I remember a young man coming to my house several years ago with marital problems. He wanted my advice, or so he said. "She won’t listen to me!" he complained. "Isn’t she supposed to submit to me? Don’t the Scriptures say that I am the head of my wife? What’s her problem!?" I knew the relationship well enough to know that his view of himself was seriously skewed. So I replied, "Well, what does St. Paul say again?": 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. (Eph 5:25-28) "So you see," I continued, "you are called to lay down your life for your wife. To serve her as Jesus served her. To love and sacrifice for her the way Jesus loved and sacrificed for you. If you do that, she likely won’t have any problems "submitting" to you." Well, that outraged the young man who promptly stormed out the house. What he really wanted was for me to give him ammunition to go home and continue treating his wife like a doormat. No, this is not what St. Paul meant then or now, cultural differences aside. What Paul was referring to was a relationship based on Christ’s example. But that model of true manhood has been pilloried… A Priest In My Own Home
Thursday, June 16, 2011
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church:
