An Imbalance in the Lectionary

I've been a volunteer youth minister for 15 years now. I lead a weekly meeting which is half Bible Study and half discussion group. I've tried different formats for Bible Study over the years. Sometimes we'll read about some topic the kids ask about. Other times we'll make our way through a book of the Bible one paragraph at a time. Lately I've just been following the lectionary. In doing that I've noticed something that kinda bothers me.

The New Testament has a ton of moral imperatives for its readers. Most of these are for everyone. But there are a handful of sections which are directed at men and husbands specifically. And likewise there are some parts directed at women and wives. Among those would be:

• Timothy 2:8-15
• 1Peter 3:1-7
• Ephesians 5:21-33
• Titus 2:1-8
• Col 3:18-19

So, what does the lectionary do when it comes to these? Well, 1Peter 2 and Titus 2 are not covered. The other three are.... sorta.

The 1Timothy 2 passage is covered in Year Con the 25th Sunday of Ordinary Time. But there the lectionary does a curious thing. The reading includes the part where Paul exhorts the men in his audience to not raise up their hands for fighting, but for praise and worship. Then the reading abruptly ends, cutting off the part where Paul exhorts the women to not adorn themselves in fineries, but instead to cover themselves in virtue and good deeds.

Ephesians 5 is covered in Year 8 on the 21" Sunday of Ordinary Time. In that one the whole passage is available to read. I say available because there is an option where it trims out the three sentences written to women. Now sometimes an optional reading is given in the lectionary to cut a long reading down to a more compact reading. So you're reading one paragraph instead of three. But in this instance it is clear we're not cutting out those passages for time, but because of the subject matter.

Something similar happens with Colossians 3. That one is read on the feast of the holy family. So it makes sense that the passage was chosen for its words to husbands and wives. However, the optional reading strikes again. The lectionary lets you slice out the part where it addresses husbands and wives so that yet again the forbidden words do not have the reach the ears of the laity.

So the end result is that if you go to mass for three years straight you will absolutely hear preaching to men about the virtues they need to pursue and how they should act in their marriage. And you'll probably hear it preach on, because it isn't controversial at all to tell husbands they are supposed to provide for their families and love their wives with perfect self-sacrificial love.

You MIGHT hear something in the readings telling women about their role, or maybe not. You certainly won't hear t preached on, because let's face it-most priests don't want the headache. That, I think, has led to some issues in Catholic culture where men are accustomed to being told what virtues they need to pursue and what their duties are in marriage and that's fair enough. We should. But it leaves a big question mark when it comes to what women should be doing and what's expected of them and any attempt to fill in those questions marks is seen as out of bounds.

But that's what I wanted to remark on today