NOT my choice, actually...

Some of you might recall Father Terry mentioning the readings we chose for mass and noting specifically that he could tell that I had chosen the first one, due to certain substance the message conveyed.

Well, I wish I could have corrected him at the time, but that might've ruined the moment I'm afraid. The first reading we chose was NOT the one from the Book of Sirach, as he had chosen to do instead. We chose the following reading from the Book of Proverbs:

When one finds a worthy wife,
her value is far beyond pearls.
Her husband, entrusting his heart to her,
has an unfailing prize.
She brings him good, and not evil,
all the days of her life.
She obtains wool and flax
and makes cloth with skillful hands.
She puts her hands to the distaff,
and her fingers ply the spindle.
She reaches out her hands to the poor,
and extends her arms to the needy.
Charm is deceptive and beauty fleeting;
the woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Give her a reward of her labors,
and let her works praise her at the city gates.

The funny thing was that when my sister Wendy saw the reading that she was told she was supposed to read, she said, "This isn't right. Jennifer would never pick this." My coordinator came to the limo where I was waiting to walk down the aisle and told me what was up. I told her that I didn't know if anything could be done about it at that point...it was a couple of minutes before the wedding was set to begin. I don't know if anyone ever communicated the mistake to Father, and since he'd already set his homily around it, it's not like anything could have been changed anyway.

But I wanted to set the record straight. While I can appreciate the undercurrent of sentiment behind the Book of Sirach reading, I never would have chosen something that stated so specifically that a woman is some sort of present that's being GIVEN to the man she's chosen to marry. And then when it goes on to say that, "A gracious wife delights her husband..." etc, etc...without ever saying anything about how a husband returns the favor of "delighting" his wife? Well, call me a feminist, but doesn't that seem a bit archaic of an idea? Especially one for ME to conform to? I know it's the Old Testament we're talking about here, but that's why I didn't like that reading.

Anyway, that's the story behind that. Shoulda been a different reading, but everything went beautifully anyway. Yay!