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27TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - B
Mark 10:2-16
There is an
ancient Mediterranean legend that says in the beginning man and woman were
actually one person who shared one body. According to this legend after
they sinned, God punished them by dividing their body into two, one half for
the man and the other half for the woman. They would only again be complete once
they were united as one body. The only way this could happen was through
marriage.
Jesus in our
gospel this Sunday teaches the meaning and purpose of marriage: it is a
covenant between a man and woman which is ordered toward the goodness of the
spouses and the procreation and education of offspring. The teaching took
place when the Pharisees asked Jesus a question about divorce.
God being
the author of marriage intended it as a vocation which is intrinsic to the very
nature of humanity. Because it is a vocation, it is fundamentally centered on
love. This mutual love between a man and a woman is a reflection of God’s
absolute and unfailing love for humanity. The book of Genesis in the first reading
attests to the indissolubility of marriage from the very beginning of
time: that man leaves his mother and father and becomes attached to his
wife and the two become one flesh. Jesus affirms it when he said: "What
God has united, human beings must not divide." Because of the permanence
of marriage, Jesus in the gospel took a strong stand against divorce. It is not
just based on a legalistic approach when the children suffer and it then
jeopardizes their future happiness nor on the presence of a law that forbids
or allows divorce. Rather as the author of marriage, God intended marriage to
be a permanent and lasting relationship between a man and a
woman.
God saw in
the beginning that man was not complete so He created the woman. It is through
this marital union that one complements the other thereby completing each
other’s incompleteness. In marital sex, one gives himself/herself to the other completely,
exclusively and forever. When this happens they really become one
flesh. Because of human failure, certain situations are far from ideal like
re-marriage after separation and divorce which the Church deals with compassionately.
From this
union based on love comes the secondary purpose of marriage which is the
procreation and education of offspring. It is the fruit of love when given
unselfishly. To safeguard this purpose, the Church is against the deliberate
obstruction of life through artificial birth control and direct abortion which
are contrary to the moral law. Children are not an intrusion on married life
but rather the completion of its mission which is expressed in joy. For married
couples who are unable to have children, their witness of love to each other
can also be profoundly life-giving to the Church and to the community.
Because
marriage is a sacrament, it is geared towards the sanctification of man and
woman through their married life. It is a life that is centered in God; in
reality it is God who completes and blesses the union. That is why it is
imperative that a man and a woman who love each other should be united by a
sacred bond that can only be given through the Church. With this blessing, they
will form a family, be it naturally or through adoption. This family is called
the domestic church because it is the miniature version of the whole Church
Let us
safeguard the unity and sanctity of marriage as God intended it to be.
This message is still relevant even today. Your kind words for those who re-marry is quite refreshing.
ReplyDeleteMay God continue to bless your ministry, Fr. Vlad.
Thanks Ros. The homily was a little bit controversial for some parishioners because of its content. But I am just faithful to the teaching of the Catholic Church. It was rather difficult.
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