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Theo Tigno•
10/26/2004 11:59 am
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Tuesday, October 26th 2004 |
Ephesians 5:21-33
Brothers and sisters: 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 the savior of the Body. As the Church is subordinate to Christ, so wives should be subordinate to their husbands in everything. Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her, cleansing her by the bath of water with the word, that he might present to himself the Church in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing, that she might be holy and without blemish. So also husbands should love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. For no one hates his own flesh but rather nourishes and cherishes it, even as Christ does the Church, because we are members of his Body.
For this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.
This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the Church. In any case, each one of you should love his wife as himself, and the wife should respect her husband.
Dawg's thought:
Today's prayer intention is for engaged couples, that God grants them grace to hear His word in patience and obedience.
For the next few weeks, we'll try to tie the daily reading with an awesome part of the Catechism of the Catholic Church: SIN (Part 3 - Life in Christ, Section 1 - Man's Vocation Life in the Spirit, Chapter 1 - The Dignity of the Human Person, Article 8)
1846. The Gospel is the revelation in Jesus Christ of God's mercy to sinners. The angel announced to Joseph: "You shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins." The same is true of the Eucharist, the sacrament of redemption: "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins."
Today's reading is one of the hardest readings for many to accept in this world today because everyone gets stuck on one line: "Wives should be subordinate to their husbands as to the Lord." Of course, the reason many people have a hard time with this is because they don't understand the next command for husbands: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the Church and handed himself over for her to sanctify her."
Maybe a reason why so many don't understand this second line is because they truly don't understand God's mercy (we could go into other reasons why, that discussion could take years). Today's quote from the Catechism directly points to God's mercy, and how Christ gave Himself completely and totally to His bride, The Church (This is My Body... This is My Blood). God's love is found in His sacrifice.
As imitators of Christ, our love is found in our sacrifice. Today's reading references the sacrifice husbands need to make for their brides. Men, has husbands to be (priest or married), love your brides now and sacrifice now for them to love them. Women, as wives, be obedient to your husbands as you sacrifice for your love of them. If you're married, may God's peace be with you as you live this vocation to love. Take care and God Bless.
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