RBWords

     Forty-five years ago on this day, I made my final (solemn) vows as a Dominican friar.  Of the seven other friars who joined me in doing this on that day, only one other, a Bolivian Dominican, is still in the Dominican Order.  He went back to Bolivia shortly after to serve down there.  I can have a class reunion anytime I want!  I'm the only one around!  Like marriage, this commitment seems to demand more than modern folks seem able to do!  Jesus' words about marriage and divorce in today's gospel apply to any long term commitment.

 

     In the case of marriage, however, the very institution is being redefined!  In the Catholic tradition, a "marriage" is more than a legal commitment.  It is a matter of grace and sacrament called "matrimony."  No legal definition can change that for us.  It is one man and one woman who commit themselves in love to bear witness to God's love and participate in God's creating plan for the human race.  Although divorce was possible [at least for males] in Jewish life at the time, Jesus explicitly rejects it because it runs counter to God's original purpose in creation!  The pastoral consequences of this teaching are difficult for everyone in the church, whether married or not.  I have worked in the "matrimonial tribunals" of a number of dioceses, and it has become clear to me that many people simply cannot, in our individualistic society, maintain a long term commitment to anything, let alone a marriage, with all the tragedy that comes with it.

     I salute those who have succeeded.  My parent were married nearly 52 years.  I pray for those who have not been able to sustain the commitment, as well as for those who do.  I can only re-echo Jesus' words to those who marry or those who enter religious life:  "Whoever can accept this ought to accept it!"  AMEN