What An Odd Thing To Say

No matter how one views the issue of woman’s ordination, if one believes women can be ordained to the priesthood (I don’t, but I do think they can be raised to the diaconate), it doesn’t mean the priesthood is a commodity one can take for oneself. Sadly, that is how it seems many women who “become ordained” feel about it. They are missing out on a good which they want, and their desire is indication of their right to possess it. Korah and Dathan thought the same.

I can understand why some women look at it as an issue of possession.  The capitalistic ethic imbibes much of American Catholicism, and this should explain why we find a great number of American women demanding ordination. Orders is a good, a discernible object created by human work. Like all goods, it should be traded about in an open market, but the all-male hierarchy have a monopoly on it, forbidding such free trade. That monopoly needs to be broken, even if it takes civil– or sacred — disobedience. Fine. With the marketization of religion, I can understand that argument. Everything is an economic concern. I definitely don’t agree with it, and I think the response must come from an explanation as to why the capitalistic ethic is incompatible with the Christian faith. But what I don’t understand is how some think their excommunication makes draws them closer, not further, from God:

CAROL MITCHELL: What we’re looking for in a priest is compassion, intellect and a modeling of our devotion to the Lord. We can find that in either man or woman. Our women priests are perhaps modeling a closer walk with God, because we’re suffering the excommunication from the church that we love.  (source:Fred Thys at wbur.org)

Being excommunicated from the Church brings one closer to God? Something about that statement reminds me of some Sufis who taught that Iblis (Satan) was God’s greatest lover: Iblis disobeyed God’s command to bow before Adam out of his great love for God, and willingly suffered condemnation by God and to be separated from God to let that love flourish.