The first reading at Mass for today’s memorial of St. Monica was from Sirach and it made me think of Melanie.
Blessed the husband of a good wife, twice-lengthened are his days;
A worthy wife brings joy to her husband, peaceful and full is his life.
A good wife is a generous gift bestowed upon him who fears the LORD;
Be he rich or poor, his heart is content, and a smile is ever on his face.A gracious wife delights her husband, her thoughtfulness puts flesh on his bones;
A gift from the LORD is her governed speech, and her firm virtue is of surpassing worth.
Choicest of blessings is a modest wife, priceless her chaste soul.
A holy and decent woman adds grace upon grace; indeed, no price is worthy of her temperate soul.
Like the sun rising in the LORD’s heavens, the beauty of a virtuous wife is the radiance of her home. (Sirach 26:1-4, 13-16)
She is all that and more. She is the greatest blessing I have received from God.
Meanwhile, Father also drew an allegory between the wife of the reading and the Church. The Church is a “blessing” for Christ, i.e. she glorifies Him. Very nice image. And the beauty of her virtue is the radiance of her home, which is the altar upon which the Sacrifice of Calvary is offered. Excellent.
Incidentally, I’m always curious about the stuff that’s left out of readings, in this case verses 5-12. Yeah, I could see why they wouldn’t read that at Mass. Sirach wasn’t mincing words.
+ Heh. Interesting how women want to be taken seriously, but would seethe at the missing words here. Men have some atrocious attributes that are bandied about with abandon, but comparing a bad wife to grabbing a scorpion just doesn’t fly in the modern parlance. Maybe because men know better than to mess with …
Dom, now that you work for the Archdiocese, are you going to morning Mass at St. John’s Seminary? If so, who said Mass this morning?
No, I go to the noon Mass in the chancery. The celebrant today was Fr. Dan Hennessey.
You’d think the bad wife would be the one that makes a man’s days seem twice as long.
No, the bad wife make it seem like your life is twice as long, but the good wife actually delivers long life.
Congratulations, Dom. You have indeed found the pearl beyond price—next to the Lord Himself, naturally. (Pretty sure Melanie feels the same-sounds like it when she writes about you.) May God bless you both, and your children with you. I can hardly wait till the next Bettinelli makes his/her appearance. Praying for you all.