Catholics are rightly in awe at the action of their priests who, by the words of consecration at Mass, can make present on the Church’s altars the Body, Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ, God’s Son, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity and Savior of mankind. That such power, visible to the eyes of faith, should be granted to a fellow human being should indeed be an occasion for humility on the part of the celebrating priest and for wonderment on the part of the witnessing congregation. Well does the priest genuflect after uttering the consecratory words, “This is my Body given…This is the cup of My Blood shed…” Adoration is the only proper response.
The Catholic laity however must not limit their reverence at the power God has invested in humankind to the solemn words of consecration. The human couple, man and woman, hopefully in a loving marital embrace, also may bring down the power of God from heaven through their intimate, physical self-giving. Almost a hundred years ago, in his 1930 encyclical, Casti Connubii, Pope Pius XI observed that marriage “is the means of transmitting life, thus making the parents the ministers, as it were, of the Divine Omnipotence.” The Pope is thoughtfully teaching that through their intimacy, spouses actually and uniquely share in God’s work of creation. The human couple, with God’s blessing, may introduce a new life to this world, a totally new person, uniquely engendered by God through the agency of a human couple’s physical embrace. Apart from male/female interaction, no matter how unusual the circumstances, no other human enterprise results in a new life. Such creative power, loaned by God to a human couple, demands respect — to put it mildly—and indeed reverence — to put it frankly.
Jesus, of course, had long ago raised the loving embrace of marriage to the exalted place matrimony has held within the Catholic tradition. Christ’s solemn words, to be heard in this coming Sunday’s Gospel reading from St. Mark are worth repeating, “‘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, no human being must separate.” The physical potential that the loving embrace of marriage has been given by God as well as the humbling responsibility that parenthood confers upon a couple should make every earthly person, married or unmarried, tremble in reverence for the creative opportunity bestowed by God on a man and a woman. The human couple as well as the ordained priest share strikingly in the divine power of God.
Human society in this present era however has sadly abandoned the respect our ancestors had for marriage and family and is intent on redefining all aspects of the origins and nature of human life. For a sad example, the current Massachusetts House Bill #4970 is jaw-dropping, bringing legal chaos to family law by adding numerous variations as to how family life can be legally addressed. Here are some outstanding points. The word “mother” in family law is replaced with “person who gave birth to the child.” The word “father” is replaced with “other parent.” Thus the roles of father and mother are removed from the statutes and replaced with gender-neutral terminology. Even the words “a man and a woman” are replaced with “persons.” “Intended parents” can be listed on the birth certificate instead of the biological parents. A sperm donor shall not be considered to be the actual father of the child, despite his obvious genetic connection. The bill states further, “The court may adjudicate a child to have more than 2 parents if the court finds that it is in the best interest of the child.” Not only can a woman be paid to carry a child for someone else, but she can be in the business of getting pregnant via sperm donors in order to sell the babies to the highest bidders. If such drivel can be legislated 45 miles up Route 95, then similar enactments can be expected soon on Smith Hill.
The ancient Jews in Christ’s day had sadly grown lax in their respect for the solemn responsibility that marriage and family must always demand. Jesus felt obliged to call true believers back to the original and earnest words heard in the Garden of Eden: “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called ‘woman,’ for out of man this one has been taken.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.” Modern society, take note: What God has joined together, man must not divide!
