ALL YE HOLY WIDOWS
McCarthy, Abigail
ALL YE HOLY WIDOWS . . . ABIGAIL MeCARTHY If we are to judge by first-century literature, widows were many and highly valued members in the early church. In the days when we used to chant the...
...Then in 1976 the state of Maryland passed legisl, ation designating funds for a center...
...The assistance is often in form of minimal pay for work...
...They fall between the cracks of fed.eral income security programs and state programs as well...
...They are Tish Summers and Laurie Shields of California who made a giant step forward when they found a description to unite widows and other lone women...
...The poorest of the poor are old women, many of them subsisting on cat food and garbage...
...She cannot get unemployment insurance because her work in the home has been unpaid labor...
...Women can go there and, in a warm, friendly, encouraging atmosphere, get information on job reentry, find discussion groups and skills assessment, referrals to responsive community resources and other st~pport services...
...Workshops help program participants find out about the rules and peculiarities of their new world...
...It has remained for two women who were .themselves facing the problems of the woman suddenly alone to start working out some practical solutions...
...The many who need additional training before they can hope to become employable can be aided with financial assistance and training for traditional and innovative jobs...
...As" older women they face special problems when they are "forced to go it alone economically...
...St...
...She needs to be shown that her years as homemaker have produced skills which can be transferred to a paying job...
...On the other hand she is at a disadvantage in seeking a job because she has no record of paid employment...
...Displaced homemakers are .not only invisible in the churches but they have seemed to be also invisible as citizens...
...It has only been in the last century that women began to a~atlive men so the simple explanation that there were more women than men does not answer the question...
...Widows have not fared so well in our contemporary world, nor have older women alone in the world for any reason...
...The first goal of the Alliance was achieved when a center and pilot project for just such training was funded by the California legislature...
...Even with }hat tiny pay--for many the first they (Continued on page 319) 12 May 1978:294...
...The emphasis on family movements have made them almost non-persons in .the church community, .and their problems have not seemed very interesting to trendy seekers after justice...
...I used to be struck by the" petition addressed to "all ye holy widows," but it has only occurred to me lately to wonder--why no petition to "all ye holy widowers...
...More often women than men, they are 'displaced' from their family role through widowhood, divorce or other loss of family income...
...There are also programs on health and nut, rition, being a parent in their new circt~mstances, ete . . . . all offered on a regular basis...
...Having accepted the dependency role for so many years, it is difficult for her to shift to the idea of being capable of selfsufficiency...
...Whatever the reason, widows were cherished-in the early church communi...
...Weren't there any...
...They founded the Alliance for Displaced Homemakers...
...Perhaps all the holy men survivors entered some form of orders...
...If her children are over eighteen, and if she is not physically disabled, she cannot count on aid as the mother of dependent children although she may be desperately trying to keep a home center together...
...A greater problem is that v~hen she has to turn to the iob market at her age in life, she feels 'over the hill' and worthless...
...Paul's guarded suggestion to the Corinthians that they not remarry unless it was absolutely necessary seems to bear this out...
...I think the more likely explanation is in Ellen Goodman's pithily stated axiom: "Women mourn and men remarry...
...In the days when we used to chant the litany of the saints at Forty Hours' Devotion (~nd that is material for a whole other column...
...The older former homemaker is often unaware of even the limited resources within ,her community...
...The majority on welfare are the widowed, deserted or divorced with chil&en to care for...
...She needs to gain selfconfidence, with her peers, before she can be prepared for paid employment...
...This center offers counseling, workshops, job-training services and employment assistance...
...italics mine) Displaced homemakers, they tell us, are people who have been providing service to a family for a substantial number of years--in other words, parents or spouses...
...A displaced homemaker is usually ineligible for Social Security benefits because she is still too young at the time she is left alone...
...They learn about the legal problems of separation and divorce, wills, social security, public assistance and property settlement...
...None of the existing federal programs are geared to meet the specific needs of the displaced homemaker...
...ty, and early Christians were often adiured to remember to share their substance with poor widows, to heed the counsel of wise widows, and so on...
Vol. 105 • May 1978 • No. 10
