Women apostles
04.01.2010
We salute the Catholic Women's League of Fiji.
Every year, during the August two-week school holidays, a much anticipated event occurs in the calendar of the Catholic women of Fiji. It is time for the Annual General Gathering of their League, where our "mothers" come together in a host parish, bed down in classrooms, halls and houses, and have some ongoing spiritual and human learning, display and sell their craftwork and (the highlight) participate in the grand "Soli" – i.e. give their contribution, parish by parish, to the Archbishop, for the education fees of our local seminarians.
The whole event takes four days, and there are innumerable animals, and fish, culled to feed them, and half a tonne of root crops pulled from the ground, not counting the scores of kilos of the famous Fijian "kava" - an essential lubricant for any social occasion. It is a heavy burden indeed for the host parish, but young and old pull together joyfully for the event and the visiting ladies donate a veritable mountain of mats, soap, cloth and oil before they leave.
All events are interspersed with much laughter, dancing, late nights and re-strengthening of the bonds of women from vastly different social and economic strata. One is in awe of the sacrifices the ladies make, just even in getting there, by road, ferry and small boat, not counting the spartan accommodation or the huge offerings they bring despite the very difficult times we are facing in Fiji.
I was able to attend the "soli" this year. The procedure is that each parish dances up with its offering and while it is being counted, a holy chaos descends while women go "hunting" for their male cousins, brothers-in-law, nephews and any other unsuspecting male youth (or priest) to be dragged up for a vigorous dance, while the other ladies explode in laughter. Because we Columbans serve in three Fijian parishes and I seemed to be the only one in sight that day, I had to dance and give to these three, as well as to the Cathedral Parish in which I live and the priestless island parish of Kadavu where Columbans often go.
I then ran out of the shed, to avoid being picked for more dancing, and because my wallet was empty!
The theme of the Gathering this year was the Promotion of Human and Womens' Rights. This is a subject still in its infancy in much of rural Fiji, and one hopes that the ladies, as well as giving, were able to own more fully their own dignity and rights as women of both the Church and society.
Without them, our seminarians would not be educated, and indeed the whole Archdiocese would grind to a halt. They are like Phoebe of Rome, "the deaconess who has come to the help of many people, including myself," or Prisca, "my fellow worker in Christ Jesus, who risked her neck to save my life" or Tryphaena and Tryphosa, "who work so hard for the Lord" (Romans 16:2-3,12). Let us give thanks for these and so many great women apostles across the centuries and throughout the globe.
Fr Patrick Colgan has been a missionary in Fiji since 1994.
