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Jutta Burggraf
School of Theology
University of Navarra

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Our first experience of humanity is that of being a son or daughter. A woman – our mother – teaches us from the very first moment, with myriad gestures of love, that people are more important than things. That every person is infinitely valuable.

Necessary emphasis should be placed on the "genius of women", not only by considering great and famous women of the past or present, but also those ordinary women who reveal the gift of their womanhood by placing themselves at the service of others in their everyday lives. For in giving themselves to others each day women fulfil their deepest vocation. Perhaps more than men, women acknowledge the person, because they see persons with their hearts. They see them independently of various ideological or political systems. They see others in their greatness and limitations; they try to go out to them and help them. In this way the basic plan of the Creator takes flesh in the history of humanity and there is constantly revealed, in the variety of vocations, that beauty - not merely physical, but above all spiritual - which God bestowed from the very beginning on all, and in a particular way on women.

Letter of Pope John Paul II to Women, 29 June 1995, no. 12.

Commentary

In spite of John Paul II’s great admiration for all the mothers in the world, the Pope was not referring to physical motherhood, but rather to a spiritual dimension. The “genius” of women is the talent for seeing the face of a neighbor in the midst of the hustle and bustle of our lives. Even in giant multinational corporations, a woman never forgets that people are more important than things. Breaking through anonymity, listening to others, taking people’s concerns seriously, showing solidarity with them. A simple woman normally knows how to convey security and create an atmosphere in which others can feel at ease. She thus bears witness quite naturally to God’s unique love for every person, reaffirming the importance of every man, woman and child and assuring them that their life has immense value.