Tuesday of the Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
(Ephesians 5:21-33; Luke 10:18-21)
The Church, wanting to feel the “joys and hopes” of the
people, has sometimes blushed over today’s first reading. In our world so concerned about equality, how
could it defend the biblical injunction, “… wives should be subordinate to
their husbands in everything”? In order
not to deal with the passage, some preachers find another reading to comment
upon. Others brazenly dismiss the
passage as a cultural anachronism. Both strategies,
however, fail to appreciate the Scripture as revelation of God’s will.
It must be said that in New Testament times a husband had
rights that a woman lacked. In Jewish
law, for example, a man was allowed to divorce his wife without a reciprocal
provision. Our reading from Ephesians,
in contrast, shows parity between the two.
It begins by stating, “Be subordinate to one another out of reverence
for Christ.” The reading also speaks of complementary
obligations. Women are to submit to
their husbands (granted, in things not sinful).
Men must love their wives as Christ loved the Church. In other words, men must love their wives more
than their own physical lives!
Rather than rejecting this passage, we should embrace
it. It indicates the critical difference
between Church and society. The difference
is found in how members come together in love.
In society a man and a woman submit themselves to one another for mutual
satisfaction. In the Church a husband
and a wife subordinate themselves to one another for mutual growth in love for
God and each other.
