27TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME - B
Mark 10:2-16
Is
there a FOREVER in love? Some say “none”, our gospel says “there is”!
Jesus in
our gospel this Sunday teaches the meaning and purpose of marriage: it is a
covenant between a MAN and WOMAN with GOD which is ordered toward the goodness
of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring. In a nutshell it
is both UNITIVE and PROCREATIVE! 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 children. 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 in many ways. Adoption is always a welcomed option!
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
During this time when the family is under attack, let us
safeguard the unity and sanctity of marriage as God intended it to be.
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