“If we love one
another, God dwell in us, and his love is brought to perfection in us”. (1
Jn 4:12)
It
is a clear truth to the Christian that man’s basic and primary vocation is to
love. He was brought into being by the Creator in His own image and likeness
(cfr. Gen 1:27), a God whose very nature is Love (cfr. 1 Jn 4:8). A creature of
God, man is sustained by God’s loving providence. This same God, who has spoken
with and has revealed himself to man, calls his creature to an eternity of
loving union with Him. In the depths of human nature, despite of the harm done
to it by original sin, remains that indelible mark of love that can never be
erased. Man is capable of love: it is his primary vocation.
This
is seen in the First Reading, taken from the book of Genesis. Man was never
meant to live alone, considering that he is called to love and be loved but he
can only love and be loved by someone who is like him, and yet at the same time
is distinct from him. Man’s yearning for
love can only be satisfied by entering into a relationship of communion with a
person like him. This is satisfied first and foremost by God, who is a
communion of three Divine Persons—Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, God only in
whom man’s restless heart can find true satisfaction and repose (cfr., ST.
AUGUSTINE OF HIPPO, Confessions, I,
1). But then, the human person also fulfills this vocation to love by entering
into relationships with other human persons.
Among
the many ways through which man is able to realize this vocation to love, marriage
is one of the most significant and the most beautiful, as well as one of the
most fulfilling. Our reflection in this 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
directs us to consider once again the beautiful truth about marriage, both as a
human institution (something that refers to our humanity) and as a sacrament
(for the Christian, it is more than just an institution or a contract: it is
also a sign of grace). It also directs to other significant truths very much
related to it, since marriage is not an isolated reality, but one that should
be understood in the context of life and love, sexuality, etc.
In
the Gospel we see our Lord being confronted by the Pharisees, who have put out
a trap for him, in the guise of a tricky question. Fully aware of their malice,
Jesus not only answers their query, but transforms the Pharisees’ snare into a
wonderful opportunity to affirm an important truth about man, something deeply
founded in the truth of his being (in the law of nature), and revealed in
Scripture. As Lord, he ratifies the teaching established ab initio, from the beginning, and raises the union between man and
woman in marriage from a mere human bond into something that is touched by God.
In the words of Jesus we can learn a lot concerning the truth of human sexuality
and marriage.
In
the first place, it is important to note that this truth does not depend upon what we make of it; we cannot change it
just because we don’t agree with it, or because it doesn’t harmonize with our
agenda. Neither does it come as a result of human consensus. The truth could
only be proposed, and then accepted or rejected, but could never be changed.
An embodied spirit, man has been created to love in a particular way—either as
male or female. This distinction made from man’s origin shows that masculinity
and femininity is a gift endowed upon the human person by the Creator, a gift
that totally affects him. The human person is a sexuated and a sexual being;
sexuality (the fact of being male or female) plays an essential role in how one
relates with others, in how one perceives the world both outside and within
him, and affects the way how the person loves. Man cannot love a-sexually;
neither can he seek to love choosing to blur the lines of this essential
distinction. It is a distinction that it very important. However, far from
driving man away from woman, it rather brings them together, because it is a
distinction that leads them to complement each other.
This
complementarity is essential to the nature of marriage, which is a union between
a man and a woman. This is another truth that we encounter, and this is
something that no human legislation based on consensus could ever change,
because it is something that is not only found in the nature of marriage as an
institution, but in human nature itself. Only
a man an a woman could ever constitute a true marriage. The complementarity
between the two makes it possible for them to be una caro, one flesh. It is a union so intimate that, as the words
of the Lord in the Gospel would express, only something as radical as death
could ever separate them. No human law would ever unmake this bond, hence the
reason for the practice of divorce as unacceptable, in view of the divine law:
“Therefore what God has joined together,
no human being must separate” (Mk 10:9). In this union, husband and wife need to live each for the other, both
as equals in love, very much like what the lyrics of Charlie Landsbourough’s
song expresses: “we’re just angels with one wing, we must cling together to
fly”.
And
fly upward they must. This consideration leads us finally to another truth in
Christian marriage: far from just being human, the mutual union between a man
and a woman in Christ must lead to
Christ. Christian marriage is not just
an end in itself: it is also a way to holiness. In fulfilling the
responsibility to lead each other to perfection, and to be open to the gift of
life that God gives to them, both husband and wife should sanctify themselves
in their marriage. They have the Lord to depend on for His grace, most
especially considering that married life is no mere walk through the park. It
is a challenging life, not exempt from difficulties. This is why couples have
to take advantage of the means to sanctity: the sacraments, especially the
Eucharist and Penance, daily personal prayer, attentive listening to the Word
of God. They also have the mission to make their family into a domestic Church:
a family that prays and loves, wherein the children given to them are raised as
good Christians and citizens.
As
we prepare ourselves to inaugurate the Year of Faith called for by the Holy
Father this coming week, let us pray that this may be an opportunity for all
Christian married couples to be strengthened in their special vocation, and for
the Christian family to be protected from everything that endangers it, and be
strengthened to give witness to the faith in Christ Jesus. May Mary, the Queen
of the Family, and loving spouse of blessed Joseph, intercede for us all. AMEN.
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