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Power and authority of women at the service of life. Ex 1,1-22.2,1-10

This text explores the power and authority exercised by women in the face of oppression and challenges. It highlights the story of Shiphrah and Puah, the Hebrew midwives who courageously disobeyed the orders of the Egyptian king to save the lives of Hebrew baby boys. The text emphasizes the importance of solidarity, courage, and service in the pursuit of preserving and protecting life.

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Power and authority of women at the service of life. Ex 1,1-22.2,1-10

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  1. Power and authority of women at the service of life. Ex 1,1-22.2,1-10

  2. Work in groups • The reality we discover in the text • 2. Powers and authority that appear in the text and how they are exercised • 3. How women exercise power and where their authority comes from

  3. Israel is fertile; grows in number; is strong Fear of the King of Egypt – difficult work, oppression, enslavement… Death of children Women disobey Reality Egyptian king – Supervisors to oppress Fertility of Israelites Midwives Hebrew women Organization of women Power and authority • How women exercise power and where their authority comes from Power is LIFE Authority comes from the “Fear of God”

  4. “He said to his people, “See! The Israelite people have multiplied and become more numerous than we are! Come, let us deal shrewdly with them to stop their increase; otherwise, in time of war they too may join our enemies to fight against us, and so leave the land.”Accordingly, they set supervisors over the Israelites to oppress them with forced labor. “ (Ex 1,9-11) Power and Authority are lived or exercised in relation to others: King—Israelites The king lives his exercise of power and authority: From the point of FEAR;schemes against the LIFE of the Israelites. Sets supervisors to submit them to arduous work; to weaken their strength. Here, Power dominates, controls, oppresses… The exercise of Authority: Order—obedience… Fear that the other, the different one, will GROW and wage war. Underestimation of women’s capabilities; they are not a threatening force; they can be controlled, subdued and used to their advantage; “let the girls live.”

  5. “The king of Egypt told the Hebrew midwives, one of whom was called Shiphrah and the other Puah, “When you act as midwives for the Hebrew women, look on the birthstool: if it is a boy, kill him; but if it is a girl, she may live.” The midwives, however, feared God; they did not do as the king of Egypt had ordered them, but let the boys live” (Ex 1,15-17) In exercising of their power the Midwives decide: To disobey the order of the King of Egypt To save, to protect Life at risk To be consistent/coherent: as midwives they know how to help birth life; to care for Life They exercise their Authority by being faithful to their BEING as MIDWIVES=to Welcoming LIFE—that is, to be faithful to their LIFE PROJECT Shiphrah and Puah: do not allow themselves to become party to the king’s oppressive and deadly power They care and work for the welfare of other Women and their children It is Living a Solidarity from their innermost depths—they put themselves alongside the Israelite women; of the oppressed, the exploited… They are Conscious of their decision, of the risk involved in disobeying They face the risk with audacity The power of Shiphrah and Puah lies in weaving relationships and networks to care for, protect and save LIFE.

  6.  “So the king of Egypt summoned the midwives and asked them, “Why have you done this, allowing the boys to live?” The midwives answered Pharaoh, “The Hebrew women are not like the Egyptian women. They are robust and give birth before the midwife arrives.” (Ex 1,18-19) Courageously give an account of their saving action It is the response of women who are consistent with / certain of their Life Project: They have opted for LIFE in the midst of marginalization, poverty, inequality, submission, and death. The same option that God made in the story of liberation. Ex 3,14 “I AM WHO I AM. You will tell them “I AM HAS SENT ME TO YOU.” It is a response that comes from the inner strength that ABIDES in them; that impels them to live the risk of their life project, and they live it in Gratuitousness and from an orientation of service. Power and authority lived from a service in solidary.

  7. Through Shiphrah and Puah, God enters and intervenes in the transformation of history. They become the ears, eyes, and hands of God, who hears the cry, sees the oppression of His people, and acts. Let us look and listen to our experience of God: Has it been liberating? A Mother hides her child, plans everything in such a way that she weaves a web of relationships for life A network made up of women of different generations and social status… How would you describe our networks for life?

  8. “Now a man of the house of Levi married a Levite woman, and the woman conceived and bore a son. Seeing what a fine child he was, she hid him for three months. But when she could no longer hide him, she took a papyrus basket, daubed it with bitumen and pitch, and putting the child in it, placed it among the reeds on the bank of the Nile… His sister stationed herself at a distance to find out what would happen to him. Then Pharaoh’s daughter came down to bathe at the Nile, while her attendants walked along the bank of the Nile. Noticing the basket among the reeds, she sent her handmaid to fetch it. On opening it, she looked, and there was a baby boy crying! She was moved with pity for him and said, “It is one of the Hebrews’ children.” Then his sister asked Pharaoh’s daughter, “Shall I go and summon a Hebrew woman to nurse the child for you?” Pharaoh’s daughter answered her, “Go.” So the young woman went and called the child’s own mother. Pharaoh’s daughter said to her, “Take this child and nurse him for me, and I will pay your wages.” So the woman took the child and nursed him. When the child grew, she brought him to Pharaoh’s daughter, and he became her son. She named him Moses; for she said, “I drew him out of the water.” (Ex 2,1-10)

  9. The network of women expands… Moses’ mother skillfully and creatively prepares everything. Women know how to touch the very core of another woman… Pharaoh’s daughter… Women of different generations weaving a network of LIFE Human qualities that make the love of God present. The midwives live in this way; as do the other women who appear in Ex 2, 1-10. They live from the contemplation of LIFE which gives them the wisdom to commit themselves to the transformation of history... They disobey the orders of the King of Egypt; they empower their own lives and those of their children and hold the history of their people in their own hands... they penetrate the nucleus of the imperial power.

  10. The cry of a people in exile, oppressed, exploited…this enables the midwives, mothers, sisters and daughters to grow. Generates encounters, intergenerational and intercultural dialogue…in general, our communities are intercultural. Is there space for encounters, and/or dialogue? Is diversity lived as a richness or as a threat? They discover and recognize the POWER that dwells in them as Women …it strengthens them to BE faithful... They discover their capability to transform history; to RESIST AND SEARCH for ways to Save Life, and to recover HOPE  (Jr 31,16-17). Their CONFIDENCE / TRUST is strengthened; they interweave NETWORKS of Relationships for LIFE They allow themselves to be touched by the cry of life…they put themselves at the service of other women… A LIFE Project brings them closer and unites them… The Women of these texts integrate their process of power and authority by communicating (although the texts do not state so). It can be understood, that there is communication among them because they act in a coordinated way; they leave nothing to chance. They proceed with the wisdom that comes from contemplation, listening, seeing, and feeling history—LIFE… They live a Spirituality founded in the God that hears the Cry of His People and responds...

  11. From the point of our service of Authority, can we be MIDWIVES for the community, province, and/or congregational Life? What are the cries of my brothers and Sisters? & In my service of Authority, what are my cries? How does my power and Authority help others grow? ¿Have I been able to grow with others, as those women did…? “With all vigilance guard your heart, for in it are the sources of life.” (Prov 4, 23) What do these scriptures say to my life? These encounters in and from the depths of our being become a Source of life, to be able to live in coherence -LOVE-JUSTICE-LIFE… Power and service of authority lived from these three dimensions of the Gospel make us more human…

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