Subordination

Homily for Tuesday of the 30th Week in Ordinary Time

Today's reading from the Letter to the Ephesians includes the famously difficult lines about wives "being subordinate" to their husbands. I find it very interesting that the Sunday Lectionary actually gives the presider the option of deleting or excising these particular lines. This option may make it easier for the homilist. However, anyone who is a regular church person or who uses the Scripture on a daily basis knows that these lines are there. They cannot simply be ignored.

In this particular instance, the problem lies in our understanding of that English word. The word "subordinate" has connotations from our work-a-day world that make it odious for people in relationships. If you are someone's subordinate at work, you have to take orders from that person, follow that person's direction or risk losing your job. This is hardly the kind of relationship that fosters a good marriage. It is also not the meaning that St. Paul has in mind.

Soon we will be reading St. Paul’s Letter to the Philippians. There is a famous passage in that letter that speaks of submission (another word for subordination), but because it is not directed at wives, no one seems to mind the sentiments. He writes: “Do nothing out of selfishness or out of vainglory; rather, humbly regard others as more important than yourselves. . .” This is exactly what submission or subordination looks like. It is, in fact, the way that all Christians are supposed to be acting. In the Letter to the Ephesians, he also tells husbands that they are to love their wives. In terms of the Gospel preached by Jesus Christ, it is rather straight forward. Love means that we put the needs of the other person before our own needs; we are to be submissive to one another.

Jesus sacrificed his life for our sakes. He so loved the Father that he obeyed the Father's will. He loved the world so much that he allowed himself to be sent, as one like us, in order to save the world. He practiced what he preached; namely, he became the greatest by making himself the least. He became the master of all by becoming the servant of all. He subordinated his needs and his will for the sake of our needs. If husbands and wives have this kind of love for one another, they will each make themselves subordinate to one another. Husbands, love your wives; wives, love your husbands. Finally, then, we also have to remember that the statement is made in the context of Christ and the Church. Jesus Christ loves the Church; we, the Church, love Jesus in return. We are subordinate to Christ.

Rather than deleting these verses, we should be mindful that they are meant for all people, married as well as unmarried. They are directed to all faithful followers of the Lord Jesus.

Fr. Lawrence Jagdfeld, O.F.M., Administrator