The heart is the center, for women.  How beautiful is this feminine attribute: the heart funneling love and compassion to humanity.  Psychology teaches us about the importance of a mother's care, especially between birth and the age of six.  Her presence and tenderness at this time are vital towards fostering a child's growth in emotional strength and security.  How great also, is the selfless service of countless women social workers, teachers, and nurses, who care for families, for the young, and for the sick.  Many other wonderful, even non-traditional, vocations for women could be listed, still, the greatest happiness and satisfaction follows a labor of love.     
      Intimacy is a deep human longing: maybe even deeper (in general), for women.  For example, for a man, sexual intimacy begins when his eyes behold a beautiful woman, and within a short span of time, his hormones have more than kicked into gear, and he is ready to go.  But for a woman, sexual intimacy begins with emotional intimacy.  If she does not experience good communication with her spouse, that is, the mutual disclosure of interior thoughts and feelings, then sexual intimacy could become difficult: she may even feel used.  A good female friend of mine once shared that women really want LUV.  She said, "The L is for, 'I'm Listening,' the U is for, 'I U nderstand,' and the V is for, 'Your  feelings are Valid.'"  This conflicts at times, with what is most natural to men, namely to solve problems and draw conclusions, rather than to simply listen and empathize.  Which leads us to the following points: (1) If a man is to love his wife as Christ loves the church, he will recognize in her this fundamental need for emotional intimacy, and in holy measure attend to it; (2) As no one relationship could ever meet all our needs (male or female) women need also to find support and intimacy from other women friends.
     It is a painful phenomenon in our culture that so many men and women learn to repress their emotions, because of the many forms of abuse (verbal, physical, sexual), from peers, family, and coworkers.  It is the Christian faith, which more than any other power, is able to heal a heart wounded and hardened by sin.  A heart open to love and vulnerability is key to happiness and peace.  The Sacred Heart of Jesus and the Immaculate Heart of Mary, are our greatest models of charity and purity, and remain a refuge for all in the valley of tears.
     Fr. Michael