Departments
Add to DEL.ICIO.US
Add to Digg
Add to Technorati
Add to Google
Add to Facebook
Some Jottings: Standing taller at Marquette
By Susan M. Mountin, Ph.D., Jour ’71, Grad ’94
Now Jesus was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity for 18 years; she was bent over and could not fully straighten herself. And when Jesus saw her, he called her and said to her, “Woman, you are freed from your infirmity.” And he laid his hands upon her, and immediately she was made straight, and she praised God.
~ Luke 13:10-14
In this Centennial Celebration of Women at Marquette, 100 years of women studying side by side with men, this poignant passage from Luke’s Gospel provides a powerful opportunity for meditation. In his Spiritual Exercises, St. Ignatius encouraged us to meditate and pray over scripture by using our senses and our imagination to place ourselves within the Gospel stories.
What freedom the bent woman must have felt as she slowly and even painfully raised her head and straightened her shoulders, stretching her spine upright and lifting up her eyes to see the world anew.
How did those around her respond? Just as the woman saw the world in a new way, her neighbors and family had to view her differently too for she no longer was forced to focus submissively her gaze and attention upon the ground but was able to meet them eye to eye, facing life with determination and promise.
Consider for a moment the thousands of women in the past 100 years who through their Marquette education have learned to stand taller and look the world and its needs in the eye. St. Ignatius knew education could transform individuals, families and communities and indeed the world. What will the next 100 years bring to Marquette? Who else will stand tall because they have been educated here?
Comments