“The covenant between the spouses is integrated into God’s covenant with man”

I remember a movie which I watched many years ago. It was called The Last Married Couple in America, a comedy about a couple who started to doubt their own marriage when every couple they knew separated. Today’s Gospel reminds us of the origin of marriage and its institutor, “God Himself is the author of marriage” (GS 48 Par 1, cf Mk 10:9). He has given its meaning in His divine plan and in His order of creation. While various forms of marriage exist in different cultures and societies, the fundamental truth and characteristics of marriage are common and universal (cf CCC 1603).

Perhaps it is good to revisit the true notion of marriage in our Catholic faith. The Scripture begins with a very positive vision of marriage in the creation of a man and a woman. They are more than companion or partner, they are bone and flesh of each other (Gen 2:23). In this aspect, they are to live in mutual love, respect and unity. This matrimonial union also demands indissolubility, fidelity and fecundity (CCC 1643, FC 13). In the Old Testament, God’s relationship with His chosen people was described (mostly through the prophets) in covenantal and spousal language (Is 54, 62; Hos 1-3; Jer 2-3, 31; Ezek 16, 23; Song of Songs), signifying that a marital bond is by nature a covenant, “the covenant between the spouses is integrated into God’s covenant with man” (CCC 1639). This was to prepare for the new and everlasting covenant which will be brought forth by Jesus Christ the bridegroom (Jn 3:29; Mt 9:15, 25:1) who invites us all to the “wedding feast of the Lamb” (Rev 19:7, 9, 21:9).

The fullest expression of the truth of Christ’s redeeming love in the analogy of spousal marriage is found in St. Paul’s Letter to the Ephesians 5:21-32 (MD 23). Thus “Christ has added to marriage the dignity of a sacrament” (Arcanum 23, CIC 1055) and therefore Christian marriage is sacred and ecclesial in nature. It is sacred because it is sealed and sanctified by the Author Himself who bestows on it grace and blessing. It is ecclesial because it is a visible sign of consent and commitment of mutual self giving (GS 22, TOB) in the presence of the faith community, a reflection of the very essence of the Trinitarian life of love and communion. “The great mystery of Christ giving Himself for His beloved spouse, the Church……takes us back to creation, to God as Creator, and into the very Mystery of the Holy Trinity, three Persons, One in love, the ultimate source of all love and union” (Peter Elliott).

What underlies that seemingly funny phenomenon in the movie is in fact a tragedy-----a tragedy which arises from unclear or false perception of marital union (cf Arcanum 27). Love which depends solely on feelings and emotions is not reliable. It can change and erode over time. Love is a commitment of being faithful just as God has committed Himself to be faithful to His covenant and to His people (Deut 7:8-9; 2 Tim 2:13; Heb 10:23; Ps 86:15; Lam 3:22-23). Let us not be swayed from the truth of marriage like the couple in the movie but adhere to the promise we made on the day when we said “I do”.

Note:
GS: Gaudium et spes (Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World, Second Vatican Council, 1965)
FC: Familiaris Consortio (Pope John Paul II 1981 Apostolic Exhortation)
CIC: Code of Canon Law (1983)
Arcanum (Encyclical of Pope Leo XIII, 1880)
TOB: Theology of the Body (Pope John Paul II)

Peter Elliott: What God has Joined: The Sacramentality of Marriage, Homebush: NSW; St. Paul Publications, 1990, P.4.