We have come to the last in a series of five Sunday’s with the gospel reading from the Bread of Life discourse in chapter six of John’s gospel. This chapter concludes with Peter acting as a spokesperson for the disciples to be faithful to Christ. This statement echoes the response of Joshua and the entire people in the first reading: “We will serve the Lord.”
These two readings frame the reading from the letter to the Ephesians today with the emphasis on the love and faithfulness of husbands and wives. They are to love one another as they have first been loved by Christ. The reading concludes: “This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the Church.”
The love of a married couple is a sign of the love between Christ and the Church and is also a participation in the love between Christ and the Church. Thismystery, this truth is reflected in the first sentence of the introduction to the ritual for weddings in the Catholic Church: “Married Christians, in virtue of the sacrament of matrimony, signify and share in the mystery of that unity and fruitful love that exists between Christ and his Church.”
When have you, like Joshua, acclaimed: “As for me and my household, we will serve the Lord”? How do married couples reflect to you the love and commitment between Christ and the Church?