19th week in ordinary time, Friday, August 13
Jos 24:14-29, Ps 136:1-3,16-18, 21-22, 24, Mt 19:3-12
There are many things in this world we struggle to understand. And at the same time, there are things that just are, they are perfect in themselves. I know this sounds confusing but there is one thing that is always constant, and never changing, that is natural law. I’m not taking about mans laws, or the laws of nature, but of those things that just are, because of the way they were not only made, but created. Natural law is those things that are inherent in us, that defy mans laws. They just are, we know them to be true, and they can never change. We choose to believe that natural law was given to us by God, our creator. But even n the secular world, there is a recognition that natural law is also governed by what is right in nature and it gives us the ability to deduce what is right, and what is wrong. We all possess it, but it’s what we do with it that matters.
Jesus was challenged today about whether divorce was to be permitted, but that wasn’t the only question here, it was also about whether natural law was correct or not. Jesus points out that even from the beginning, we were made, male and female. We were made to create a human race, and the only way to do that was with a male and female. This is God’s law, the way he made us. Perfect in his creation to be joined to together and never separated. Divorce is not a spiritual concept; it is a human concept that takes itself outside of natural law. Divorce was created by man because, we have free will and as Jesus said, we had hard hearts. We chose not to obey natural law and we chose not to obey God’s plan for our lives. The beauty of becoming one flesh and combining them to create new life, is beyond man’s laws which is why it is permanent and everlasting. God has joined these two people, man, and women to become one, to create new life. This is marriage, two becoming one, in permanence, to create new life.
Marriage can never be between two men, or two women or who knows what else, because it cannot create new life and that violates natural law. It violates that bond between a male and female that is so necessary for new life to begin. You can call it love, you can call it commitment, but even by the very definition of marriage, you cannot call it a marriage. It is something else, but it is not a marriage.
These are hard words to hear, and not everyone will accept it. Not all will understand it, but we do know it is perfect in God’s making. It is how he made us, male and female. To be joined together by God, made one to create new life, and never to be separated.
Saint James Catholic Church 