The Weaker Vessel

Ye husbands, likewise dwelling with them according to knowledge, giving honour to the female as to the weaker vessel, and as to the co-heirs of the grace of life: that your prayers be not hindered.  1 Peter 3:7

There are always bits and pieces of Holy Scripture that makes us cringe a little.  This is no exception, except it makes society cringe.  "What do you mean women are weak?!"  

I've heard many different explanations of this phrase ranging from the absurd to the practical on different sides of the religious spectrum.

The most absurd I've heard from secularists is that the author of 1 Peter is a misogynist. 

The most absurd I've heard from Christians is that women are vapid, weak, dumb, emotional, and flippant compared to men.  

Other, more practical explanations include:

1.  Women are generally physically, muscularly weaker than men.
2.  In the society of the time (and of history at large) women were seen as property or as lesser citizens than men, making them more vulnerable.
3.  Women's reproductive biology, especially before modern menstrual products and medical care, made them more vulnerable.
4.  We are overall more bodily delicate, more affected by the elements, our skin is thinner, etc.

I think the Bible verse can mean the above 4 explanations, but, ultimately, these verses are about one spouse being a believer and the other spouse not being a believer!  If you start at the beginning of the chapter, St. Peter is telling wives how they might be witness and win over their husbands to Christ.  Then, he begins to say to husbands, "ye, likewise..." 

The weaker vessel isn't necessarily women in general, but the unbelieving spouse!!!!

Another thing I've noticed is that some translations call the woman the weaker vessel, but others say "as unto the weaker vessel" or "as to the weaker vessel."  That's a tiny difference that makes a big change.  

Read it with these Catholic glasses on, that the weaker vessel isn't women in general, but rather the unbelieving spouse.  See how this section of Scripture jumps to life and understanding more!

Sign of the Cross

You know how children will be playing or going about life and then they come running to their mother or father and give them a hug before running back into their childhood activities?  That's what the sign of the cross feels like to me, sometimes.  

It's like those moments of needing to check in with my Father, my family, before I return to going about my life.  

Sometimes, it's just an expression of love I want to share.

Sometimes, I need reassurance.

Sometimes, I need to feel safe.

 

Act of the Will

 

I'm tired.  Very tired.

I cried out to God this morning for so many things that are heaped upon me to the point of near despair in some cases.  Before leaving the prayer, I was still so heavy-hearted and didn't want to feel like that the whole day.  The Bible verse, "This is the day the Lord has made.  I will rejoice and be glad in it," came to mind.  As I said it out loud, I emphasized "will."  

Whenever I said it before, I said it almost like an incantation, as if saying it enough would magically make me rejoice and be glad.  This time, with the emphasis on "will," I realized it takes a choice, a decision, an act of the will to rejoice and be glad.  This isn't something that comes from without that makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside.  This is an active choice from within my own will to recognize the wonderful works of the Lord to the praise and glorify Him, to be glad of Him despite all the troubles and external influences bothering me.  

And, no, it isn't easy.  Everything in me wants to curl up and sleep until I feel better, but I have a full day ahead of me, a full weekend ahead of that, and a full week beyond that, and a full summer flowing into an even more full autumn and winter.  I have an exceptionally busy Lent next year, too.  But, I can see the day for what it is, a day the Lord has made.  And I am so glad He made it.  I am so glad I can cast all my cares on Him, just chuck them down at the foot of the cross and run to Him with gladness.

Considering My Ways

 

This morning, after another busy, stressful day yesterday, and after another terrible night's sleep last night, I woke up later than I intended, still tired, feeling a little sick, with another hugely busy, stressful day ahead of me.  

As I trudged to the bathroom I felt a heaviness on my heart that I'm often too busy to pray and devote myself to the Lord.  And when I do have some time, I'm often too tired.  If I start to pray, my mind wanders in every direction because of the mental load and fatigue, or a fall asleep.  

The saying, "we prioritize what is truly important to us," came into my mind, and my reply was, "I WANT to prioritize my Christian walk, but I can't as well as I'd like because the world makes me prioritize work, the kids' schooling, paying bills, keeping the house clean, etc."  The world has so many demands that I can't ignore because it's ILLEGAL.  I'll get in trouble if I don't get a vehicle registered and insured.  I'll get in trouble if I don't pay my taxes or educate my children.  I'll lose my job if I'm lax is going to work.  My family will suffer if the house is filthy and healthy foods aren't made.  Surely, God understands.

