scandalous women

Advent readings have a Gospel with genealogy including four women. Each one of them went through significant trauma and had to navigate her life among powerful, rich and important men, facing death, lack of recognition of dignity, maneuvering around laws and customs of the times, mainly, acquiring a husband and/or son, as a male protector.

TAMAR

Handed from brother to brother with hope of having sons for the tribe, ended up prostituting herself to her father in law, avoided being burnt alive and gave birth to twins.

RAHAB

Prostitute who feared God of Israelites because she heard stories of His power.

Hiding Jewish spies she got immunity from death.

She saved her parents and siblings from being killed.

RUTH

Pagan widow with mother in law and sister in law as widows also. Accompanied her mother in law back to Bethlehem. Impoverished and picking leftover grains from the field of relative whom she married when he squired the land with her.

BATHSHEBA

Summoned and impregnated by the king who later ordered to kill her husband. Her firstborn died and later she was redeemed to be the queen among many women in his harem.

God had to do something to redeem women. He decided to entrust His Beloved Son to her body, her soul and her spirit.

MIRIAM

Almost on the verge of a scandal, after supernatural intervention she was not sent away by her betrothed husband. An immigrant, fleeing from mad king who was after her newborn, immigrant, small village wife and mom. Lived with her only begotten Son for 30 years and then had to follow Him in joys, sorrows, finalizing her love at the foot of the most cruel death known and buried Him in agony.

His resurrection and ascend to heaven probably startled her. After Pentecost, still lived for years in hiddenness. Taken to His Sons’ house to make another home for all weary, abused, taken advantaged off, forgotten, living in misery, treated unfairly, persecuted and abandoned women and men of this earth who saw how she carried her heart.

Mother of God, Theotokos, you loved well and you paved the way to redeem the world.