{"id":15096,"date":"2021-08-21T05:06:36","date_gmt":"2021-08-21T10:06:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/?p=15096"},"modified":"2021-09-03T19:38:10","modified_gmt":"2021-09-04T00:38:10","slug":"wives-be-submissive-hmmm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.holytrinityweb.com\/weekly\/wives-be-submissive-hmmm\/","title":{"rendered":"“Wives be submissive.” Hmmm."},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Every year we hear this passage from Ephesians (5:21<\/a>), \u201cWives be submissive to your husbands\u201d and so this Sunday we hear it again. Let the eye rolling begin!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of course it is immediately written off by many as a message from a different time. Today, we moderns see things in terms of \u201cequality\u201d and have freed ourselves from the old-fashioned roles of husband and wife. \u201cSubmission\u201d feels like we\u2019re losers in some contest of wills.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than spending time explaining what this passage does NOT<\/strong> mean (blind obedience and the self-effacement of women); let\u2019s look briefly at what this means FOR HUSBANDS<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God\u2019s word is laying a burden on men that is different from the burden women carry. St. Paul calls them \u201cthe head\u201d of wife and family. What could this mean but to serve the needs of the body (of which he is a part). To be a \u201cLook Out\u201d for those most dear to him . . . his family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every family needs someone who\u2019s major responsibility is to be watchful for dangers, observant of needs, and dedicated to providing a stable, safe and peaceful home base. (Who goes downstairs in the middle of the night to find out what that noise was?) The Head.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But can\u2019t wives do that just as well? Yes. Many do. Heroic single mothers are everywhere. They carry the man\u2019s burden as well as their own. I bet if you asked them if they\u2019d like the man to carry his burden with her . . . and for her, she\u2019d say \u201cFinally. Some help!\u201d God bless them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

C. S. Lewis writes, \u201cIt is painful, being a man, to have to assert privileged or the burden which Christianity lays upon my own sex. I am crushingly aware how inadequate most of us are to fill this place.\u201d God in The Dock.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

He goes on to say we men often make very bad husbands (priests!). \u201cThat is because we are insufficiently masculine.\u201d Masculine in the way that is modeled in Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And that\u2019s the key for both husband and wife – – to be like Christ for each other. Husbands, remember when Jesus spoke of himself as the good shepherd? \u201cI am the Good Shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep . . . I will lay my life down for the sheep. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down on my own.\u201d John 10:18<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wives, remember when Jesus spoke to his Father in the Garden the night before his crucifixion? Knowing that somehow his death would be the way his Father revealed the salvation of humanity, yet feeling the terror of what lay ahead – – he submitted. \u201cFather take this cup from me, but not what I will, but what you will.\u201d Mark 14:36<\/a>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

And in the end, don\u2019t we all \u201csubmit\u201d? Don\u2019t we give in to the wishes of those we love. Love wants to say \u201cyes\u201d every time! But love also knows it must be guided by what is right and virtuous. And here we are back again to the role of husband and wife. I hope we can still say clearly that the woman\u2019s heart pulls together the family relationships, giving that warmth and comfort that is her genius.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The man, if he\u2019s carrying his proper burden, has her and the children as his chief concern in life. He\u2019s the \u201clookout\u201d for all of them. Protecting, providing, and yes, sometimes correcting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It\u2019s like a dance. You need a Fred in his top hat, and a Ginger in her flowing gown, joined in their coordinated whirl of love.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bless you. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fr. Tim<\/p>\n\n\n\n