Titus 2:1-15

Likewise, tell the older women…to teach what is good, so that they
may encourage the young women…to be self-controlled, chaste,
good managers of the household, kind, being submissive to their
husbands, so that the word of God may not be discredited…Tell
slaves to be submissive to their masters and to give satisfaction in
every respect… (2:3-5, 9)

Of the readings for today, St. Paul’s instructions to Titus are the most
provocative: Women, be submissive; slaves, “give satisfaction in
every respect.” It is easy to imagine twenty-first-century Christians
knitting their brows, narrowing their eyes, maybe clucking their
tongues. Who does Paul think he is?

Yet the same Paul pleaded with Philemon for the freedom of
Onesimus, and in 1 Corinthians he wrote a transcendent reflection
on selfless love.

Anyone can look back on Paul with what C.S. Lewis called
“chronological snobbery.” It is tempting to dismiss him by saying, “I
worship Jesus. I don’t worship Paul.”

In Paul, Jesus himself recognized the fierce commitment of a man
who would take beatings and imprisonment for the sake of the
Gospel. That is 1 Corinthians 13 fully embodied. How often, during
one Lent, one year, or one decade, do I suffer with that kind of
grace?

—Douglas LeBlanc