Jesus leads the Apostles and upholds the dignity of women. Every Catholic man can grow in happiness by building the Virtue of Duty so he can fulfill his duty to prepare his family for the Judgment and by seeking the Fruit of Generosity from the Holy Spirit so he can generously uphold and defend the dignity of women.
Liturgy
24th Week in Ordinary time – Friday – Lk 8:1-3
Commentary
After establishing His base in Capernaum, Jesus expands His ministry, traveling through surrounding cities and villages around Galilee and preaching His good news (the Gospel) of the Kingdom of God (or Heaven). The Kingdom of God is announced by Jesus in the Incarnation and reflects God’s complete dominion over Creation across the entirety of history. Those conformed to Jesus, who do the Father’s will, are members of the Kingdom who gain the forgiveness of sins and everlasting life with God.
The Kingdom of God is now present in the Holy Catholic Church, the Church Jesus established and will come into fullness in the future when God’s will is done by all men, everywhere. Jesus demonstrates the coming of the Kingdom by the Incarnation, His preaching, and His many miracles. His miracles include the healing of physical bodies (infirmities) and the spirit (the casting out of demons, the forgiveness of sins).
Among Jesus’ followers are those who have gained access to the Kingdom of God by their faith. The leaders of His Kingdom in the Church, the Apostles (The Twelve), were called by Jesus to “be with” Him; these men are witnesses who are trained to expand awareness of the Kingdom after Jesus’ Ascension and offer the Sacraments. Jesus, confirming the opening of the Kingdom to both men and women, allows several women, whom He had healed, to go with Him on His mission work, a courageous counter-cultural act in a culture in which men and women were not allowed to associate in public. The women, demonstrating their commitment to the Kingdom, financially supports Jesus and His Apostles, men who had given up their livelihoods for the Kingdom.
Be awed by Jesus Christ
Be impressed by how Jesus upholds the dignity of women: despite potential accusations of scandal, Jesus Courageously (a part of Fortitude) allows women to travel with Him; Person of the Trinity, Jesus created and loves women, going so far as to create the Blessed Virgin Mary, the Immaculate Conception; formed as the Son of Joseph, Jesus, like His earthly father, upholds the dignity of women; perfection of Chastity, Jesus, like the Blessed Virgin Mary and St. Joseph, is absolutely chaste and requires His Apostles to be so.
Do your duty to prepare your family for Judgment
Realize: Christ the King deliberately and inerrantly chooses 12 male Apostles to lead His Church and to evangelize the world; every Catholic man is called to imitate the Apostles by accepting his calling to be head of his Domestic Church, the family, and to prepare his family for the Judgment.
Believe: Reflect upon the Apostles (CCC 2, 96, 858-860, 1575, 1577).
Pray: Jesus, Divine King, help me build the Virtue of Duty/Responsibility (a part of Justice) so I become a spiritual father who diligently sacrifices, protects, provides, and leads my family, and many others, to You and Your Holy Catholic Church.
Generously uphold and defend the dignity of women
Realize: Consistent with the generous women who followed and supported Jesus and the Apostles, the Church relies on the tireless efforts of wives to support their husband’s efforts to lead their families to Christ, and the tireless sacrificial work of religious and lay women to support the priest’s efforts to sustain local parishes and schools.
Believe: Reflect upon the Dignity of Women (CCC 369-373, 382, 1605, 1616, 2334, 2393).
Pray: Holy Spirit, give me the Fruit of Generosity so I am always grateful for the many beautiful gifts women give to families and the Church, and I generously act with sacrificial love to uphold and defend the dignity of all women.