He does understand, and yet there's that twinge in my conscience.

When I wanted to just scroll my phone mindlessly, I grabbed my Douay Bible, instead and randomly opened it to Aggeus (this particular Bible is over 100 years old, so modern or Protestant Bibles would have Haggai).  In Chapter 1 the Lord says, "And now thus saith the Lord of hosts:  Set your hearths to consider your ways.  You have sowed much, and brought in little:  you have eaten, but have not had enough:  you have drunk, but have not been filled with drink:  you have clothe yourselves, but have not been warmed:  and he that hath earned wages , put them into a bag with holes....Set your hearths upon your ways."

The Lord goes on to tell them to go back to rebuilding the temple.  Finish what they started.  

In the historical notes in the preface to the Prophecy of Aggeus, it says that the temple was being rebuilt, but construction was stopped due to pressure from the Samaritans.  

This is one of those parallels in my life that is so blatantly obvious.  I love clear private revelations.  

Everything is exactly how I feel!  

You have sowed much, and brought in little.  I always feel like I work very VERY hard for what little gain I actually receive.  Even in my own gardens I feel like all the work comes back weeds and rocks and not a fruitful harvest, but this extends to every area of my life.

You have eaten, but have not had enough.  This is true.  I am so busy that oftentimes I just grab and go, or I eat quickly.  I'm eating, but I'm not feeling fulfilled.  There are even times I eat dinner, but not in gratitude and good health.  I eat it with the bitter disappointment that I have to clean it all up and I'm just so tired.  

You have drunk, but you have not been filled with drink.  I thirst for the Lord.  I thirst for so many good things.  I can grab sips here and there, but really, it gets away from me so quickly.  I feel like my walk with the Lord and a good, ordered life is like the bottle of water I set on the counter.  I intend to drink the whole thing, but find I'm too busy and only grab sips upon passing, only to see by the end of the night there's still half a bottle left and I haven't been properly hydrated.

You have clothed yourself, but you have not been warmed.  It does feel like I'm not protected.  It does feel like I'm open to oppression and chastisement.  It's like when I'm dressed in warm pajamas in my heated home and tucked under a thick comforter and I shiver and can't sleep because it feels like the cold is coming from within, like my bones are ice.  

And he that hath earned wages, put them into a bag with holes.  This is a big one.  I cannot, for the life of me, figure out why, despite working so hard, my husband and I always seem to struggle with money.  We live frugally, but there always seems to be problems, emergencies, expenses.   Put it this way:  My brother-in-law makes pretty much the same yearly wage as my husband, yet my sister can afford to stay home.  They have a nicer home, newer vehicles, a camper, and can afford vacations and camping trips.  We just seem to work to pay down debts and cover bills and expenses that never seem resolved.  I really does feel like we just put our wages into bags with holes.

The Lord goes on to say in Aggeus:  You have looked for more, and behold it became less, and you brought it home and I blowed it away:  why, saith the Lord of hosts?  because my house is desolate and you make haste every man to his own house.  Therefore the heavens over you were stayed from giving dew, and the earth was hindered from yielding her fruits:  And I called for a drought upon the land, and upon the mountains, and upon the corn, and upon the wine, and upon the oil, and upon all that the ground bringeth forth, and upon men, and upon beasts, and upon all the labour of the hands.

This is EXACTLY what it feels like in my life right now.  The more I seek, the less I find, it seems.  The Bible says that a good Father would not give His son a stone when he asks for bread, but I say that it feels like God not only gives me a stone, but throws it through my window!  

But why?  Why this chastisement?  Is it me?  Is it my husband?  Is it both of us?  As I type this out and examine myself, I feel a heaviness and sadness upon my own heart, but also a feeling of hopefulness and joy because I know the Lord is calling me out.  He is using this to bring me to Him.  I can't control my husband, and to some extent, my children.  But I can do something about me and my walk with the Lord.

