Reflections on the Sunday Readings for 11/16/08 by Dawn

You can find all of this week's Scripture at www.usccb.org/nab/111608.shtml

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 works with loving 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 for her labors,
and let her works praise her at the city gates.
(Prv 31:10-13, 19-20, 30-31)

I suppose that some members of the feminist movement might not like this passage so much. However, when I hear this passage I think of all the women I have met in my life who this depicts. My mother, my grandmother, a few other role models I have met along the journey. Mostly, though, I think of Monica Greene, or Monnie, as I always called her. Monnie and Chuck, her husband, were an older couple my parents met when they were first married. I think of her because these verses perfectly describe her. When I was little we spent a lot of time at their house. I have the happiest memories of playing cards with Monnie, thanks to her generous nature, I seem to have one a lot!

I don't recall her talking too much about God or religion, but I knew that her faith was of the utmost importance to her. She always went to Mass and prayed the Rosary, but there was much more. She had a wonderful sense of humor, but at the same time, such a sense of reverence when the time was appropriate. I think that I first learned what it meant to be holy be being at Monnie's side. Little comments she made, or things she did taught me the difference. Every Sunday there would be a priest or two over to her house for dinner. It wasn't unusual for her to have a whole houseful of religious men and women when you stopped by. Monnie was a woman who "feared the Lord" and everyone knew it.

Monnie was the best cook I knew. Whenever you walked in her house you could smell something delicious. But it wasn't all for her family. She was generous beyond belief. Whenever you visited her, you left her house with an armful of some wonderful treasure - from homemade jam to some delicious cookies - it was awesome. She also freely gave of her time. She took care of her aging mother, who wasn't the easiest person to get along with, and would give anything she could to those in need. The people of St Vincent de Paul Church in Churchville were very fortunate to have her as a volunteer.

This passage from Proverbs refers to the woman who puts her hand to the distaff - I had to look up what that was - a distaff is a tool used in spinning wool into yarn. While Monnie didn't spin, she was a magnificent seamstress. I still have a few of the clothes she made for me when I was a child, they are more well made than anything you could buy in the store. She and her sister would spend hours sewing and, again, what they were making was not usually for them, but for someone else who could benefit from them.

I remember thinking of this passage at her funeral. The church was full of people who had loved and been loved by Monnie. As the last line of the reading says: "let her works praise her at the city gates". In life she would have never allowed the tribute that was given to her, but there, members of the community and people from all walks of life praised her for all the good she had done.

All this is not to say that if you don't do what is described in the passage, that you are a failure (I know just as many wonderful women who are not married and who don't know the first thing about sewing!). But it does have value in showing that if we're willing to share them, God uses all of our gifts and talents (see Gospel), for the building of his Kingdom.


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