Misunderstandings 4 - Women Priests

Why is it that women can't be priests? Why, in a world where women are becoming more and more equal to men are they still denied the right to ordination?

As if it weren't obvious already, this is not my view - it's a view to which I attempt to offer an answer. As set out by the catechism:

Only a baptized man (vir) receives sacred ordination. The Lord Jesus chose men
(viri) to form the college of the twelve apostles, and the apostles did the same
when they chose collaborators to succeed them in their ministry. The college of
bishops, with whom the priests are united in the priesthood, makes the college
of the twelve an ever-present and ever-active reality until Christ’s return. The
Church recognizes herself to be bound by this choice made by the Lord Himself.
For this reason the ordination of women is not possible.

This in itself actually explains it very well, but for the purposes of clarity I'll elaborate. Most of the arguments I've heard for the ordination of women priests fall into two categories:
1. Women should be equal to men in everything.
2. Jesus didn't choose women as priests because of the current Jewish climate.

Now firstly, I am by no means an anti-feminist; but this argument really hacks me off. There are plenty of ways in which men and women are not equal. Yes, there are battles that need fighting: there is unequal pay, and unfair treatment of rape victims, and sexual discrimination. But I think this is an incredibly worldy argument, for what is an incredibly spiritual question.

For instance, many people say (and in many ways I'm inclined to agree) that intercourse is a valuable - even vital - part of a serious relationship. Ergo everyone should be having sex or their relationships aren't worthwhile. Never mind the people who choose to abstain; never mind the scores of generations who abstained out of fear of pregnancy... Apparently without sex a relationship is not a relationship.

Well pardon me, but hard as celibacy is, and as detrimental as it might be in the short term, if Our Lord me to do it then I think at the very least I should damn well give it a try. I may stumble, I may fall, I may fail. But at the very least I will try to stick by the rules - just turning around and saying Well he didn't mean it isn't really an option.

Similarly here I feel the same can be said. Maybe men and women should be equal in every respect in this world (I don't actually think they should but that's just more controversy so let's simplify this) - but when have Christians ever lived by the laws of this world? When have we ever said it's ok to lie, or cheat, or screw people over? (NB not trying to imply that Christians are any more holy than anyone else - but there's generally more of an attempt not to even tell white lies, for instance). If God says that women can't be priests then no wordly argument about women having the right to stand equal will sway me on this point.

Secondly, and perhaps quite similarly, since when did JESUS live by the rules of 1st century Israel? This idea that He would disregard women as priests because He was worried they wouldn't be accepted... Well let's see:
1. Jesus had some very close women followers who He already treated essentially equally to the men. And yet he chose none of them - not his mother, or Mary of Magdalene or the women at Bethany - to be among the twelve.
2. Jesus consorted with tax collectors, and lepers, and "sinners". He was not afraid of accepting and bringing close to Him people that others had rejected. Priesthood was not given out as a reward for doing well (after all His priests included Peter - who denied him - and Thomas - who denied his resurrection) it was given to the Twelve for a reason.
3. A number of other religions at the time had priestesses - the idea was not completely alien.

I really REALLY don't like the idea that Jesus might have just "made a mistake" or conformed to the times because it was convenient. If He wanted women as priests, then either He would have just made them anyway or He would have come at a different time, to a different place. The work of Our Lord is not happenstance or random. It is all part of His plan, and I don't think we can do much better than to follow that plan.