In this week's reflection, we will consider three topics from the Sunday readings. The first topic is taken from the second reading, the question of subordination. The long form of the reading says: "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" (Ephesians 5:22-24). Needless to say, this passage has been controversial in the last few decades. Many would rather avoid discussing it, as if it were not even in the Bible. In fact, once I heard a priest say in his homily that the Apostle Paul did not write this passage, but that it was added later to reflect Roman social customs. On the flip side, some will interpret this passage as a sort of caveman caricature, giving license to men to be domineering tyrants over their wives.
What is often overlooked in the discussion is the context of the lines quoted. Right before the passage in question, we read: "Be subordinate to one another out of reverence for Christ" (Ephesians 5:21). Right after speaking about wives being subordinate, the Apostle Paul then continues: "Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ loved the church and handed himself over for her" (Ephesians 5:25). Let us ponder for a moment what this statement means. How did Christ love the Church? He did so to the point of allowing himself to be crucified for her. In the Pauline vision, the central image of the ideal husband is that of Christ submitting even to crucifixion. So if we are going to talk about a wife being subordinate to her husband, we should also discuss the husband loving his wife even to the point of being willing to be crucified for her. That would give us a more complete picture.
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