What God has joined...

 

+ J. M. J. +

Homily Outline for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Today we hear about God’s plan for our happiness and eternal salvation. We learn about the most basic unit of society, the family. Families are facing unprecedented challenges, and even attacks. Each of us came from a family, an imperfect family made up of people like us, people who struggle against sin. Each of us came from a family which gave us the most basic gift, life, and helped make us who we are. That’s true biologically, emotionally, and spiritually. As we call our families to mind, there are reasons for joy and thanksgiving, and also reasons for sorrow and regret.

God desires our perfection and joy. In our 2nd reading, Jesus’ mission is described as “bringing many children to glory.” From the beginning, God’s plan for our glory is to be found in our creation as men and women. We are not autonomous individuals, as the modern world has often proposed. Rather, we are intrinsically and necessarily communal, not built for ourselves, but for each other, and for God. Adam was not self-sufficient; he was incomplete. So, God made Eve, and Adam recognized her as bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh, and yet he exclaims at her uniqueness and beauty. Adam and Even became one flesh. They were joined together in their common humanity and their unique complementarity. Compared to the rest of creation, man and woman are so much alike, but compared to each other they are so beautifully different!

We know what came after: Adam and Eve rejected obedience and chose their own sad path of sin. We too are marked by the ravages of original sin: the weakness of our will, the darkness of our intellect, and the brokenness that so often finds its way into our relationships. When Jesus is questioned about divorce, a practice common among the Jewish people, He rejects it out of hand. “What God has joined, man must not divide.” These words ring out at every Catholic wedding.  Marriage vows are for life, and once validly made, they are ended only by death. Marriage is the union of one man and one woman for life, and open to life. It is exclusive and faithful, entered into freely, and it is meant for the union and joy of husband and wife, and the procreation of children. Only in marriage do men and women rightly enter into a one-flesh union.

God’s truth and God’s plan for us must be proclaimed by the Church in season and out of season. It must be proclaimed boldly and gently, courageously and lovingly. No one can speak of God’s plan honestly without being personally aware of having fallen short, and that is certainly true for me as your pastor. Each day I come face to face with my own faults and failings, my own limits and inadequacy in the face of your needs and God’s beautiful will for us all. I do not speak of this truth, a truth hard for many of us to hear, except that I am completely convinced to the very core of my being that only in conforming our lives, our marriages, and our families to God’s plan for us do we find true and lasting peace and joy. All other paths, however easy or necessary or socially acceptable they may seem, lead away from God and away from lasting joy.

So much needs to be said and done to bring the beauty of Christian marriage into full light, but let me limit myself to a few salient points. First, to present this beautiful truth is not meant to be a judgment on those among us who may have a rather complicated path in our past. Wherever we are, we can only walk closer to the Lord and His will if we clearly identify what He has revealed to us, so that we can seek it. Secondly, there are certainly situations where a husband and wife have to separate for their own safety and the safety of their children. Third, there is no Catholic divorce. Marriage is not a sacrament that can be undone; the Church simply does not have that power. An annulment is the recognition that no marriage existed in the first place because some necessary ingredient was missing, it is not the dissolution of a civil contract by a civil authority. Fourth, if you are living with someone with whom you are not validly married, the Lord calls you to rectify that before you can receive the sacraments. I will do everything in my power to assist you in that process, which is not always straightforward or easy. If you are in that situation, you ARE NOT excommunicated, you are NOT unwelcome here, you SHOULD absolutely come to Mass every Sunday. Living with someone with whom you are not validly married is indeed an obstacle to the reception of the sacraments, but it does not mean that you are not an important member of our community. Please, don’t pretend everything’s all right if it isn’t. Please, don’t walk away from God’s invitation. Please, do come and talk to me so we can see what is needed to begin a journey back to the fullness of the Lord’s grace. I am already working with half a dozen couples who are seeking the fullness of God’s blessing upon their marriages and families. It would be my privilege and joy to work with you.

+ A. M. D. G. +