than continued to give examples about how important women were. For example Eve, who many blame for sin, is not totally at fault. Sara is also an important biblical character. One thing that interested me was that out of the 1400 names mentioned in Genesis only 111 names are women.
Hill finished his speech with explaining how important it was that women knew their own self worth. Personally I believe I always fight for what I deserve. I never really tell myself that I am not as good as my male counterparts. I do realize though that I don’t actively strive to make other women strong. I am still not sure how I feel about organized religion. Maybe I am just in that stage in my life where I am confused and question everything. Or maybe I do know my self worth and don’t want to face defamation in my religious life. I do however believe Jesuit education is very important. At Loyola I never feel that I am worse then the boys. I get the sense that Jesuit education is more about bettering oneself and learning. I would like to see women have more power in the church. And whatever I can do to contribute to that happening is a future goal of mine to accomplish.