Protect Your Wife

In the beginning, Adam was ordained with the mission to protect his sinless, virgin, wife, Eve.
Yet, he failed.
Where was Adam during that decisive moment of temptation, when the serpent pressed his doubts and allurements upon the soul of Eve?
In the sacred text we discover an answer: “And she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat, and gave it to her husband who did eat” (Gen 3:6).
Adam was there, present next to Eve, a silent witness and accomplice to evil.
Adam allowed Eve to be exposed to the devil’s cunning wiles.

From this we discover two common errors men make in their relationship to women:

1. Silently allowing the devil to use, objectify and manipulate woman

2. Exposing woman to the lusts and abuse of men, and benefitting from it

The worldly man, the fleshly man initially benefits from these errors.
Yet, in the long run, women do not respect or respond to such a man.

The strength that a man believes he has by using a woman, becomes his weakness.
Believing that she is a slave to him, he becomes enslaved by his disordered passion for her.
Women desire men who use their strength to protect them, rather than neglect them.

At the beginning of the New Testament, a sinless, virgin woman did not take the “forbidden fruit” from a tree, in hopes to be “like God,” but rather she received God made flesh, the fruit of her womb, which eventually hung on a tree.

Joseph, a type of Adam, though uncertain of the origin of Mary’s pregnancy, could have exposed her secret to the scrutiny, judgment, and condemnation of the Nazarene villagers and synagogue priests.

Yet, Joseph does what the old Adam did not: he became the Custos, the guardian of woman.
St. Joseph refused to expose Mary to judgment.
Joseph refused to condemn his wife due to the possibility of her innocence.
Within his spirit was a sliver of hope that a divine mystery was occurring in the Virgin’s womb, and therefore he was unwilling to expose the possibility of such a sacred mystery to incredulous, doubting men.

You, as a husband, will experience the perennial temptation to expose your wife’s shortfalls, failings, imperfections, intimacies, and internal mystery to others; to partake of her fruit and then expose her to the shame of men.

You, however, are to be like St. Joseph, a Custos, guardian, protector of your wife’s sacred mystery and God-given dignity.

This is the mark of a New Adam: he upholds the dignity of woman by protecting her from the devil.

Indeed, the evil one wants woman to expose herself for the purpose of obtaining disordered male gratification.
You are to shield your wife from this temptation by loving her not for what she looks like or what she can give you—but for who she is.

St. Joseph became the Custos, the guardian of Mary, and of Christ. . . And of you.
He wants you to clearly understand and know that he is your protector, your guardian, your guide, and your spiritual father.
His intercession gives us new hope and trust in God.
Even if you feel that you are not staying the course, return to St. Joseph and let him lead you.

—St. Joseph, my guardian and guide, pray for me to protect woman.