A part of me doesn't understand.  After all, I'm the one who wants to follow the Lord.  I'm the one who goes to Mass, reads the Bible, listens to Catholic podcasts, prays, puts up iconography, tries, and yet I feel like I'm targeted and it brings me to how I felt while I was in the Assembly of God church, that it was "never enough."  But even as I type this, I feel bitterness in my heart.  That joy and hopefulness of the previous paragraph are gone.  That's a good clue as to what is of the Lord and what is not.

It isn't about all the things I do in the walk with Christ.  God knows.  He sees all that, just as He saw that they were trying to rebuild the temple and fear got in the way.  God is pulling me through and beyond all that.  He's calling me to take steps forward in faith.  It's not enough to stand on the foundation of an unfinished temple.  It's time to build again.  

Philippians 1:6  Being confident of this very thing, that he who hath begun a good work in you, will perfect it unto the day of Christ Jesus.

I feel like the Lord is telling me that I've been trying, like the foolish man, to build my way upon sand, and that's why it keeps washing away.  It's like I'm trying to build something myself and then I can invite the Lord in.  Instead, I need to build upon the Rock.  The Lord is the architect, not me.  He provides the plans,  the tools, and helps me grow in the skills.  His Church are fellow laborers.  

What Are We Doing?!

 

I was in my mid-30s, standing and singing in my pew during the worship service in an Assembly of God church, just as I had been doing since I was 4 years old.  Suddenly, I stopped singing and looked around the congregation.  I had this sudden and inexplicable feeling, almost like I woke up out of a trance or dream.  I looked at everyone singing along and raising hands.  I looked at the worship leader.  I had this thought that if a non-Christian came in from off the street they'd wonder why in the world these people were singing at each other!  I wondered, "what are we doing and why are we doing it?"

Every so often we evangelicals were reminded by our pastors or an evangelist that the way we conducted our church services was very much like how the early church did it.  However, I could not see the early church behaving as we did.  What we were doing seemed very modern and cultural.  As I looked back into church history I began to realize that it was indeed modern and cultural.  

But, that moment, that awakening out of the comfortable acceptance of "doing church" was the beginning of the end for me.  That was the moment I started questioning things.  

Worship Redefined

 

Evangelical Worship Service

"Catholic worship Mary," is a very common Protestant misunderstanding.

Once I understood the difference between worship and veneration, devotion to Mary wasn't as much of an issue for me.  However, when I tried to explain this to my evangelical family members I hit a brick wall.  I could not get them to budge on the issues and couldn't understand why until I overheard a conversation.

An evangelical, ex-Catholic, anti-Catholic family member used the word "worship" where honor or veneration was intended.  A light bulb came on for me.  I realized that to many evangelicals the words are direct synonyms.  It dawned on me that Catholics (and Christendom of antiquity) define worship differently.  

The Catholic definition is, according to Catholic Culture:

WORSHIP

Acknowledgment of another's worth, dignity, or superior position. In religion, worship is given either to God, and then it is adoration, or to the angels and saints, and it is called veneration. Divine worship actually includes three principal acts, namely adoration (or the recognition of God's infinite perfection), prayer or the asking for divine help, and sacrifice or the offering of something precious to God. Worship as veneration also has three principal forms, whereby the angels and saints are honored for their sanctity, asked to intercede before the divine Majesty, and imitated in their love and service of God. (Etym. Old English weorthscipe, honor, dignity, reverence: weorth, worth +ship.)

However, in evangelical churches, worship is simply the act of adoration of God, therefore, any show of adoration is an act of worship.  Veneration of Mary is thus an act of adoration, which is only reserved for God, and thus it is "Mary worship."  

The key difference, which you see in evangelical "worship services" is that there is no Holy Sacrifice of the Mass.  There is adoration and prayer.  If you want to get technical, that adoration and prayer are often considered the sacrifice, but it doesn't feel very sacrificial to be entertained with music and edgy sermons. 

Getting down to brass tacks, the problem with evangelicalism is that it is over-simplified.  They've over-simplified the definition of worship to the point that they actually cannot see the difference between latria and dulia.  This is why, no matter how you try to explain that Catholics don't worship Mary, they simply can't wrap their heads around the concept.