＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Ephesians 5:21-33

 Let all kinds of submission to one another

Become obedience to Christ.  So wives to their husbands: as to the Lord.  The husband is the head of his wife, as Christ is the head of the Church, his body, of whom he is also the Savior. And as the Church submits to Christ, so let a wife submit in everything to her husband.

 As for you, husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the Church and gave himself up for her. He washed her and made her holy by baptism in the Word. As he wanted a radiant Church without stain or wrinkle or any blemish, but holy and blameless, he himself had to prepare and present her to himself.

In the same way, husbands should love their wives as they love their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves him­self. And no one has ever hated his body; he feeds and takes care of it. That is just what Christ does for the Church, because we are members of his body.

 Scripture says: Because of this a man shall leave his father and mother to be united with his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. This is a very great mystery, and I refer to Christ and the Church. As for you, let each one love his wife as himself, and let the wife respect her husband.

 

Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5

Blessed are those who fear the Lord.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Luke 13:18-21

 And Jesus continued speaking, “What is the kingdom of God like? What shall I compare it to? Imagine a person who has taken a mustard seed and planted it in the garden. The seed has grown and become like a small tree, so that the birds of the air shelter in its branches.”

And Jesus said again, “What is the kingdom of God like? Imagine a woman who has taken yeast and hidden it in three measures of flour until it is all leavened.”

 

Gospel Reflection：

At first glance it seems that St. Paul is putting women down as inferior to men when he admonishes wives to be submissive to their husbands. But when we continue the reading towards the end, St. Paul makes the conclusion that the man leaves his father and mother to be united with his wife.

Thus it appears that the man becomes “submissive” to his wife inasmuch as she takes precedence over the husbands own parents! Thus the first verse provides the proper optics when St. Paul says that “submission to one another”is the rule! There are different kinds of submission. Though.

So St. Paul uses the relationship of Christ with the Church as the metaphor. As the Church is submissive to Christ, so the wife is submissive to her husband.

As Christ loves the Church even unto death, so the husband “surrenders” his life for the good of his wife! This is the great mystery of Christ and his Church as well as the mystery of husband and wife!

When couples are submissive to one another, the beauty of the Christ – Church relationship becomes more manifest. Married couples, your love is the sign we need to understand Christ and his Church!