By Danielle Dyann Abril
I am so excited to be joining in the with the Springs in the Desert Ministry to be celebrating #FeminineGeniusWeek! Springs in the Desert is a very exciting up-and-coming (if not already arrived) ministry that is dedicated to walking with women who are struggling with infertility and child loss. Their ministry includes a blog, a podcast, a monthly e-newsletter, a YouTube channel, and so much more. They are an awesome ministry to watch and support as they are one of the finalists for the 2021 OSV Challenge.
In celebration of the Feast of the Nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on September 8th (Mary’s Birthday) this innovative ministry has chosen to declare this week #FeminineGeniusWeek. And honestly, I cannot be more excited! It so appropriate that we celebrate that which is most wonderful, unique, and special about women on the birthday of the woman par excellance, Mary.
To give a little background, the term “genius of women” was popularized by none other than Pope Saint John Paul II in Mulieris Dignitatem. Although phrases “genius of women” and “feminine genius” are more commonly used in the past 30 years, they are certainly not new. When the Catholic Church speaks of the feminine genius, she is speaking of those things which women were uniquely created to be to give to the world. In the Catholic worldview, it is not merely incidental that we are male and female rather it is part of who we are as created beings. In our creation as a physically male or female, we have something special and unique to offer the world. We cannot subordinate one gender to the other, instead we must see the beauty, dignity, and gift that each gender has to offer.
It is thus my hope, dear sisters, that you will reflect carefully on what it means to speak of the “genius of women,” not only in order to be able to see in this phrase a specific part of God’s plan which needs to be accepted and appreciated, but also in order to let this genius be more fully expressed in the life of society as a whole, as well as in the life of the Church.
Pope Saint John Paul II, Letter to Women, §10.
Over the course of the past two decades the Catholic Church has begun to speak about four aspects of this feminine genius that are particularly important, these are: receptivity, generosity, sensitivity, and maternity. While the whole of the feminine genius is certainly not reduceable to these four they do each teach us something about what women can offer.
It is so beautiful to witness a woman’s capacity to receive others and welcome them for who they are as a person. One way I have seen this lived out is in the loving grandmother, neighbor, or friend who always has an open door to their home with warm cookies and cool lemonade on the table. They are ever ready to receive the child, friend, or wanderer who needs a safe place to land.
Women also have a unique capacity for generosity. It makes me laugh, but I think of at the end of a long family gathering, who is still dealing with the tired kids, cleaning up the dishes, and making sure everything gets put back in its place? In my experience, it is the moms and aunts! It seems that no matter how tired the women get, they are always willing to go that extra mile for their family and be genuinely selfless.
As a child there was nothing I loved more than my mother’s capacity for sensitivity. Whenever I fell and scrapped my knee, it was her tender and loving arms that made it all better. It was not that my father could not fix up my wound (he was a first responder after all) but somehow my mother had this unique ability to calm my feelings and be especially sensitive to what I needed.
Finally, women have the capacity for maternity. This maternity can come about in the form of either a physical maternity or a spiritual maternity. A woman’s gift of maternity is not just about physical generation but about building up the life of God in a person. Even if a woman is unable to physically bear a child, she can still realize the fullness of her creation as woman by sharing her God-given gifts with the world and being fruitful spiritually.
This being said, women are so much more than what we can do, we are “geniuses” because of who we are! We are created in the image and likeness of God as WOMEN! Now is our time to embrace who we were created to be and shine our little light into the darkness of the world!
For more information about this awesome initiative follow: @stlnp and @springsinthedesert.
Danielle Dyann Abril is the mother of many children through adoption, foster care, and biological motherhood. She home-schools her crew, blogs at https://unrepeatableblessings.com, and in her spare time works with the Archdiocese of St. Louis Office of Natural Family Planning to share the good news about NFP with the world.