We were not created equal?!!

Last week I spoke about God's Word being eternal truth. God's Word was truth in Eden, it is truth today, and it will be truth as far in the future and eternity as you care to imagine. It is the human being in our sinfulness that rubs like "sandpaper on skin" with regards to truth. The readings from this past weekend demonstrate this as divorce is one of the more contentious issues in the Church.

I was only able to preach one Mass this weekend, but one of the points I wanted to convey is that we are not created equal. We are all equal in human dignity, but male and female were not created equal and for the same purpose. We were created differently and to compliment the other. We find that complimentary union in marriage. Marriage is where two become one; just as the trinity is so perfect in love, that they are One. Marriage was meant to experience the divine life and to understand what such a unifying love is.

When the Pharisee's questioned Jesus about divorce, Jesus did not answer with the Mosaic Law, but took the Pharisee's back to the beginning and told them how God created us for marriage. No one puts asunder what God joins. Jesus tells us that it was because of our hardness of heart that Moses permitted divorce. That is a scathing review of our human condition. Jesus tells us that just because we get divorced, does not mean that God recognizes the divorce. Jesus tells us that we are living in a state of adultery. Marriage in the Church means making a covenant before God. We can get a civil divorce, but God is not obligated to our civil law.

Humility is a Christian virtue and it is humility that makes us see that yes, you are right God...and I am wrong. Humility does not ask or tell God to get with it...we're living in the 21st century...times have changed. Human beings have changed and God has not. God did not give us the Law to be a killjoy, but the Law was given so we could live a life of freedom. If you have a few spare months...the best resource on marriage and all it means is Pope John Paul II's Theology of the Body. It is an exhaustive look on the Scriptural foundations of marriage based on yesterdays readings. I caution you it is a challenging read.

I certainly intended to keep this blog short, but I also notice that there is so much to cover that I do not get to in depth on anything. Please comment if you want an expansion of an idea or more explanation...Fr. Mark