“Marriage and the Resurrection” – 32nd Sunday OT- C (11.06.22)

“Marriage and the Resurrection”

By: Fr. David Schmidt

St. John Paul II Shrine- Washington, DC

 Mass Readings - https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/110622.cfm

In today’s readings the theme that emerges is the theme of the Resurrection. In the first reading we have the story about the 7 brothers from the Book of Maccabees who are being persecuted by the king as they are being forced to eat pork which was against the law of God at that time. And these brothers refused to eat the pork, so they are subject to torture and are ultimately killed. And each of the brothers as they are about to be put to death give a claim and confidence in the resurrection when they die.

Then in the Gospel we this question that comes up from the Sadducees whom we hear are those who do not believe in the resurrection, and they bring up this question on the resurrection. And it’s interesting how they bring up the question within the context of marriage. Jesus’ response to the Sadducees when they give Him this scenario of the 7 brothers who marry this woman in succession, whose wife will she be at the resurrection?

And Jesus’ response is “The children of this age marry and remarry; but those who are deemed worthy to attain to the coming age and to the resurrection of the dead neither marry nor are given in marriage.”

So when we hear this response of Jesus, we can ask ourselves ‘why does Jesus say that those at the ‘resurrection of the dead’ neither marry nor are given in marriage?’

This is because heaven is marriage. When we die we are united with God forever.

This is what earthly marriage is meant to point too. Union with God in heaven for all eternity.

One of the tragedies in our society today is that we have lost the meaning of marriage. Many people have developed their own view of what marriage is. This faulty view of marriage effects the way we understand this connection between marriage and the Resurrection.

Many treat marriage as some mere formality that they have to go through so that state or the Church recognizes their union.

Many treat marriage as if it’s simply a committed relationship that can be broken off at any time.

Many also see marriage simply as two people who love each other no matter their gender and want to be in some sort of committed relationship with each other.

These views are not what marriage is.

So what is marriage then? First, marriage is not a man-made institution (CCC 1603). God is the author of marriage and has been so since the very beginning (Gaudium et Spes, 48). The Bible begins with the marriage of Adam and Eve, and the Lord uses spousal imagery all throughout the Bible to depict His relationship with His people. All of this is too prepare us for what we see at the end of the Bible which is the “wedding feast of the Lamb” (Rev 19:7, 9) when we take part in the wedding banquet of heaven and are united with God for all eternity.

God raised marriage to the level of a Sacrament when Christ came as the Divine Bridegroom to die on the Cross, for His Bride, the Church to unite Himself to us forever. Earthly marriage is meant to be an image of the marriage between Christ and the Church. Marriage as a Sacrament means that they become an image of this union between Christ and the Church and that Christ pours His divine life into the couple to help them live out these vows that they are promising to one another. Without Christ’s divine help, no one would be able to live out marriage the way a husband and wife are called too.

One of the reasons why marriage can only be between a man and a woman is because it images the marriage between Christ, the Bridegroom, and His Bride, the Church. This unity and interplay of man and woman, the masculine and the feminine, is written into the fabric of the entire universe.

This reality that man and woman are made for another is written into our very own bodies. When looking at the body of man and woman we can see that our bodies don’t make sense on our own, but only make sense in light of the other. St. Pope John Paul II refers to this as the “nuptial meaning of the body.”

Only man and woman can truly enter into a one flesh union that can generate life and allow that life to pour forth into the world in the form of children.

The marriage bond is meant to reflect this inseparable bond between Christ and His Church. When a man and woman marry in a way that follows the teaching of the Church, their marriage develops an indissoluble bond that cannot be broken. This is why the Church teaches that there is no just thing as divorce because the marriage bond can’t be broken. During what’s called the annulment process, the Church determines whether or not the marriage bond actually took place at the time of the wedding. If not, then the Church determines there was never a marriage bond in the first place. If so, then the Church says there is a bond there that can never be broken, except in death.

This can be difficult to hear, but the deeper reality of this truth should actually give us cause for great joy.

The reason is because lets say the marriage bond could be broken. If that was the case, and if marriage is meant to be a reflection of Christ’s union with us as the Church. Then it would mean that Christ’s bond with the Church could be broken thus allowing for the possibility of us being separated from Him forever. And that would mean we would have no chance at eternal life.

The Church has been so unfaithful and has committed countless acts of spiritual adultery throughout the centuries. Christ would have every right to break this bond. However, this bond can’t be broken. He has bound Himself to us forever. He doesn’t do this reluctantly as He knew our sinfulness and our inability to love Him well. Instead, He looks at the Church as a whole and at each one of us in our imperfections even after we continue to be unfaithful to Him over and over and over again, He continues to say to us, “I love you. I choose you. I want to be with you forever. I will never leave you. I will never abandoned you. I am yours and you are mine forever.”

We desire in the depths of our hearts a forever type of love. This is why when marriages break down it is such a tragedy. One that many people have unfortunately experienced in their lives. These broken marriages, which happen for a variety of different reasons as each situation is uniquely complicated, leads to great pain, sorrow, and woundedness by all those effected by the broken marriage. If this has been your experience, whether it was your own marriage, or the marriage of your parents, the Lord wants to meet you in your sorrow and pain. He wants to come and heal any brokenness or woundedness. He wants to bring you comfort. He wants to bring you a healing and restoration that only He can give.

Again, we desire this forever love. This is why when we dream of love we always say, “I will love you always and forever.”

When we desire marriage. When we desire to be united with someone forever. That desire for marriage, at its deepest level, is a desire to be united with God forever.

Again, this is what heaven is- heaven is marriage. This is why when we go to heaven we don’t get married nor are we given in marriage. Because we will no longer need the sign when we are experiencing the reality.

When we say that we believe in the resurrection we are saying that we believe that we will not only live forever, but that what awaits us after our death is a love we can’t even begin to imagine. It is the fulfillment of every desire of our heart. It is the ultimate fulfillment of that forever type of love that we desire with another.

God is the one whom we have been seeking our whole lives. Only He can give us the love that we are looking for. Our desire for love is a desire for Him. When we rise from the dead at the resurrection we will experience God in heaven for all eternity.

God’s plan from the very beginning has been to marry us. God yearns with a burning passion to unite Himself to us forever. It is that passionate love that led Him to thrust Himself onto the Cross to die for His Bride. He yearns for us to be with Him in heaven forever. From the moment that He brought us into existence to the moment of our death He is doing everything possible to win our heart.

He is wooing us and serenading us with the Song of Heaven. The Song of all Songs. This Song that is found right in the middle of the Bible that depicts God’s union with the individual soul and Christ’s union with the Church. Every particle of creation takes part in this cosmic dance of love as it dances to the song of the Beloved. The Beloved awaits our yes. He awaits our response on whether we will choose to be with Him forever. He awaits that precious day, and He awaits with even more eagerness the day of our passing from this life, so that we can experience Him in His fullness at the resurrection for all eternity.