"Sweet Fruit for the Resistance" by Mary Sue Barnett ARCWP

Mary Sue Barnett ARCWP

If you have ever needed a priest to tell you this, then I tell you now:

Here, this is for you. 

It is fruit for your life. 

I give it to you in both seriousness and lightness of heart. 

An ordained woman can give bread to feed hunger, water to quench thirst, and oil to heal. 

This is good. 

And still there is more. 

Here is fruit for the resistance, the fruit of Eve, whose name means “life.”

Fruit for your female self. 

Decades ago as a student of theology and ministry, my commitment to women’s issues was well known by classmates. 

A male Catholic seminarian placed on my desk a copy of Joseph Ratzinger’s warnings against liberation theology. 

A male Protestant seminarian placed on my desk an apple for the sins of Eve that I represented to him. 

These are mild examples of the multiple harassments experienced by me and many women studying theology with a commitment to women. 

Women, eat the fruit everyday, and never cease taking in the nourishments for your life. 

It will give you hope and strength. 

Patriarchy’s “sin” is often the very stuff of a woman’s authentic life. 

So here, this is for you. 

It is fruit for your life, the fruit of resistance to anything that harms you and holds you back. 

Seek always, knowledge that feeds you. 

Trust always, the wisdom that sustains you. 

Savor always, the divine love within you.