Dcn Brigid Waszczak
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
King Xerxes gave Queen Esther the estate of Haman, the enemy of the Jews. Esther… pleaded with the king… begged him to put an end to the evil plan of Haman… devised against the Jews.
“If it pleases the king,” she said, “… let an order be written overruling the dispatches that Haman… devised and wrote to destroy the Jews in all the king’s provinces…”
King Xerxes replied… “Because Haman attacked the Jews, I have given his estate to Esther… Now write another decree… in behalf of the Jews… and seal it with the king’s signet ring—for no document written in the king’s name and sealed with his ring can be revoked.” —Esther 8:1, 3, 5-8
Heroines Esther and Judith (Judith 13: 1-20) feature in today’s readings. Both brave, strong women summoned courage and resourcefulness to save their people from destruction.
Esther risked the King’s wrath and her own life by asking him to reverse Haman’s plans to kill the Jews. Judith rebuked the Jewish elders’ faint-heartedness and took matters into her own hands, beheading Holofernes, commander of the Assyrian army, who planned to destroy Israel.
Xerxes honored Esther by rewarding her the estate of Haman and issued a decree sparing the Jews. Uzziah praised Judith: May God grant… perpetual honor to you, and… visit you with blessings, because you did not spare your own life when our nation was brought low, but have avenged our ruin, walking in the straight path before our God.
Very often, women go unnamed and unsung in scripture. I was pleased to find these two stories among the readings. They present models of impressive, fearless females much needed in scripture that concentrates most often on the exploits of men.
The more well-known story of Ruth rises to our biblical consciousness, but hers is a more subtle, docile, domestic story—more in keeping with our culture that would prefer to keep women in their place. Ester and Judith offer images of powerful, masterful, crafty, wise women whose bold qualities society would rather ignore and downplay.
Behavior like Ester and Judith’s was not presented as proper in my youth. Their character is, however, part of every woman and should be respected. I may not have saved an entire people when speaking truth to power, but my words and actions had an impact.
Insisting that a pastor stop encouraging my Catholic friends to shun me because I chose to become an Episcopal deacon stopped him from continuing that effort. Asking that colleagues be informed earlier than arrival at worship of changes to the day’s liturgy resulted in prior email notification during the week. None of these confrontations were easy or desired, yet were necessary.
How do these women’s stories remind you of yourself or of the women in your life?
Blessings,
—Dcn Brigid
