Sirach 25:13-18. Sirach is warning his son about the treachery of a wicked wife. He says he would take any wound, but not a wound of the heart; any wickedness, except that of a wife. There is no venom worse than a snake's venom and no wrath worse than an enemy's. He would rather live with a lion and a dragon than with an evil wife. Wickedness changes a wife's appearance - it darkens her face, and her husband takes his meals with neighbors, sighing bitterly.

Even though Sirach is talking to his son, and therefore talking about wives, this can obviously be applied to both husbands and wives. But, as a woman, and a wife, I have to ask myself if this honestly has more application to me as a wife. In my experience, if I am honest with myself, women (including me), can be very "wicked" when we are angered. We turn on people more quickly and ruthlessly. It may be because we are generally more emotional than men. I know I can be and have been extremely hurtful to my husband when I am hurt or angry. While he has been angry with me as well, of course, if I am honest, it is not with the same kind of venom that I have.

A sassy woman I used to visit in a nursing home once told me in conversation that women should be in charge of the world and then there would be no wars. Later, in the same conversation, she warned me to watch out for the wife of a male friend saying "women can be ruthless." I said "would these be the same women who would never start a war?" I think that summarizes my thoughts on this reading. It's not that one sex is "better" than the other, or more wicked than the other, but just that we handle things differently.

That is a good thing, we need each other's differences! But I have to admit that Sirach has a point when warning his son about a wicked wife - her wrath can be worse than anything!