Indissolubility of
Sacrament of Marriage in Mystery of the Redemption of the Body
General Audience, October 27, 1982
1. The text of the Letter to the
Ephesians (5:21-33) speaks of the sacraments of the Church—and in
particular of Baptism and the Eucharist—but only in an indirect and,
in a certain sense, allusive manner, developing the analogy of
marriage in reference to Christ and the Church. So we read at first
that Christ who "loved the Church and gave himself up for her"
(5:25), did so "that he might sanctify her, having cleansed her by
the washing of water with the word" (5:26). Doubtlessly this treats
of the sacrament of Baptism, which by Christ's institution was from
the beginning conferred on those who were converted. The words
quoted show very graphically in what way Baptism draws its essential
significance and its sacramental power from that spousal love of the
Redeemer, by means of which the sacramentality of the Church itself
is constituted above all (sacramentum magnum). The same can also be
said perhaps of the Eucharist. This would seem to be indicated by
the following words about nourishing one's own body, which indeed
every man nourishes and cherishes "as Christ does the Church,
because we are members of his body" (5:29-30). In fact Christ
nourishes the Church with his body precisely in the Eucharist.
2. One sees, however, that neither in the first nor second case can
we speak of a well-developed sacramental theology. One cannot speak
about it even when treating of the sacrament of marriage as one of
the sacraments of the Church. Expressing the spousal relationship of
Christ to the Church, the Letter to the Ephesians lets it be
understood that on the basis of this relationship the Church itself
is the "great sacrament." It is the new sign of the covenant and of
grace, which draws its roots from the depths of the sacrament of
redemption, just as from the depths of the sacrament of creation
marriage has emerged, a primordial sign of the covenant and of
grace. The author of the Letter to the Ephesians proclaims that that
primordial sacrament is realized in a new way in the sacrament of
Christ and of the Church. For this reason also, in the same classic
text of the Letter to the Ephesians 5:21-33, the Apostle urges
spouses to be "subject to one another out of reverence for Christ"
(5:21) and model their conjugal life by basing it on the sacrament
instituted at the beginning by the Creator. This sacrament found its
definitive greatness and holiness in the spousal covenant of grace
between Christ and the Church.
3. Even though the Letter to the Ephesians does not speak directly
and immediately of marriage as one of the sacraments of the Church,
the sacramentality of marriage is especially confirmed and closely
examined in it. In the great sacrament of Christ and of the Church,
Christian spouses are called upon to model their life and their
vocation on the sacramental foundation.
4. After the analysis of the classical text of Ephesians 5:21-33,
addressed to Christian spouses, Paul announces to them the great
mystery (sacramentum magnum) of the spousal love of Christ and of
the Church. After the analysis of this text, it is opportune to
return to those significant words of the Gospel which we have
analyzed previously, seeing in them the key statements for the
theology of the body. Christ spoke these words, one might say, from
the divine depth of the redemption of the body (cf. Rom 8:23). All
these words have a fundamental significance for man inasmuch as he
is a body—inasmuch as he is male or female. They have a significance
for marriage in which man and woman unite so that the two become
"one flesh," according to the expression of Genesis (2:24). However,
at the same time, Christ's words also indicate the vocation to
continence "for the sake of the kingdom of heaven" (Mt 19:12).
5. In each of these ways the redemption of the body is a great
expectation of those who possess "the first fruits of the spirit"
(Rom 8:23). Not only that, it is also a permanent source of hope
that creation will be "set free from its bondage to decay and obtain
the glorious liberty of the children of God" (Rom 8:21). Spoken from
the divine depth of the mystery of redemption and of the redemption
of the body, Christ's words bear within them the leaven of this
hope. They open to it a perspective both in the eschatological
dimension and also in the dimension of daily life. In fact, the
words addressed to his immediate hearers are simultaneously
addressed to historical man of various times and places. That man
indeed who possesses "the first fruits of the
spirit...groans...waiting for the redemption...of the body" (Rom
8:23). There is also concentrated in him the "cosmic" hope of the
whole of creation, which in him, in man, "waits with eager longing
for the revealing of the sons of God" (Rom 8:19).
6. Christ speaks with the Pharisees, who ask him: "Is it lawful to
divorce one's wife for any cause?" (Mt 19:3) They question him in
this way precisely because the law attributed to Moses permitted the
so-called "bill of divorce" (Dt 24:1). Christ's reply was as
follows: "Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning
made them male and female, and said, 'For this reason a man shall
leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two
shall become one'? So they are no longer two but one. What therefore
God has joined together, let no man put asunder" (Mt 19:2-6). They
then went on to speak about the "bill of divorce" and Christ said to
them: "For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your
wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you:
Whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries
another, commits adultery" (Mt 19:8-9). "He who marries a woman
divorced from her husband, commits adultery" (Lk 16:18).
7. The horizon of the redemption of the body is opened up with these
words, which constitute the reply to a concrete question of a
juridical-moral nature. It is opened up especially by the fact that
Christ took his stand on the plane of that primordial sacrament
which his questioners inherited in a singular manner, given that
they also inherited the revelation of the mystery of creation,
contained in the first chapters of the Book of Genesis.
These words contain at the same time a universal reply addressed to
historical man of all times and places, since they are decisive for
marriage and for its indissolubility. In fact they refer to that
which man is, male and female, such as he has become in an
irreversible way by the fact of having been created in the image and
likeness of God. Man does not cease to be such even after original
sin, even though this has deprived him of original innocence and
justice. In replying to the query of the Pharisees, Christ referred
to the "beginning." He seemed in this way to stress especially the
fact that he was speaking from the depth of the mystery of
redemption, and of the redemption of the body. In fact, Redemption
signifies, as it were, a "new creation." It signifies the assuming
of all that is created: to express in creation the fullness of
justice, of equity and of sanctity designated by God, and to express
that fullness especially in man, created as male and female in the
image of God.
In the perspective of Christ's words to the Pharisees on that which
marriage was from the beginning, we reread also the classic text of
the Letter to the Ephesians (5:21-33) as a testimony of the
sacramentality of marriage based on the great mystery of Christ and
of the Church.
Taken from: L'Osservatore Romano Weekly Edition in English 1
November 1982, page 3
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