In today’s Gospel reading from Luke 13, Jesus tells two short parables about the Kingdom of God. The first compares the Kingdom to a mustard seed, the other to yeast. Our first reading today from Ephesians 5 is one of the most misunderstood passages in all of the New Testament.
“Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is head of his wife just as Christ is head of the Church, he himself savior of the Body. As the Church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything.”
In recent times, this passage has been degraded as being "patriarchal." Nonsense. This reading equates the union of husband and wife to that of Christ and the Church. It alludes to the total, self-donating, self-giving love that husbands and wives must have for one another. It does not imply anything demeaning or degrading at all! When we have a greater understanding what St. Paul really means here, then we should have no fear of proclaiming this from the housetops!
Father, bless marriages. Help husbands and wives be subject to one another, as the Church is to Christ, and He to His bride. Amen.
LOL. As usual, you are spot on Gus! When I read this passage this morning, I immediately thought of Fr. Flynn. He was our former pastor and often facilitated to first session of our Pre-Cana program.
This was one of his favorite passages to read to the engaged couples. I can still hear him ask the ladies to be patient and the guys to enjoy it while they can.
He would pause for a bit after the “wives should be subordinate to their husbands” to allow the young men to revel in it – and then step back, point to the crucifix, and inform the guys that “that is YOUR role.”
It is through this mutual love and respect that the two become one – just as my bride of 30 years and I have. Our biggest disagreement is that she still can’t accept that I am the luckier one!
God bless!