Give way to one another in obedience to Christ. Wives should regard their husbands as they regard the Lord, since as Christ is head of the Church and saves the whole body, so is a husband the head of his wife; and as the Church submits to Christ, so should wives to their husbands, in everything. Husbands should love their wives just as Christ loved the Church and sacrificed himself for her to make her holy.
He made her clean by washing her in water with a form of words, so that when he took her to himself she would be glorious, with no speck or wrinkle or anything like that, but holy and faultless. In the same way, husbands must love their wives as they love their own bodies; for a man to love his wife is for him to love himself.
A man never hates his own body, but he feeds it and looks after it; and that is the way Christ treats the Church, because it is his body – and we are its living parts. For this reason, a man must leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two will become one body. This mystery has many implications; but I am saying it applies to Christ and the Church.
Second reading for the 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time
Ephesians 5:21-32
Most of s will not be able to remember our baptism. What a pity that is.
But just imagine,
- being chosen, and saying yes
- being anointed for protection and strengthening
- washed head to foot
- anointed again as a sign of your calling
- clothed
- and then gifted with Christ’s light to light our way as we strive to live with him the graced life we have been granted.
Stained glass. Parish church, Stratford upon Avon. (c) 2016, Allen Morris.
Living Eucharist 
Reblogged this on St Nicholas, Boldmere.
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