Reflections

So the first class of second year is over. In some ways it was a great way to begin: interesting material, short duration, and for all intents and purposes impossible to fail -- low stress = happy students. Next up, starting tomorrow morning, will be cardiology. The syllabus is enormous, easily several hundred pages long, but this will be one of the most interesting and useful courses we've had so far. It'll be a huge volume of material, so some other things may end up sliding a bit.

On another note, since it's Sunday, I just want to take a moment to consider the reading from St. Paul's letter to the Ephesians today. It's probably one of the most uncomfortable readings in Scripture from our modern perspective. I'll be honest, I've never understood it particularly well myself, so I'm probably not the best one the explain it, but something struck me while listening to the reading today, so I figured I'd write it down and see if it made sense.

"Wives, be subordinate to your husbands." The statement offends modern sensibilities. It appears to oppose everything that we're supposed to stand for. It's a statement that few homilists will dare to approach in any detail. However, one Dominican priest of my acquaintance bravely attempted to explain once that the husband's relationship with his wife is to mirror that of Christ with the Church. There was a lot more to it than that, but that was the central point. Until now, I haven't really been able to come up with a sufficient explanation of what that meant.

Today, as I was contemplating the reading, I realized that Christ not only gave His life for His Church, but that He has joined Himself to the Church, that He lives for the Church. It is her life for which He is primarily concerned; He cares more for His Church than for His own life. He sacrificed everything that His bride might live. And it is this that a husband must do in his own life. He is to place his wife before himself in all things, to be her shield and her sounding board, her friend, her shoulder to cry on, and her partner. It is his job to care for her when she can't care for herself. I should probably explain this before getting myself yelled at: a wife's first concern is not for herself either, particularly when she becomes a mother. And when you live for another, you tend to neglect yourself, or have unrealistic expectations of yourself. Often, we can push ourselves too far, and even when someone else points this out, we don't want to hear it. And so, it is the part of the husband to look out for his wife's well-being in all things, even if it means sacrificing himself. Thus, if the husband is doing his job, his wife would be smart to pay attention to what he says. Since she isn't concerned with herself, she should be guided by the one who is concerned for her.

Anyway, I don't know if any of that made any sense. Probably not. Either way, those are my thoughts for the evening. More in the near future.

Peace and God bless!