Tuesday - October 27, 2020
“When people love and recite the Rosary
they find it makes them better.”
– St. Anthony Mary Claret
October 27, 2020
Tuesday of the
Thirtieth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 480
Reading 1 EPH 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.
Responsorial Psalm PS 19:2-3, 4-5
R. (1a) Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Alleluia MT 11:25
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Blessed are you,
Father, Lord of heaven and earth;
You have revealed
to little ones the mysteries of the Kingdom.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel LK 13:18-21
Jesus said, “What is the Kingdom of God like?
To what can I compare it?
It is like a mustard seed that a man took and planted in the garden.
When it was fully grown, it became a large bush
and the birds of the sky dwelt in its branches.”
Again he said, “To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God?
It is like yeast that a woman took
and mixed in with three measures of wheat flour
until the whole batch of dough was leavened.”
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The True Meaning of Submissiveness
A little bit of goodness goes a long way. It spreads like ripples in a swimming pool. Dip your toe in the water, and you create a ripple that makes its way to the other side of the pool, bounces off the wall and returns back to you. By the time it reaches you, the little waves look different than the original ones you'd sent out, but they are waves nonetheless.
So it is with the goodness that we spread when we submit ourselves to one another. This is the meaning behind the message of today's first reading, which is one of the scripture readings recommended for weddings. Many couples choose not to use this scripture because they misunderstand it. They read it apart from the Gospels and assume that it tells the wife to be inferior to the husband and that wives must always give up their own desires and goals when conflicts arise between the two of them.
This is far from the truth, as is made clear by what Saint Paul says about the husband's role in the marriage. For a man to love his wife the way Christ loves the Church, he has to be a lover who is also a servant. This is what the wife is to submit herself to: To be served by her husband the way Christ serves us!
The husband, as head of the family, is the High Priest of the home, making self-sacrifices like Jesus did. He's to be a good shepherd who pastors the family into lush fields of spiritual nourishment, like Jesus the Good Shepherd. He's to be a loving provider who takes care of the needs of his family, and he's to be a holy prophet who delivers God's wisdom to them - like Jesus. This is what the wife is to submit herself to, and nothing else. If the husband treats his wife this way, it's a no-brainer that she will want to submit to his caring priestliness!
Marriage is not a soul-crushing superior-inferior relationship; it is equality in true love. We are Christ for each other. Holy submission means mutual respect and cooperation.
When a husband is not being Christ to his wife, she's under no obligation to submit to his sinfulness or worldliness. She is still called to love him and to do good to him, but if he's abusive or unfaithful, she might have to love him from afar.
The same Ephesians 5 principle carries over into other relationships involving headship: parishioners and their priests, employees and their bosses, citizens and their government leaders, and dependent children and their parents. Each person who has authority over us is called to be Christ for us, and we are called to submit to whatever is Christ-like.
Today's Prayer
Lord, I thank You and praise You, because You take my life far beyond my own limitations. I want to follow Your loving paths till the end. Amen.
God Bless You.....
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