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Something Different
As a lover of France and French, I have long been fascinated by Joan of Arc, although I find her truly problematic (Believe Me If You Like, by James Martin, S.J., 5/22). Why would God call her to lead an army and fight to put a weak king on the throne of France? But aside from that, I delighted in the fact that she followed by doing what she believed she was called to do, no matter what anyone said. The proceedings of her trial show her to be a spirited and witty young woman, a match for the ecclesiastical court in spite of her lack of theology or education. When asked, shouldn’t she be doing weaving and cooking and all the other things women do, she answered that there were plenty of other women doing those things. Surely one could be spared to do something different. She was well aware that her refusal to wear women’s clothing irked the bishop too, never mind that he himself wore silks and laces and gowns as women did. And I do not think that she was not sexually assaulted by the soldiers because she was plain. Since when have soldiers been that discriminating? I believe it was because she projected an utter trust in God and conviction of her calling, a quality that set her apart. Ultimately, it has always seemed to me that she was condemned because she was a woman who managed to get out from under male control both in the church and in society.
Lucy Fuchs
Get It?
I’ve been smiling off and on ever since I read Timothy Hanchin’s article, Messianic or Bourgeois? (5/8), about the young men who shortened man for others into the catch phrase M.F.O. Unlike Mr. Hanchin, I think this is something that should cause rejoicing, not concern. When I coordinated adult initiation groups, I told the candidates and catechumens that they wouldn’t really be Catholic until they could get the jokes and the slang. By their somewhat tongue-in-cheek reference, the young men have shown that they have indeed internalized the concept. Although it is true that the calling to be a person for others opens one to a depth of challenge, most of us spend our days toting water jugs rather than facing firing squads. In fact, there are days when I feel I would willingly embrace the drama of a firing squad if only it would remove me from the treadmill of my life. But that is not my calling! And so I smile (or try to) and reach out to the person nearest me, trying to become more of an M.F.O. (P.F.O.? W.F.O.?) I am not trying to reject the prophetic dimension, but rather allowing it to permeate a rather ordinary life.
Kristeen Bruun