Latin October 03 Mark 10: 2-16 (27th Sunday in Ordinary time, year B) FAMILIES OF GOD
The character of marriage and institution of marriage seems to be undergoing radical changes. Daily Star reported about Sharon Tenderer, a millionaire woman from Britain married to a male dolphin Cindy in 2005 December in full rituals. Cindy died in 2006 due to illness and Sharon was broken from inside and now she is living like a ‘widow.’ Marriages between human beings and pets, robots etc. are also trending in the current world! Further, there are reports of marriages being conducted in the air and under water. A zoophilic dedicating so much of time for pets, and a technocrat for computers for so many hours a day may prioritize love for humans over animals and machines losing feelings and emotions between human beings. The institution of marriage as designed by God is undergoing a lot of challenges in the modern world.
Today’s readings invite us to reflect upon married life and family. The Church’s teachings on marriage and family are based on the teachings of Jesus.
The First reading today from the Book of Genesis (Gn. 2:18-24) primarily tries to convey the message that God is the author of marriage and it is not the invention of human beings. “I will make a suitable partner for him” (Gn. 2:18). In the gospel today (Mk. 10:2-16) Jesus talks about the indissolubility of marriage as a covenant between a man and a woman. It is a permanent, exclusive commitment. It is not simply a human contract, but a sacred covenant. “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Mk. 10:9).
Today’s world being influenced by social and economic changes treats traditional values of family and familial bonds as a personal option or a preference not as a responsibility. Thus, many people no longer see or value marriage as an essential foundation of family life and society Challenges against marriage are many like divorce and remarriage, contraception, sexual promiscuity, faithless households, surrogate mothers, same sex marriages etc. are increasing.
The Church wishes every Christian family to be a ‘Family of God.’ Her vision of family is really sublime as she looks at family as the domestic church. As Bishop Fulton J Sheen used to say, “It takes three to get married: a man and a woman and God. It is like two streams joining together and forming a river- flowing together and flowing as one river.
Two aspects of a Christian family as a ‘Family of God.’
Firstly, Marriage is to be understood as a platform of COMMITMENT and cooperation. The world has a more ‘right based approach’ than duty based! Marriage counselling has become a flourishing business today. Today’s couples are more worried about their rights than duties. Couples complain about each other on the different rights and privileges they were denied by their partners. Marriage is a partnership. Good partnerships emerge out of mutual understanding and mutual respect.
On the occasion of the golden anniversary of their wedding Albert Einstein and his wife were asked in an interview, “To what do you attribute the success of your marriage?” Einstein replied, “When we got married, we made a pact that in our togetherness I would make all the big decisions and she would make all the little ones. And we have kept to it for fifty years. That I think is the reason for the success of our marriage.” Then he added, “The strange thing is that in fifty years there hasn’t been one big decision.” Whenever couples focus on rights over commitments problems originate in marital relationships. A happy partner will always ask “what can I do for you?” not “what shall I entitled from you?”
Secondly an understanding that Marriage is PRESENCE. It is built on love. To love someone means to be present to that person, to have time for the beloved and to be available. Spouse and children will be top priority, not business and career.
Once a young mother came to the parish priest with the complaint that she doubts her husband having an illegal relationship with another woman. While talking to her the priest asked her about their work pattern amidst hectic city life. She has day time work and husband has night duty. By the time husband reaches home after night-duty the wife would already leave the house for her work. By the time she returns home the husband would already leave for his job. What an irony! Couples living in the same house meet each other only on Sundays! The priest told her possibly this is the root cause of your scrupulosity. The advised them either both of you work at the same time and or one should quit the job for the sake of your family and they should have time for presence.
INDISSOLUBILITY AND ANNULMENT OF MARRIAGE: Indissolubility of Marriage means that when a man and women are completely united in a consummated Christian Marriage, there is no power on earth, not even Pope, can dissolve that bond. It will be dissolved only if one of the spouse dies. State law might permit divorce and remarriage even while both spouses are alive, but there is no concept of divorce in the Church because Jesus prohibits it on the basis of the theology of creation. “What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Mk. 10:9). Human beings have no right to dissolve a marriage because for a Christian marriage is not simply a human contract, but it is a sacred covenant.
Divorce is only a civil concept and practice. There is only annulment in the Church and it is a process which establishes that a marriage was null because of some grave reasons which makes marriage invalid according to Christian marriage law.
Let us think how I can make my Christian family a ‘Family of God.’ Amen.