JUNE
When we first moved to California in 1970, we were befriended by a family with a very strong matriarch. I'll call her "June." June had characteristics of an untreated victim of sexual assault, probably at the hands of men in her family of origin. Her scripted story about her childhood and youth, was of an incorrupt virgin, who remained so in spite of her family's alcoholism. She eventually left home for bible college.
By old age, she projected a persona of power and self-confidence. Well known in some Evangelical circles, she was a gifted author. She led bible studies with other women. She was passionate about converting others, especially poorly catechized Catholics. Her former Catholic friends all had testimonies about how "June" had led them to "Christ," and away from the Church of Rome.
After a few years, my parents distanced themselves from "June" after encountering her hostile side.
The men in "June's" family either died or moved away. The women in her family were kept neatly under her control and were hostile towards her.
"June" was an overt narcissist.
JANE
In the mid eighties, my family was befriended by another woman. I'll call her "Jane." Jane made no secret of her sexual abuse at the hands of all of her brothers while she was growing up. She was divorced and had children, but rarely saw them. She was a highly accomplished career woman. In spite of her intelligence and professional accomplishments, she couldn't hold down a job. She kept getting terminated because she was not a team player. She eventually started her own business.
By old age, "Jane" was married to an alcoholic. She was a sort of sole-practicing "christian." None of the churches were good enough for her. She was a sea of disordered passions, inarticulately supporting many fringe causes. She loved to fight. What her "arguments" lacked in logic, she made up for in ardor. When people distanced themselves from her, she became a victim and responded with an emotional firestorm.
Again, my parents distanced themselves after a few years when it became too stressful to be around "Jane." She had no concept of personal boundaries. She also attempted to triangulate them into a scheme to trap one of their single male friends for her.
"Jane" was a covert narcissist.
Knowing the horrible childhoods these two women endured, could give us empathy for June and Jane. If they had chosen different paths and eventually come to a healed perspective, their lives could have been beautiful testimonies of God's power and redemption. Instead, both June and Jane became like Jezebel, the biblical archetype. Projecting their rage upon the male species, they loved to make eunuchs; emasculated men they could control. The men who escaped were forever slandered and demonized by them.
Out of all the scriptures, there were none so odious as Jezebel. She met her end by being thrown off a wall by eunuchs, presumably her own victims. She was then eaten by dogs; unclean animals in Israel.
(II Kings 9:30-37)
“More bitter than death I find the woman who is a hunter’s trap, who’s heart is a snare, whose hands are prison bonds. The one who pleases God will be delivered from her, but the one who displeases will be entrapped by her. “ (Ecclesiastes 7:26-27)
Jezebel's antithesis is the Virgin Mary, the Theotokos. the Mother of God.
Our Lady produced a man. Our Lord Jesus Christ was and is a complete man and all that means. Arguably, nobody loved Him more than she did. The last book of the Bible, the Apocalypse, portrays her as His Mother for all eternity (Chapter 12).
Our founding fathers, if they were christians, held a view of the Virgin Mary that she was only temporarily so. God utilized her, they believed, as a sort of incubator to bring forth the Son of God, after which she lived an ordinary life as a wife and mother of other children. In our time, our culture is reaping the end results of this error. Cultures cannot exist in a philosophical vacuum. If we reject the true Messiah and embrace a false one, then false beliefs come to infect that culture. The culture will then produce wounded caricatures of men and women, who employ harmful coping skills.
We must either choose Our Lord Jesus Christ and His Mother, or Jezebel. To not choose, is to choose Jezebel who is the default setting for our times.
The foundation of true Christology, and the remedy for the wounds inflicted by Jezebel is proper and fervent Marian devotion. The Rosary, with its scriptural meditations on the life of Christ, can be a powerful healing conduit of God's grace.
