Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Ephesians 5, 21-6,9

Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ.

Wives should be subject to their husbands as to 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 is subject to Christ, so should wives be 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 by washing her in cleansing water with a form of words,

so that when he took the Church 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 we are parts of his Body.

This is why a man leaves his father and mother and becomes attached to his wife, and the two become one flesh.

This mystery has great significance, but I am applying it to Christ and the Church.

To sum up: you also, each one of you, must love his wife as he loves himself; and let every wife respect her husband.

Children, be obedient to your parents in the Lord -- that is what uprightness demands.

The first commandment that has a promise attached to it is: Honour your father and your mother,

and the promise is: so that you may have long life and prosper in the land.

And parents, never drive your children to resentment but bring them up with correction and advice inspired by the Lord.

Slaves, be obedient to those who are, according to human reckoning, your masters, with deep respect and sincere loyalty, as you are obedient to Christ:

not only when you are under their eye, as if you had only to please human beings, but as slaves of Christ who wholeheartedly do the will of God.

Work willingly for the sake of the Lord and not for the sake of human beings.

Never forget that everyone, whether a slave or a free man, will be rewarded by the Lord for whatever work he has done well.

And those of you who are employers, treat your slaves in the same spirit; do without threats, and never forget that they and you have the same Master in heaven and there is no favouritism with him.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The apostle Paul doesn’t fail to interpret family relationships in an evangelical key. He knows well that the members of a Christian family must behave in a new way, as people who are, first and foremost, subject to Christ. It is from this submission that a new type of relationship is born, even in marriage. Each person is called to submit him or herself, reciprocally, "out of reverence for Christ." Husband and wife, even before respecting the roles established by society, belong to Christ. Thus, all temptation to authoritarianism, that is to say, the feeling of superiority, is eradicated. Paul respects the family structures of his time; however, he considers husbands and wives as siblings in Christ. Their marital relationship must thus be animated by the same fraternity that exists within the Church. Paul writes that the married woman must be submitted to her husband. In those times, the concept of submission did not have a negative connotation, implying humiliation; consequently, it did not prevent women from being respected or even maintaining a good social standing. Nonetheless, Paul adds: be submitted to your husband as you are to the Lord, that is to say, in the same way that Christians behave with one another, with love. The simile that Paul places between Christ-Church and husband-wife is more of an analogy than a parallelism (a husband surely isn’t his wife’s saviour like Christ is the Church’s). The present hierarchy is not questioned but its motivation is radically changed. The husband is the "head" in that he imitates Christ’s love towards the Church: he must serve his wife to the point of giving his life to her. The analogy continues: the submission requested of a wife doesn’t mean for her to obey the orders of a master but to open herself to love and to welcome it. Consequently, the final expression "in everything" which seems to accentuate the woman’s subordination, is clarified Paul asks the same thing of the wife as of the husband: the total gift of one’s self to the other. For married couples, Paul wants the reciprocity of love, similar to that of Christ-Church: love to the point of giving one's life. The apostle then turns to children, exhorting them to obedience. He calls their attention to the commandment of honouring one’s father and mother, not only in the sense of being respectful to them but also of helping them in need, especially in their old age. He then turns to fathers, perhaps because they traditionally held the role of teaching their children discipline, and exhorts them not to provoke their children but to raise them with discipline and words of admonition. The last remarks are focused on the relationship between slaves and masters. Paul reminds the slaves that they must obey their masters with sincerity and respect, knowing that through their duties they live out their relationship of love with Christ, who made himself a slave for the love of humankind. Masters are called to do the same, in other words, to respect the underlying logic that is present in the advice given to the slaves: Paul points both servants and masters to the love that must govern their relationship. He places Jesus as a model for both slaves and masters: Jesus is the true Lord of all, slaves and free people alike.