Readings
I - Gen. 2: 18-24
II - Heb. 2: 9-11
III - Mk. 10: 2-16
MARRIAGE IS A COVENANT AND NOT A CONTRACT
In the first reading today, when God brought the woman He had made from the rib of Adam, he said, “This is at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh”. In the Gospel passage Jesus says, “…and the two shall become one flesh”. These verses get consummated in the Sacrament of Marriage. The sacrament of marriage binds a man and a woman into a covenantal relationship making them but one soul, one flesh and one spirit. Marriage is not a contract but a covenant. Contract is an agreement for the accomplishment of a specific task within the specified time and it ends with the completion of the task. On the other hand marriage is a covenant and therefore it is a lifelong commitment to one another in love, fidelity and faithfulness. Marriage is the replica of the covenant established between God and His people Israel; and between Jesus and His Church. According to the Canon Law, unity and indissolubility are the essential properties of marriage.
In the current scenario, relationships are based on the value of utility diluting to the level of the things that are used. In almost all things we look for updates, new version, revised editions and new models paving way to the ‘use and throw’ culture. This is reflected in the marital life too, failing to keep the promise that constitute the covenant of marriage, “…I promise to be true to you in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, I will love you and honour you all the days of my life”. Mutual Love, forgiveness, caring, sharing, forbearing, sacrifice but above all daily prayers together can preserve marriage from breach and break up thereby preserving and persevering in the promise made at marriage. Let us every day set aside some time for family prayer because ‘the family that prays together, stays together'.
