I recently listened to an excellent talk by a theologian and apologist on St. Paul’s Ephesians 5 verse to husbands and wives. It was very refreshing to hear a scholar take on the topic in such a clear and frank yet charitable manner. So as you would guess, he’s also from Louisiana. His name is Brant Pitre, and you can download the talk at this link Wives Do What? I have been disappointed that many apologists have skirted this topic over and over again as well as Priests and catechists, so I appreciate that at least one has finally had the courage to adequately cover the topic.
Toward the end of the talk Dr. Pitre gives some real life explanation and some of his own experience. He shared something from a parish marriage program where a particular gentleman offered his experience from having counseled married couples over the years. He said that in virtually all circumstances the husbands’ #1 complaint about their wives was that they did not respect him. She tears him down, despises him, and cuts him to pieces with her tongue. The #1 complaint of the wives toward their husbands was that he never chooses her. He always chooses something over her whether it’s football, money (work), pornography, or
another woman. He never chooses her. Dr. Pitre cleverly links this scenario and sampling back to St. Paul’s instruction: Wives be submissive to your husbands (respect him), and husbands love your wives as Christ loves the Church (choose her), as though St. Paul has known the most common ways men and women fail each other in marriage.
So men, let’s ask ourselves, what are we choosing over our wives? How do we spend our time? What’s our time commitment to our wives? Are we using them for our own gain or selfish purposes? Do we have them taking care of our responsibilities, so that we can use our time on selfish interests?
Another point Dr. Pitre makes is that men don’t know how to be men today. He calls on the ladies to pray for us. That’s great, but men also need instruction and mentoring. Our upcoming video series is going to answer that call. The series currently being assembled will be called Resurrecting Manhood Today. We live in a unique time in history, and manhood is lived out in a unique set of circumstances. So stay tuned, and let your family and friends know what will be coming up.
God bless you+
