Would it be wrong for a wife to spend all her time in church and praying with
various groups and in this way not taking care of her husband and children?
Certainly it wrong for her, as you describe the situation. People who have a secular vocation must strive to find God's will for them in the work their vocation assigns them to do. However, some prayer should be usually possible even in the busiest kinds of lives. What the wife you write about needs is a proper balance in her life and sometimes this is best achieved by finding and following a good spiritual director. A priest who hears confessions can sometimes indicate where such a director could be found. I would recommend also that if there is a quarrel about these things in your family, you read together the last part of the Catechism of the Catholic Church, from number 2558 on.
Reprinted from December 10, 1999