Shin - In a normal economy, I would say that what you say is generally appropriate. The father does have a responsibility to provide for his family, and the mother should stay home with the children. In an ideal world.
(Unfortunately, we are not living in an ideal world right now economically speaking.)
…
I want a priest that understands reality. Not a priest that lives in some fantasy world and has no comprehension of what families are going through right now.
The FSSP priest that gave this sermon on this subject is so out of touch on this point, it’s pathetic.
This idea that the priest can humiliate his congregation over what - as far as I can tell - is most emphatically NOT Church doctrine (correct me if I am wrong), is absolutely ridiculous and flies totally in face of economic realities for many hard-working families.
St. Gerard Majella, wrongly accused by a lay woman of ill-repute, pray for us.
I am correcting you for being wrong. Yes, it is Church doctrine that the proper role of the wife is to be submissive and see the to upbringing of the children, while the husband is to love his wife and provide for the material well-being of the family (that does not mean he is not to care for his children and see to their education, etc., but that it is not his primary role). The Council of Trent so far assumes this that it says that the wife
should not even presume to leave the house without her husband’s consent:
To train their children in the practice of virtue and to pay particular attention to their domestic concerns should also be especial objects of their [wives’] attention. The wife should love to remain at home, unless compelled by necessity to go out; and she should never presume to leave home without her husband’s consent.
The entire section is relevant:
The Duties of Married People
The more easily to preserve the holy state (of marriage) from dissensions, the duties of husband and wife as inculcated by St. Paul and by the Prince of the Apostles must be explained.
Duties Of A Husband
It is the duty of the husband to treat his wife generously and honourably. It should not be forgotten that Eve was called by Adam his companion. The woman, he says, whom thou gavest me as a companion. Hence it was, according to the opinion of some of the holy Fathers, that she was formed not from the feet but from the side of man; as, on the other hand, she was not formed from his head, in order to give her to understand that it was not hers to command but to obey her husband.
The husband should also be constantly occupied in some honest pursuit with a view to provide necessaries for the support of his family and to avoid idleness, the root of almost every vice.
He is also to keep all his family in order, to correct their morals, and see that they faithfully discharge their duties.
Duties Of A Wife
On the other hand, the duties of a wife are thus summed up by the Prince of the Apostles: Let wives be subject to their husbands. that if any believe not the word, they may be won without the word by the conversation of the wives, considering your chaste conversation with fear. Let not their adorning be the outward plaiting of the hair, or the wearing of gold, or the putting on of apparel: but the hidden man of the heart in the incorruptibility of a quiet and meek spirit, which is rich in the sight of God. For after this manner heretofore the holy women also, who trusted in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands, as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling hint lord.
To train their children in the practice of virtue and to pay particular attention to their domestic concerns should also be especial objects of their attention. The wife should love to remain at home, unless compelled by necessity to go out; and she should never presume to leave home without her husband’s consent.
Again, and in this the conjugal union chiefly consists, let wives never forget that next to God they are to love their husbands, to esteem them above all others, yielding to them in all things not inconsistent with Christian piety, a willing and ready obedience.
All that being said, I’m fairly certain that I have attended the same parish and heard the same sermons from the same priest. Your representation of what he said here is deplorable–or, to give you the benefit of the doubt, you clearly did not comprehend what he was saying.
He has specifically mentioned in sermons that there can be extraordinary circumstances in which it
could become necessary for the wife to work, but this is only after the husband cannot provide within reason for the financial
needs of the family. Needs do no include a television (much less a satellite dish), nice car, large house in the suburbs, the latest fashion in clothes, iPhone, Internet, etc., etc., etc. It is not right for a family to abandon its proper order in order to accumulate the mammon that we cannot serve to save our souls.
Much more could be said, but I just want to be clear that no one who reads this thread misunderstands the preaching of the FSSP at large or in particular here. I think it should be more than enough just to re-read the tone of your own messages, and anyone will see that you are approaching this situation emotionally and not rationally, a sure sign that your complaints are exaggerated.
