According to the great spousal analogy, the wife is a symbol of the church and the husband is a symbol of Christ. Obviously, this analogy breaks down. No wife is a perfect symbol of the church as a "spotless bride" and no husband is a perfect symbol of Christ. Patience and mercy, then, must be an essential ingredient of every marriage.
Ephesians 5 doesa NOT justify male domination. Rather, it calls husbands to love thier wives "as Christ loves the Church." Christ came not to be served, but to serve. When understaood in its proper context, "Wives submit to your husbands" actually means "Wives allow your husbands to serve you."
Marriage is not only one of the seven sacraments but a model of all the sacraments. The goal of all the sacraments is the goal of the christian life itself--is to unite the bridegroom (Christ) and the Bride(the Church) and to fill the Church with divine life.
The Body has a "language" that is meant to proclaim the mystery of Christ's free, total, faithful and fruitful love. This is precisely what spouses commit to at the altar. Marital intercourse, then, is meant to be a renewal of the marriage commitment itself expressed not with words, but with the language of the body.
Ephesians 5 doesa NOT justify male domination. Rather, it calls husbands to love thier wives "as Christ loves the Church." Christ came not to be served, but to serve. When understaood in its proper context, "Wives submit to your husbands" actually means "Wives allow your husbands to serve you."
Marriage is not only one of the seven sacraments but a model of all the sacraments. The goal of all the sacraments is the goal of the christian life itself--is to unite the bridegroom (Christ) and the Bride(the Church) and to fill the Church with divine life.
The Body has a "language" that is meant to proclaim the mystery of Christ's free, total, faithful and fruitful love. This is precisely what spouses commit to at the altar. Marital intercourse, then, is meant to be a renewal of the marriage commitment itself expressed not with words, but with the language of the body.