The reading from Proverbs is a selection of verses from the closing section of the Book. These verses deal with the ideal wife. Though nowadays many people will not resonate with this picture of an ideal wife, our Catholic faith will reaffirm that "the woman who fears the Lord is to be praised", where "fear" is not servile fear but a deep reverence towards God, towards all of God's gifts, including the gift of one's very own self. This doctrine is reaffirmed in more general terms in the response to the Psalm: "Happy are those who fear the Lord". This happiness is not a mere emotion but a whole way of life. Happiness is the most wholesome way of life and is intimately related with the vocation to holiness which we all receive from God. Thus, echoing the book of Proverbs, the Psalm insists on the interconnection between fidelity to God and marital bliss. No doubt married people who are totally faithful to God will suffer as anyone else does, but there will be a special peace and joy, a special bliss, available to them in the midst of whatever suffering does come. All of us, in whatever state of life we live, ought to pray unceasingly for these gifts of God