Catholic Growth

Husbands Love Your Wives

Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her, in order to make her holy by cleansing her with the washing of water by the word, so as to present the church to himself in splendour, without a spot or wrinkle or anything of the kind-yes, so she may be holy and without blemish.

Ephesians 5:25-27

Before we get into the mysteries, we need to keep these words of St Paul in mind. Husbands love your wives, as Christ loves the Church. How does He love the Church, and how can we use His love as an example of how to be better husbands?

As we go through these mysteries, keep those words close to you heart. Ultimately a husband’s goal should be to be a Christlike head of his household. Christ showed how much He completely loves us in the Sorrowful Mysteries.

The First Mystery-The Agony In The Garden

‘Father, if you are willing, remove this cup from me; yet, not my will but yours be done.’ Then an angel from heaven appeared to him and have him strength. In his anguish he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat became like great drops of blood falling down on the ground.

Like 22:42-44

Jesus, filled with the very human despair of knowing what was coming next, went through a real agony. Throughout this agony however, he never decided to stop, never decided to give up. He was still willing to do the will of the Father, even if it meant the greatest suffering He could possibly go through. And what did He do in His time of agony? He turned to prayer.

So as husbands, we need to turn to prayer in our agonies, persevere in what we know we must do and what is right, and we must be subservient to the will of God. We need faith, courage, and fielty.

The Second Mystery-The Scourging At The Pillar

Pilate then took Jesus and had Him flogged.

John 19:1

From the sole of the foot even to the head, there is no soundness in it, but bruises and sores and bleeding wounds; they have not been drained, or bound up, or softened with oil.

Isaiah 1:6

The scourging at the pillar, traditionally, is seen as a penance for the sins of the flesh, that are so very common in the world. Lust, pornography, adultery, and fornication. These are all grave evils the Catholic husband must resist.

Our Lord bore these wounds on His body for us. How often are we thankful for this? How often do we express gratitude? How often are we asking for forgiveness? Prayers of gratitude are important, as well as the incredible gift of the sacrament of reconciliation.

As Catholic husbands, we need chastity, gratitude, and to frequent confession.

The Third Mystery- The Crowning With Thorns

Then the soldiers of the governor took Jesus into the governor’s headquarters, and they gathered the whole cohort around Him. They stripped Him and put a scarlet robe on Him, and twisting some thorns into a crown, they put it on His head. They put a reed in His right hand and knelt before Him and mocked Him, saying, ‘Hail, King of the Jews!”

Matthew 27:27-29

Jesus was crowned with thorns, in mockery, and to discredit and ridicule His claim of Kingship. Little did the Roman soldiers know, the crown of thorns was exactly the kingship that Christ was trying to show us. He was not a king of worldly riches, or a powerful warrior king. He was a king of the poor and needy, a king giving His own life, a king of humility. Though in outward appearance this crown made Our Lord look like a fool to the soldiers, in metaphysical reality it was a crown of a king conquering against humanity’s greatest enemy, sin.

To wear a Christlike crown is often painful. To be the king of our households, us Catholic husbands need to be willing to undergo great pain, humiliation, and forego riches and power.

A Catholic husband must be humble, must sacrifice our riches for our family, must be willing to suffer pain. We must lead our kingdoms as a king with a crown of thorns.

The Fourth Mystery-The Carrying Of The Cross

And carrying the cross by himself, he went out to what is called The Place of the Skull, which in Hebrew is called Golgotha.

John 19:17

Carrying the cross, the instrument of His death, Jesus gives us an example of His own instructions to us. He told us that we need to sent ourselves and take up our cross, and follow Him. Carrying a cross is difficult however. He fell three times, He needed help from Simon, He was ridiculed the entire way, and it was tremendously exhausting. And at the end of it all, He was going to die.

When we take up our own crosses, we need to keep in mind that our path will be difficult. We need to die to ourselves as Christ tells us, and these crosses that we all carry are our path to dieing to ourselves, and living for God. We need to reject the world, we need to deny our own pleasures, and we need to keep going. Even when we inevitably fall, we need to get back up and keep going.

As Catholic husbands, to better serve our families, we need to take up our crosses. We need perseverance, self-denial, and fortitude. We also need hope, which allows us to keep going, and keep carrying this cross on the path toward Christ.

The Fifth Mystery-The Crucifixion Of Our Lord

Then Jesus, crying out with a loud voice, said ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit.’ Having said this, He breathes His last.

Luke 23:46

Since, therefore, the children share flesh and blood, he himself likewise shared the same things, so that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and free those who all their lives were held in slavery by the fear of the death.

Hebrews 2:14-15

Christ faced the ultimate fear of all human beings, death. Fear of death causes us to avoid all pains in life, and chase after as many pleasures as we can get. Fear of death keeps us from standing for what is right. Death has no more power over us, because Our Lord opened Heaven for us. We are destined for greatness after we die, so we have nothing to fear!

Jesus’ last words are a great example to all. He trusted the Father completely, through His pain, and offered His spirit at His last breath. We need to trust God.

Christ defeated the devil for us. The devil has no more power over us. The only power the enemy has is that which we give him. So we must avoid sin, we must not let Our Lord’s sacrifice be in vain. We need to avoid sin, which places shackles back onto our wrists, making us slaves to fear once again.

As Catholic husbands, we must be courageous, we must have charity, we need to sacrifice ourselves, we must embrace our death, we must trust God, we need to remember the devil has been defeated, and we must avoid sin.

In Conclusion

The Sorrowful Mysteries offer an infinite well of knowledge to help us grow in the spiritual life and in virtue. The virtues outlined in this article are just suggestions of what to meditate on. These virtues, all expressly shown to us as examples by Our Savior, will undoubtedly help you live out your vocations as husbands. So grab a Rosary, and pray on these mysteries, reflecting on what Our Lord wants to tell us.