Homily — 27^th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B

Fr. Timothy W. Castor

Today’s readings teach us a great deal about marriage and family. They form the basis of our Catholic doctrine concerning these subjects. If you are married, contemplating marriage, or think you may one day get married, then this doctrine is for you. So, let’s consider this teaching for the next few minutes.

Perhaps the best one-sentence definition of marriage appears in the Code of Canon Law. Published in 1983, this book contains all the rules and regulations governing the Catholic Church. You might think it is dry and uninteresting reading—and in many places it is! But when the catechism of the Catholic Church was published some ten years later, it contained the exact same definition of marriage—that’s how good it was. So here it is: "The matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a Sacrament." Let’s unpack this definition.

First of all, it describes marriage as a covenant. What does this word, "covenant" mean to you? A promise? A contract? That’s true, but a covenant goes much deeper. Think of another context in which the word covenant is used. When the priest consecrates the wine at Mass and it becomes the Blood of Christ, he repeats the words Jesus spoke at the last supper: "This is the cup of my blood; the blood of the new and everlasting covenant." A covenant, then, is a profound and sacred bond—just as Christ Jesus is bound to his people through the shedding of his own blood, so a husband and wife are bound together by a most intimate and sacred union—analogous to the bond formed between Christ and his bride, the Church, through his own Blood.

The definition goes on to describe this covenant as existing between a man and a woman—no other configuration will fit the bill. One man and one woman "establish between themselves a partnership of the whole of life." The original Latin word for partnership is consortium, a word which signifies a complete intermingling and blending of two lives. It says that it is ordered by nature. In other words, marriage is not rooted in the teachings of Christianity or any other religion. It is rooted in nature itself—dating from the very creation of the human race, and instituted by God as part of the natural order. It predates even the Law of Moses, and, as our first reading from Genesis tells us, it was meant to be monogamous and permanent in its original form.

And what is the reason for marriage? The definition says that this covenant is ordered toward two things: "the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring." In our Catholic tradition, these two things are known as the ends of marriage, or the purposes for which marriage exists. The good of the spouses includes everything that we know to be good and beneficial. Marriage should be a source of comfort and mutual help for husband and wife. But that’s only one of the ends of marriage. The other is the procreation and education of children. Even though not every marriage is blessed with children, every married couple must be open to the possibility of bringing children into the world, and every mother and father must be committed to the formation of their children in the knowledge of the world around them and in the knowledge of God.

Based on these ends of marriage, and the teaching of Scripture, Catholic tradition has identified what are known as the three goods of marriage. For the marriage covenant to be true and valid, a husband and wife must fully intend these three goods—they must understand and consciously desire to have these three things in their marriage. And here they are: the good of Fidelity, the good of Permanence, and the good of Offspring. Fidelity means that each spouse gives to the other exclusive rights to his or her person. The wife belongs to her husband, the husband belongs to his wife. Husband and wife must be faithful to each other and exclude all others from their marriage covenant. Permanence means that this covenant—this bond—can be broken only by death. Unlike most of the relationships which people form in today’s society—including cohabitation, in which an unmarried couple live together—there is no back door to marriage; there is no way out. It is a permanent commitment. The good of offspring simply means that children are a blessing, not a burden. And that the opportunity to participate with God in the act of creation by bringing new life into the world is one of the greatest privileges of marriage. Once again, not every marriage is blessed with children. But every marriage must be open to receive that blessing. And this openness excludes all forms of artificial contraception. When a married couple uses artificial birth control, this indicates a rejection of this essential good of the marriage covenant—the good of offspring.

Because this happens to be "respect life Sunday," it’s worth mentioning that, if as a society we truly regarded children as a blessing—and, furthermore, as a blessing inextricably connected to marriage and the act of marriage—then it seems to me that the scourge of abortion would soon come to an end. Just as a Jesus honored little children in the Gospel today, a society which truly recognizes these truths of Natural Law would honor every life as sacred.

All these truths relate to marriage as a natural institution, as part of God’s creation, and they are not unique to the Christian faith. But the definition which I quoted at the beginning of this homily closes by stating, "this covenant between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a sacrament." In other words, when two baptized people enter into the marriage covenant, they exchange with each other a sacrament. The husband ministers the sacrament to his wife, and the wife ministers the sacrament to her husband. The sacramental grace which comes with Christian marriage makes the natural bond even stronger. And because marriage is ordered toward the good of the spouses, that order is elevated to the highest good—namely, union with almighty God. And so, the sacrament of marriage provides the grace whereby a husband and wife can assist each other in their attainment of salvation. A long journey by car can be a grueling, lonely ordeal when one is traveling alone. But when two travel together, the journey is much easier, more enjoyable, and even seems to go faster as the two share the driving and each other’s company. The same is true in our journey toward heaven: sacramental marriage can make the trip much easier as the couple, enriched with God’s grace, help each other on the way.

It only remains to be said that this is an ideal picture I’ve painted. If your marriage comes close to what I have described, you have much to be thankful for. However, the fact remains that we live in an imperfect world and we are an imperfect people—a sinful people prone to fall and to make mistakes. Sometimes people enter into unions which probably should never have occurred. But even when everything falls apart and there seems to be no hope, God is always ready to forgive and to heal; and he gives us his Holy Church to help us find a way forward. Nevertheless, the high standards remain, because we must seek holiness in our personal lives as well as in our marriage and family lives. It is a long and difficult journey, but God’s grace is available to help us each step of the way. Seek his grace and live by it and your marriage, your family, will be happy and holy.

© 2003, The Rev. Timothy W. Castor