Gospel Reflection 2021/2022

Marriage between a man and a woman.

There is a French proverb that goes, “Marriage is like a fortress besieged: those who are outside want to get in, and those who are inside want to get out.” It is a portrayal of the reality of life where there are so many skewed, warped and distorted misconceptions about marriage: the outsiders often view marriage with idealism, romanticism and utopianism; while the insiders often view marriage with scorn, disdain and contempt.

Yet, against this popular notion, Christ and His Church has always taught, maintained and upheld the SANCTITY AND INDISSOLUBILITY OF MARRIAGE.

1) The first book of the Bible, the book of Genesis, describes the first marriage between Adam and Eve. Marriage is a covenantal relationship between a man and a woman, willed and sanctified by God. [cf. Gn 2: 18-25]

2) Echoing the book of Genesis, Jesus teaches and declares that marriage is indissoluble [Mk 10: 7-9]: “‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Marriage is more than meets the eye.

The marriage between a man and a woman points us to the deeper mystery and reality of our Christian faith: the love between a man and a woman in marriage reflects the perfect love of Christ for His Church.

1) St Paul [cf. Ep 5: 22-33] sees that the covenantal union of a man and woman is profoundly and intimately connected to THE COVENANTAL UNION BETWEEN CHRIST AND HIS CHURCH: for to him, Jesus Christ is the Bridegroom and the Church is the spotless Bride. Just like the head is perpetually connected to the body, Jesus is always one and inseparable with His Church.

2) In the fullness of time, Jesus is returning for His Bride, the Church. St John in his vision [Rv 21: 2], ‘saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her Husband.’

Therefore, together with the universal Church, we must look forward with joyful hope to the day when we can finally enter into perfect and eternal union with Christ our Lord.

Entering into the Covenant.

Last Sunday, we celebrated the Feast of the Baptism of Our Lord, recalling our own Baptism.

This Sunday (2^nd Sunday in the Ordinary Time), we are mediating on Jesus’ first miracle at the wedding at Cana.

Yes, when we are baptised, we are, in a certain sense, ‘married’ to the Lord. With the indelible mark of Baptism on us and the outpouring of God’s grace, we belong to God alone.

Just as marriage is an indissoluble covenant between a man and a woman, at our Baptism we enter into an eternal Covenant with God – ‘He shall be our God, and we will be His people’ [cf. Jr 30: 22] – 'we must have no other gods before Him' [cf. Ex 20: 3].

Living the Covenant.

Married life is never easy; so is the life as a CHRIST-ian.

The Lord has not promised us beds of roses, instead He has urged us to choose to be different and enter by 'the narrow gate' [Mt 7: 13-14]: 'deny ourselves and take up our cross and follow Him' [Mt 16: 24-26]. There is no highway to heaven, no shortcut to salvation, and no backdoor to God’s heart.

1) Like marriage, life as a CHRIST-ian has its ups and downs, highs and lows, joys and pains, hopes and doubts, consolations and desolations, light and shade... Yet, we are called to strive to live the Baptismal Covenant faithfully, diligently, honestly and joyfully every single day.

2) Like marriage, life as a CHRIST-ian requires faith and work. FAITH is to ‘put up with God’s incomprehensibility for a lifetime’ [Fr Karl Rahner, SJ]. WORK is to work on our relationship and to fall deeper in love with Jesus our Spouse: to be rooted in the Scripture, trained in Tradition, nourished by the Sacraments, and consistent in prayer.

‘Married’ into the Family of God.

Marriage is not just the union of two human persons; it is the union between two families. When a person gets married, he (or she) is not just married to the spouse, but he (or she) is also married and received into a new family.

When we are baptised, we are ‘married’ to Christ and, at the same time, received into the Family of God, the Church. By the grace of our Baptism, we become the living members of the Body of Christ, the Church.

In the Body of Christ, Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI [Encyclical, Spe Salvi, 30 Nov 2007, #48] reminds us that, “We should recall that no man is an island, entire of itself. Our lives are involved with one another, through innumerable interactions they are linked together. No one lives alone. No one sins alone. No one is saved alone. The lives of others continually spill over into mine: in what I think, say, do and achieve. And conversely, my life spills over into that of others: for better and for worse.”

Even if trials come, tribulations strike, turbulences rise and temptations overwhelm, we must not abandon Jesus or the Family of God. We do not know what the future holds for us, but we do know we can trust in this God who has come and died for us.

And in this big Family of God, Mary of Nazareth – the Mother of our Lord – is our Mother too. We know that she is ever close and silently present to us. Whenever we ‘run out of wine’ in life, we know with certainty that our dear Mother is here: to pray for us, to pray with us, to show us Jesus, and to remind us to ‘do whatever He tells you’ [Jn 2: 5].

Let our fervent prayer be:

“Lord Jesus Christ, I beg to fall deeper in love with You and Your Church.”