Reflection on Mass readings for Oct. 6 (27th Sunday in Ordinary Time)
Genesis 2:18-24
Psalm 128:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6
Hebrew 2:9-11
Mark 10:2-16 or 10:2-12
I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that a Catholic wedding rite contains some of the most moving and emotional images and moments of any liturgy we will ever experience.
Even if we’ve never taken a class on liturgy or theology, many of us are still familiar with the rich symbols and highlights of that event – most of all, the promises that establish the new sacramental bond between husband and wife, the blessing and exchange of rings, and of course the beautiful witness of the bride and groom themselves as they pledge themselves to one another and enter fully into a new state in life.
As a priest, however, I’ve found that one of my favorite moments in celebrating a wedding liturgy is an often underappreciated prayer close to the end of the rite, as the celebrant offers the nuptial blessing to the newly married couple.
This lengthy blessing begins by calling to mind the scriptural roots of the Sacrament of Marriage, and then invokes God’s blessing in these words:
“Look now with favor on these your servants, joined together in marriage, who ask to be strengthened by your blessing. Send down on them the grace of the Holy Spirit and pour your love into their hearts, that they may remain faithful in the marriage covenant.”
This prayer is a fitting lens for us to consider Our Lord’s words in this weekend’s readings, which remind us not only of these biblical foundations of marriage, but also by extension of God’s own faithful love for his people.
We should acknowledge, first, that the Church’s teachings on the indissolubility of the marriage bond are often challenging and confusing to many people, especially those of us who have been impacted by the pain of separation and divorce.
With those experiences in mind, Jesus’ command, “Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate” (Mk 10:9), may strike us as naive or unreasonable. If Christians were expected to live out this calling to faithful love while relying solely on our natural strength, then it might indeed be an unrealistic challenge.
The truth is, however, that Our Lord offers us a support that is more than capable of meeting this need. As paragraph 1615 of the Catechism reassures us, “By coming to restore the original order of creation disturbed by sin, he himself gives the strength and grace to live marriage in the new dimension of the Reign of God.”
Marriage, for all its blessings and joys, is also a call to sacrifice and self-renunciation, an invitation to a gift of self that lasts for the whole of life. As spouses share those crosses with Christ, they are strengthened by this sacrament to live that commitment with an authentic, faithful, and fruitful love – a love that shares in the faithfulness and fruitfulness of Jesus Christ’s own love for his Church.
It is this same mystery of love that should inspire even those of us who are not married: No matter what our history, wounds, or challenges, Our Lord loves us with that same unbreakable and indissoluble commitment that he has held toward us since before the beginning of Creation itself.
This is the same love spoken of in the nuptial blessing of the wedding liturgy, the love that is poured out into the hearts of a husband and wife as they are joined in the matrimonial covenant.
It is the same love that we are reminded of every time we make the Sign of the Cross, and whenever we contemplate the crucifixes that hang in our homes and our parishes.
As we are each invited to follow Christ’s example and lay down our lives as he did, we should keep these reminders close to our hearts, and never be afraid to pray that his strength, and not our own, may keep us always faithful to that calling.
Father Cassidy Stinson is the pastor of St. Jude, Radford; chaplain of Radford University Catholic Campus Ministry; and a member of the Institute of Jesus Priest, a secular institute founded by Blessed James Alberione.