Father Stephen Hamilton at the Catholic Ragemonkey blog has an excellent post about Sunday's (8/27/06) New Testament reading. If you went to Mass, you might not have heard the whole thing. If you heard the part beginning with "Husbands, love your wives..." and were left wondering whether St. Paul has something to say to wives, well, he does. So if you didn't hear the whole thing yesterday, open your Bible to the Letter of St. Paul to the Ephesians Chapter 5 verse 21, and read from there to verse 32, or click to get "the big picture" from the USCCB website.
The reading explains that husbands and wives are to be subordinate to one another, then goes on to explain how this "mutual subjection" should manifest itself. A wife is to be subject to her husband, and a husband is to love his wife, giving himself up for her, as Christ gave Himself up for the Church. Thus, the relationship between a husband and wife reveals something of the "great mystery" of Christ the Bridegroom and His Church His Bride.
This is a hard teaching for several reasons, the least of which is our 21st century sensitivity ("wives be subject..."). This teaching is hard, as Mark Shea writes, "for the reason stated by Paul's master: we must die in order to live." Much could be said on this topic (and has been said, I will add some links below so you can read more), but I am just going to stick to how my heart is coming to accept this teaching. Read the extended portion of this post for more. I also am including links to some helpful articles on the matter. I'm sure I'm rambling, but this is just where I am right now.
Continue reading ""This is a hard saying; who can listen to it?"" »