Marriage and Social Justice: Reflections for the Synod on the Family - Part
II
In the first
segment of this reflection I used the image of the marriage of Joseph and Mary
as a transition into this second reflection, for we can learn a great deal from
the only other text in Matthew’s Gospel that relates to marriage:
“This
is how Jesus Christ came to be born. His
mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph; but before they came to live together she
was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit. Her husband Joseph, being a man of honor and
wanting to spare her publicity, decided to divorce her informally. He had made up his mind to do this when the
angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, ‘Joseph son of David, do
not be afraid to take Mary home as your wife, because she has conceived what is
in her by the Holy Spirit. She will give
birth to a son and you must name him Jesus, because he is the one who is to
save his people from their sins.’”
(Matt. 1: 18-21)
This text provides
us with two considerations relevant for our topic:
1.
The actions of Joseph.
2.
The relationship between Joseph and
Mary vis a vis the societal institution of marriage.
- The
biblical text describes Joseph as being a man of honor, and his initial
decision to quietly divorce Mary is seen in this context. Joseph intended to dismiss her quietly
so that she would not be exposed to the Law, which, as we saw earlier,
would have left Mary vulnerable and without societal protections. Presumably, Mary would have returned to
her father’s protection and remained in that state for the remainder of
her years, as no man would have married a woman who bore a child out of
wedlock.
The biblical text
also makes clear that Joseph was at that point unaware of the unique nature of
this conception. It was only by a
revelation from an angel that he could know this fact. What is more, God calls Joseph to do
something beyond the realm of justice in taking Mary into his house. This calling represents an additional ideal
over and above the original ideal of marriage we saw earlier. Joseph was not required by the Law to receive
Mary into his house as his spouse, but God called him beyond justice to embrace
Mary fully as his spouse.
- This
text also sheds light on the institution of marriage in that ancient
society that contained within it three distinct stages: betrothal, marriage, and
consummation. Betrothal was a
formal event in which the man and woman were pledged to one another, often
in arrangements made by their parents.
This pledge was legally binding and could only be broken through a
formal process of the Law akin to divorce.
The betrothal represented the intention to marry in an official
ceremony at a later date.
The second stage –
the marriage ceremony itself – represented a second distinct event, for it
ratified and confirmed the original betrothal commitment in a public ceremony
that often was celebrated over several days.
The entire community would come together to celebrate and be with the
couple on this public occasion of exchanging marriage vows. The marriage was now publicly ratified and
sealed by the witness of the entire community.
- The
final stage of marriage was the consummation of the marriage which was, of
course, private in nature and took place within the bridal chamber after
the public marriage ceremony. The
consummation of the marriage is the final ratification of the marriage
covenant and represents the couple’s ongoing communion with one another in
their life together as a married couple.
Consummation also
reflects the desire to be a fruitful marriage union that is open to new
life. It reflects the idea that
sexuality is not an end in itself but a means of both celebrating communion
with one another and in the marriage bearing fruit in the new birth of
children.
It is within this social context of marriage at
the time of Jesus that we can arrive at a needed reform in the Church for today
that will assist us in developing a coherent pedagogy on marriage that is both
relevant and effective in the life of God’s people. The restored order of the sacraments of
initiation serve as a reflection and mirroring of the stages of marriage noted
above:
Baptism signifies the betrothal of the soul to
God. The person is pledged to the
service of God and promises lifelong fidelity to this relationship with
God. Confirmation then represents the
marriage ceremony where the original pledge is sealed, confirmed, and ratified
by the bishop and the entire community. We
can then better understand why we can receive baptism and confirmation only
once, for we can only be betrothed and married only once in the original
understanding of marriage.
Finally, the Eucharist represents the
consummation of the relationship between God and the person. It is a physical encounter that is intimate
and unitive – hence the reason we call it communion. Such an encounter is also fruitful and open
to new life within the relationship between God and the person. We can then better understand why we can
celebrate and receive the Eucharist more than once.
The restored order of sacraments can then help
us in our teaching on the sacrament of marriage, for it can help us return to
these various stages of the marriage commitment, stages that we mirror and
reflect in our sacramental celebrations as the corporate people of God. For the Church is the bride of Christ just as
Israel is the bride of God. Our
sacramental celebrations must reflect this relationship in an authentic way so
that we can better reflect our relationship to God in our individual marriage
commitments. A reorientation of our
sacraments of initiation and the theology behind it will help renew our
understanding of all the other sacraments, as well as renew our understanding
of moral theology, seen more in relational terms since the Second Vatican
Council rather than in juridical/legal terms.
This
reform within our sacraments still represents the ideal image of marriage to
which we are called. Celebrating the
sacraments of initiation will help us be more faithful to that ideal image of
marriage. We still must deal with
situations in which the less than ideal exists and how we might reach out to
restore and heal what has been broken.
No comments:
Post a Comment