Huff Post: Think of the Apostles and what images come to mind? Chances are it is of some gray-bearded men, advanced in years — in their fifties perhaps, or even substantially older. If it is St. Paul you are conjuring up, he probably looks intense, thin, wide-eyed. And if it is St. Peter you have in mind, no doubt his hair has gone all silver, as has his beard, older in appearance but not frail. And the other Apostles? What images come to mind? Again, older men, single, unattached from family and loved ones, men who have renounced all earthly pleasure in service to an other-worldly ideal.
Now, try to picture the wives of the Apostles. Can you bring any images to mind? I wager that task is more difficult. In all those old sword-and-sandal films from the 1950s and 1960s, I do not recall a single depiction of an Apostle’s wife. So it comes as a shock to realize that these men were not single celibates, traversing the Mediterranean in lonely solitude, but married men who for the most part likely traveled in retinues that included their wives.
What evidence do we have that allows, even demands, that we rethink our old understanding, the sanctified, sanitized version passed down to us by Hollywood and a thousand holy cards? None other than the testimony of St. Paul, the witness of the Gospel writers, the Acts of the Apostles, and the traditions of the early Church.
Categories: Americas, Behaviour, Belief, Bigotry, Catholic Church, Catholicism, Double Standard, Uncategorized