St. John Paul II identified four specific characteristics of the “feminine genius” that have given the woman the ability and strength to constantly choose the culture of life over the culture of death: receptivity, sensitivity, generosity and maternity.

On receptivity, St. John Paul II explained it this way: “The moral and spiritual strength of a woman is combined to her awareness that God entrusts the human being to her in a special way… A woman is strong because of her awareness of this task, strong because of the fact that God ‘entrusts the human being to her,’ always and in every way, even in the situations of social discrimination in which she may find herself.”(Mulieris Dignitatem).

This receptivity is also the source and font of a woman’s sensitivity. All mothers are so attentive to the needs of their unborn child – avoiding harmful food and strenuous activities up to the point of even making the heroic choice of foregoing life-saving chemotherapy to avoid harming the child she is carrying until the baby is born. Thus before the world can even get to know this little baby, a mother is already thinking of the child’s welfare and future.

This innate sensitivity in women can be very useful in society, in creating public policies that include the option for the poor and marginalized, policies that protect the family and the most vulnerable sectors of society.

A woman’s capacity for generosity is again intimately tied to her receptive nature. The very first generous act she can make is that of welcoming new life. Every mother knows that once she has said her “yes,” it means 9 months of swollen ankles, excruciating back pains, frenetic shopping for baby clothes and supplies, until the final pains of childbirth… And yesept her choice is always for life.

The new father also has to say a generous “yes” to 9 months of hunting around for the things to satisfy his wife’s unimaginable cravings, adjusting to her mood swings, and his own loss of sleep… It is a woman’s maternal nature that is very much needed in building communities, in fulfilling roles and tasks in society that have to do with forming our future generations, safeguarding the rights of the family, and of women and children etc.

In his Letter to Women Dated Jun 29, 1995, John Paul II expressed his moving gratitude for the “feminine genius” in this way: “Thank you, women who are mothers! You have sheltered human beings within yourselves in a unique experience of joy and travail.

This experience makes you become God’s own smile upon the newborn child, the one who guides your child’s first steps, who helps it to grow, and who is its anchor as the child makes its way along the journey of life.

“Thank you, women who are wives! You irrevocably join your futures to those of your husbands, in a relationship of mutual giving, at the service of love and life.

“Thank you, women who are daughters and women who are sisters! Into the heart of the family, and then of all society, you bring the richness of your sensitivity, your intuitiveness, your generosity and fidelity.

“Thank you, women who work! You are present and active in every area of life-social, economic, cultural, artistic and political.

In this way you make an indispensable contribution to the growth of a culture which unites reason and feeling, to a model of life ever open to the sense of “mystery”, to the establishment of economic and political structures ever more worthy of humanity.

“Thank you, consecrated women! Following the example of the greatest of women, the Mother of Jesus Christ, the Incarnate Word, you open yourselves up with obedience and fidelity to the gift of God’s love….

“Thank you, every woman, for the simple fact of being a woman! Through the insight which is so much a part of your womanhood you enrich the world’s understanding and help to make human relations more honest and authentic…”

What, then, is the feminine genius? It is simply a woman’s ability to make a sincere gift of herself and her talents and capabilities for the common good.

Yet, while this is innate in a woman to help her fulfill her vocation in the world, it is a trait that should definitely not be absent in man.

Each one of us, woman or man, is called to be a sincere gift for others, and to leave an imprint that will make our world a better place.