A capable woman, who can find her? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life…
Sunday 33rd in Ordinary Time
PROVERBS 31:10-31
A capable woman, who can find her? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life.
She seeks wool and flax, and works with willing hands. She puts her hands to the distaff, and her hands hold the spindle.
She opens her hand to the poor and reaches out her hands to the needy.
Charm is deceitful, and beauty is vain, but a woman who fears the Lord is to be praised.
Give her of the fruit of her hands, and let her works praise her in the gates.
1 THESSALONIANS 5:1-6
Now concerning the times and the seasons, brothers and sisters, you have no need to have anything written to you. For you yourselves know perfectly well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.
When they say, “There is peace and security,” then sudden destruction will come upon them, as labor pains come upon a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.
But you, brothers and sisters, are not in darkness, for that day to surprise you like a thief. For you are all children of light and children of the day; we are not of the night or of darkness. So then let us not sleep, as others do, but let us keep awake and be sober.
THE FIRST TWO READINGS
These texts have little relation to each other. The praise of the woman from the Book of Proverbs is one of the best-known texts of the Old Testament. Within the patriarchal conception, where the man is the head of the family with all rights, a passionate praise of the woman as the soul of the home is made. It is a beautiful text, although full of the mentality of the time.
The reading from Thessalonians continues to develop the theme of death, with a catastrophic and sudden conception of the end, very typical also of the intellectual trend of the time.
It would be wise to change them for others more related to the message of the gospel, so central to the Good News. These could serve:
ISAIAH 58:4-11
“Is such the fast that I choose, a day to humble oneself? Is it to bow down the head like a bulrush, and to lie in sackcloth and ashes? Will you call this a fast, a day acceptable to the Lord?
Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of injustice, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover them, and not to hide yourself from your own kin?
If you remove the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, the speaking of evil, if you offer your food to the hungry and satisfy the needs of the afflicted, then your light shall rise in the darkness and your gloom be like the noonday. The Lord will guide you continually, and satisfy your needs in parched places, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters never fail.
1 JOHN 3:13
Do not be astonished, brothers and sisters, that the world hates you. We know that we have passed from death to life because we love one another. Whoever does not love abides in death.
We know love by this, that he laid down his life for us—and we ought to lay down our lives for one another. How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help?
José Enrique Galarreta, S.J.