Kathemerinosatos

Celebrating International Women’s Day

Text

Matthew 28:8-10

So the women hurried away from the tomb, afraid yet filled with joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them. “Greetings,” he said. They came to him, clasped his feet and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, “Do not be afraid. Go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me.”.

 Reflection

Today it’s a special day when we celebrate international women’s day. Who are these women? These are our mothers, sisters, wives, aunties, grandmothers, and cousins. I always feel that this day does not get the special treatment it deserves considering the significant roles women occupy in our communities. Firstly, they gave birth to all of us and our life was entirely under their care and protection until we grew up. Secondly, they carry the burden of caring and nurturing us as we grow. No man can possess such qualities like love, care and patience like a woman. Thirdly, they play a significant role in the development of communities and are unsung heroines  when it come to food production and other heavy jobs at homes. Politically, there are the beacon of peace and without them this world could be a jungle where the fittest survives. However, regardless of all these positive attributes there are on the receiving end of all sorts of abuse and violence. Their story is a silent one that does not get the publicity and place they deserve in the communities around the world. In today’s verses we even see how women were significant in the evangelization of the world. They were the first to proclaim the resurrected Christ while the core apostles were hiding in fear of the Jewish authorities. We normally oversimplify this story but it was highly risk for those women to visit the tomb of a bandit charged with treason. It was highly possible for them to be arrested and killed as well for furthering the criminal activities of a bandit. There did not even dare to calculate this risk because of the faith and love that was in them. It was their story of the resurrected Christ that gave new energy to the apostles. This is the same story we preach today. There were the bearers of the gospel from the onset hence even in religious circles we sideline them. Let this Lenten period be a period of repenting from the sin of oppressing and abusing women. This day deserves to be a global holiday. May the almighty God bless us all as we celebrate international women’s day. Amen.

Collect

   Heavenly Father, we celebrate your love and faithfulness. We thank you for the revolutionary transformation in the lives of millions of women, girls, and their families living in different parts of the planet. We pray on this special day that you shower your blessings on all the women on the earth. Please bring wisdom into every woman’s life through your words. Amen.