When I first started to look at the readings for today, it was easy enough to tie together our first reading from Genesis, and our Gospel from Saint Mark, as they both dealt with the relationship between a man and a woman, and ultimately the union of marriage. Then I got to Saint Paul’s letter to the Hebrews, and its discussion of the suffering that Christ endured to be made perfect by the Father. It took finally dawned on me that this suffering actually ties into the earlier theme of marriage that I mentioned, but before I ruffle too many feathers with that comment, perhaps a bit of explanation is in order.
Every so often I get to see an older couple come to Church and celebrate their anniversary during the Mass, and it’s really awe inspiring to see the two of them standing there being honored and knowing all the ups and downs that they must both have endured over those many years. The looks shared between them bely a peace, strength, and dignity that can only come through shared trials, and leaning on one another to get through them. It’s the only way.
It was also the only way for our Lord to be made perfect, He had to share in the suffering that is part of humanity in order to become our perfect leader as both God and man. It would not have been possible for Him to represent us perfectly as our High Priest before God without this intimacy through suffering and living and dying as man.
It is appropriate therefore, that when we marry, we are part of covenant between three parties, not just the husband and wife, Jesus is also part of this covenant, and because of His presence within the covenant agreement, along with the intimate bond formed between man and woman, we consider it to be inviolable. That is why as Catholics we believe that a marriage is until the end of our earthly lives.
A marriage is a good model of the closeness we seek with Christ, and to hopefully draw closer to His perfection. In the course of any marriage, there will be trials and challenges that if endured, will draw a husband and wife closer to one another, and strengthen their bond of unselfish love. This is the same bond that we are called to share with Christ and with His children who are created in His image.
This is not to say that this kind of closeness and following of our Lord is reserved for married couples, the union between any man or woman and Christ can achieve the same spiritual intimacy, and the same fruits of that intimacy can manifest within the Church as we each serve our brothers and sisters in our own vocations. We are all called to intimacy with Christ, there are no exceptions, He desires and longs for each one of us. It is up to us to accept this invitation and to desire Him as well.
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