The Vocation to Catholic Marriage Is Unique
Catholic marriage is a participation in the creative and loving power of God
Mark 10:2-16 is one of the more controversial verses about marriage and divorce. It is the center of the Church’s teaching on marriage and why divorce is not allowed in the Church.
However, this is another reading that becomes misunderstood when we focus just on the rules of the Church.
First of all, as the Church teaches, the Gospel teaching on marriage is different than any other teaching on marriage outside the Church, even the law of Moses. Jesus defines marriage really within the co-operation and participation in the mind and the will of God. It is living with the mission that God has for his people. Therefore, with the understanding of marriage in the Catholic Church and in this case I am talking about a valid marriage, all other rules for marriage are rescinded—including those in the civil, Jewish and pagan worlds. Therefore, the law of Moses allows for divorce but the Gospels do not. The Gospel rule supercedes the rule of marriage. Other cultures may allow polygamy but the Gospel does not so the Gospel rule supercedes those rules of marriage. This also includes the same-sex marriage which cannot be done in a Catholic Church because marriage has a specific mission.
What is marriage?
What is Jesus calling marriage here. It is a participation in the will of God, therefore, marriage is not simply two people who come together but who join in a vocation blessed by God because it is in service to God.
It is a sign to others of the faithfulness of God and calls married couples to a vocation for procreation and to draw in union with each other as they both draw in union with God. This is what marriage is and therefore it is vocation with that understanding.
When we define marriage as nothing more than rules then we miss the point. When we understand the vocation to marriage, then we recognize that the married couple embark on a journey in service to each other and God on a sublime level. This is what Jesus explains marriage is. This is why rooting itself in this Gospel the Church has strict rules on marriage and rules out divorce and remarriage.
Marriage, therefore, needs to be understood within that context which is also why it must be lived within the context of prayer. The Lord bestows a powerful mission upon the married couple and that mission will require prayer for it to be lived in the way God calls because it is such a powerful mission.
I want us to think of that for a second.
Something that should be honored by society
Priesthood, etc. is also a powerful mission which also requires prayer and like marriage guarantees a future journey into the unknown. It requires sacrifice and service to the Lord and the members of the family. It requires a reorganization of priorities in order to fulfill the vocation and prayer is essential always.
Now, think this through. If we understand the vocation of marriage in this way then how should we treat married couples? I have spoken in the past of the occasional time someone might try to offer me something free because I am a priest and I explain that I hate this. If it happens, I will not return to that business establishment.
However, if we understand the vocation and the call of marriage, we should hold the married couple be held in such esteem. Should not the married couple living a vocational call by God as is the vocation to ordained life, should not they be held in such esteem and even a greater esteem. This vocation is a call by God himself to fulfill his role in service to Him. This is what marriage is.
The married couple are called to grow in love of God and each other that they may spread that love among family, friends and neighbors. Further, the married couple may find that they walk down a track that is nothing what they expected but when they walk that track the Lord leads them to challenges that further require prayer to endure.
There is mutual support and caring for each other and when children come along the continued support for the children This support is not only material support but emotional and spiritual support as well.
An adventurous mission
It also is the mission that like the vocation to priesthood has many hills, valleys and difficult turns that is the adventure of life lived together in service to Christ.
It is a challenge because it is participating in God’s love for each and sharing it with family members and neighbors. This is the challenge of marriage that Jesus calls people to experience.
This means that Catholic marriage has a unique place in human reality which is why it is treated differently.
So Jesus defines marriage here in a unique way. He supercedes all other forms of marriage that even were included in the law of Moses and defines in a way that leads us to remember that this is a powerful vocation and we need to remember it when we are dealing with a married couple.
Now there are other types of commitment and some of those other forms of marriage in the civil world and in other religions are lived within a commitment rooted in friendship.
Catholic marriage is a vocation to serve God and his people in a special way and therefore requires prayer as serious as the prophets prayed in the Bible.
Fr. Robert J Carr is pastor of St. Anthony Parish in Allston, MA
The parish podcast is at https://catholicaudiomedia.com