I decided to listen to both of these talks by Dr. Brandt Pitre as I was exploring resources to help my son prepare for his upcoming wedding.
Jesus the Bridegroom:
The Greatest Love Story Ever Told
In Jesus the Bridegroom, Dr. Pitre’s down to earth speaking style really helps explain the covenant relationship between God and his people and how that is reflected between a bride and a groom. The alert listener will come to understand why the Church values Holy Matrimony the way it does
To be sure, most Christians are familiar with the apostle Paul’s teaching that Christ is the 'Bridegroom’ and the Church is the 'Bride’. But what does this really mean? And what would ever possess Paul to compare the death of Christ to the love of a husband for his wife? If you would have been at the Crucifixion, with Jesus hanging there dying, is that how you would have described it? How could a first-century Jew like Paul, who knew how brutal Roman crucifixions were, have ever compared the execution of Jesus to a wedding? And why does he refer to this as the “great mystery” (Ephesians 5:32)?
Pitre explains that the key to unlocking this mystery can be found by going back to Jewish Scripture and tradition and seeing the entire history of salvation, from Mount Sinai to Mount Calvary, as a divine love story between Creator and creature, between God and Israel, between Christ and his bride—a story that comes to its climax on the wood of a Roman cross.
This talk is available from Lighthouse Catholic Media as an MP3 download or on a CD for only $3.00. Hurry, this special wedding season pricing expires on July 15th!
Be sure to use the promo code 104534 when ordering from Lighthouse Catholic Media and support Burning Hearts Disciples.
Wives Do What?!
Ephesians 5 & St. Paul's Life-Changing Vision of the Christian Family
In Wives do WHAT?! Dr. Pitre helps the lay Catholic understand how a 1st century Jew would understand this controversial message from St. Paul.
One of the most controversial lines ever written belongs to the Apostle Paul, when he wrote: “Wives, be submissive to your husbands, as to the Lord” (Ephesians 5:22). In modern times, this single line has earned Saint Paul the hatred of radical feminists everywhere, as well as the embarrassment of many Christians who do not understand what he meant. Because of this teaching, Paul has been called a misogynist, a male-chauvinist, and worse.
For Catholics, the writings of Saint Paul are not just the opinions of one ancient Jewish Rabbi from which we can pick and choose. They are the inspired Word of God, in which “everything asserted by the sacred author must be held to be asserted by the Holy Spirit” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #107). If this is true, then we have to ask: What is God trying to teach us in Ephesians 5? What does it mean when the Holy Spirit inspires to Paul to teach that wives should be “submissive” to their husbands?
In this talk, Dr. Pitre pushes aside what the modern person hears and explains what St. Paul was really trying to say. Essentially, a husband’s mission and duty is to get his wife and children to heaven. A wife’s duty is to support her husband’s mission.
I highly recommend every husband and wife listen or watch this talk to come to a new understanding of what God calls us to do in our married vocation. This talk is available from Catholic Productions as a CD, DVD, or MP3.
Prefer to read a book?
Jesus the Bridegroom: The Greatest Love Story Ever Told
is available in hardcover, paperback, or Kindle at Amazon.