Readings: Genesis 2:18-24; Psalm 128; Hebrews 2:9-11; Mark 10:2-16
The Creator desires only the highest good for His creature’s wellbeing. Because of this God created a companion for Adam who is bone of his bone and flesh of his flesh. Without Eve, Adam cannot be whole or holy. Without Adam, Eve cannot live in a relationship with another of equal stature. Without each other, they will not bear the fruit of championship, which is life and love. To live in isolation lacks the vitality intended by the Creator for man and woman. It is the rejection of our greatest gift from God.
I cannot imagine what it would be like to live alone since I have lived in relationship with others most of my life. Raised by my family of origin and wedded to my own family, I have never lived in isolation – Thank God. For those seemingly brief periods when I was alone I realized that the most dangerous place for me is alone. I truly understand that “It is not good for man to be alone.” (Genesis 2:18) There are many who live alone, either by choice or by circumstance, but I would not wish this for anyone. God does not wish this either because God wishes for us a greater good “a more excellent way.” (1 Corinthians 12:31 – 13-13) Companionship can keep us grounded, be a corrective when we are wrong, and supported when we are assailed. In short, a true companion can help us be spirituality healthy. Many see a connection between companionship, spiritual health, and physical/mental wellbeing.
It seems that God has wired us for a relationship – this is in the image and likeness of God. Recall that we as Christians approach an understanding of God as a relationship of three persons that we call the Trinity. We are invited into this kind of deep relationship of persons when we open ourselves completely to one another in the life-long community of love we call marriage. Sadly we live in a time in history when marriages fail at an astonishing rate (41%) leaving children to grow up without the benefit of two-parent families. This is a sad and difficult situation for the parent left to raise these children alone, and a deep loss for the parent that leaves. Like our own Church most Christian churches have established marriage preparation program to assist young couples seeking marriage so that they are better prepared for, and open to, the challenges as well as the joys of married life.
Our Church is well grounded in the importance of the family and marital love as demonstrated by the multitude of current teachings on the family, marital love, and sexuality. The Church, however, has not always seen so clearly about family, marital love, and sexuality. In the Fourth Century, the Council of Elvira (306 AD) declared that a priest who sleeps with his wife the night before Mass would lose his faculties (Decree #43). In 385 AD Pope Siricius decreed that Priests may no longer sleep with their wives. In the Sixth Century, The Second Council of Tours (567 AD) decreed that any priest caught in bed with his wife would be excommunicated for a year and reduced to the lay state. Pope Urban II had priests’ wives sold into slavery, the children were abandoned. In the Sixteenth Century, The Council of Trent states that virginity and celibacy are superior to marriage.
In spite of our history and the Church’s move away from married clergy, there have always been married clergy and the Eastern Rite Catholic Church has married priests to this day. Since his election, Pope Francis has reopened the discussion about married priests in the Latin Rite saying that the Church should consider allowing married men to become priests in specific circumstances, effectively reversing the centuries-old practice that Roman Catholic priests must be celibate. In dioceses where there are not enough priests so that priests can live communally within their parishes, the opportunity to marry may end the isolation that many Roman Catholic priests face today. This would be a way for clergy to embrace the gift of relationship offered by our Creator and to combat the situation we find ourselves in when we are alone. Remember the Creator only desires the highest good for our wellbeing.
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