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Lectionary
14 TRINITY: 24 – 30 AUGUST, 2008
THEME; THE FAMILY
READING: Ephesians 5: 21 – 6. 2
The importance of the
institution of the family cannot be overemphasized. It is the
prime institution and basic unit of society, and through it
society is built and shaped to what it becomes. It is in the
home that the values we live out in life are formed.
The entry point of building family is marriage.
Christian marriage is between one man and one woman coming
together in a life-long union in body, mind and spirit. That
oneness and mutual companionship is best sustained in mutual
submission and genuine love. Unfortunately, some marriages are
hell, where one party (most often the man) lords it over the
other. He seeks justification for that tendency from Ephesians
6.2: “wives, submit yourselves to your husband as unto the
Lord…for the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the
head of the Church…”
No doubt, St. Paul had the
patriarchal family in mind as he himself belonged to a Jewish
patriarchal setting. In our present Christian setting,
submission of the husband and the wife to each other is
mutual. St. Paul calls us to that mutuality when he admonished
in 5.21 that we should submit ourselves one to the other out
of the fear of God. Without the mutual submission, the
experience will be one of a dangerous clash of egos.
The underpinning motivation of mutual submission is
love. Paul says in 5.25 “Husbands, love your wives, even as
Christ also loved the Church and gave himself for it. Again we
must stress that the loving is mutual. We are called to live
the life of love as found in Christ. Christ’s love is
sacrificial, self-giving and leads to salvation. Our love for
each other as husbands and wives must be sacrificial and must
hold in view the fullness of life that Christ promised. Both
parents in mutual love and submission are tasked to develop
and secure their members to be productive to society in a
manner that would enhance development. Sustenance of the
family also requires that parents should impart in their
children social and moral values, in addition to resourceful
training through education, prayer and sacrament among others.
Submitted by Rev. ACee Temple Anono & Rev. Francis Kwami
Amenu
PRAYER
Eternal God, giver of love and peace,
you call your children to live together as one family. Give us
grace to learn your ways and to do your will, that we may
bring justice and peace to all people, in the name of Jesus
Christ. Amen.
READINGS FOR THE WEEK
Genesis 2: 18
– 25; Genesis 12: 1 – 9; 1 Peter 3: 13 22; Luke 15: 11 ‐32;
Matthew 19: 1 – 12 & Malachi 2: 10 – 16; 1 Timothy 3: 1 –
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