The Gospel reading of today brings before us the issue of
divorce, to which Jesus responds with a “no.”
Do you remember when the divorce question first came up in Catholic life
and how volatile it was? Well, that was
then. Today it seems tame compared to
the other questions connected with marriage facing the contemporary
Church. Those issues include gay
marriage, the adoption of children by gay couples, the sinfulness of
homosexuality and homosexual acts, transgender people, civil rights of the LGBT
community, participation of gay people in Church life, spiritual guidance for
gay Catholics faithful to Catholic vision of marriage, the essential roles of
male and female in human life, participation of divorced and remarried people
in the sacraments, etc.
We can be sure that these issues will be on the agenda of
the Synod of Bishops that begins today in Rome to reflect on the sacrament of
marriage. The challenge of the Synod
with the Pope will be to maintain a clear and faithful vision of Catholic
marriage which will then provide light for evaluating other kinds of
relationships.
What should we expect from the Synod? There is no doubt, despite all the discussion
and differing points of view today in the Church, that the Synod will restate
the traditional doctrine about marriage as between one man and one woman for
life and open to life. There will
probably be some change in tone and language about issues of divorced and
remarried Catholics, of homosexual orientation and the acceptance of gay people,
etc. And there will likely be Catholic
guidelines for how to be a welcoming Church to both straight and gay people
whose relationships do not correspond to the Catholic vision of marriage and
for how to think about civil rights and marriage legislation in a pluralistic society
where citizens do not share the same faith perspective or convictions of the
Catholic Church.
Are the discussions important? Yes.
They touch on Biblical teaching, the Word of God, about marriage. The discussions touch on the spiritual,
moral, psychological, sexual and even physical health of human beings. They touch on the fundamental roles of
masculinity and femininity in building human society. The discussions touch on education and human
rights in a pluralistic society. In effect,
the discussions are about the “suitable partner” for Adam that Genesis speaks
of in today’s liturgy and about the enduring nature and mission of that
partnership proclaimed by the Gospel of Mark today.
Is there reason to be concerned about which direction the
Synod will go? I do not think so. Our faith teaches us about how the Holy
Spirit will protect the integrity of Catholic faith. Perhaps our greatest concern will be about
how well Catholics, both traditional and progressive, will come together on the
Synod’s conclusions about marriage and the family.
As we gather for the Eucharist today, the Synod is in
session in Rome. We pray for what our
reading from Hebrews refers to, that we share as Catholics the same
consecration with all of the challenges that will present to us as the Church in
today’s society.
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