1. For some time now preparations
have been going on for the next ordinary assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which will take place in Rome in autumn of next year. The
theme of the Synod, "The role of the Christian family," concentrates
our attention on this community of human and Christian life, which
has been fundamental from the beginning. The Lord Jesus used
precisely this expression "from the beginning" in the talk about
marriage, reported in the Gospels of St. Matthew and St. Mark. We
wish to raise the question what this word "beginning" means. We also
wish to clarify why Christ referred to the "beginning" on that
occasion and, therefore, we propose a more precise analysis of the
relative text of Holy Scripture.
Clear-cut
responses
2. During the talk with the
Pharisees, who asked him the question about the indissolubility of
marriage, Jesus Christ referred twice to the "beginning." The talk
took place in the following way:
"And Pharisees came up to him and
tested him by asking, 'Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any
cause?' He answered, '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 flesh'? So they are no longer two but
one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put
asunder.' They said to him, 'Why then did Moses command one to give
a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?' He said to them,
'For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives,
but from the beginning it was not so'" (Mt 19:3ff., cf. also Mk
10:2ff.).
Christ did not accept the
discussion at the level at which his interlocutors tried to
introduce it. In a certain sense he did not approve of the dimension
that they tried to give the problem. He avoided getting caught up in
juridico-casuistical controversies. On the contrary, he referred
twice to "the beginning." Acting in this way, he made a clear
reference to the relative words in Genesis, which his interlocutors
too knew by heart. From those words of the ancient revelation,
Christ drew the conclusion and the talk ended.
From the
beginning
3. "The beginning" means,
therefore, that which Genesis speaks about. Christ quoted Genesis
1:27 in summary form: "In the beginning the Creator made them male
and female." The original passage reads textually as follows: "God
created man in his own image; in the image of God he created him;
male and female he created them." Subsequently, the Master referred
to Genesis 2:24: "Therefore, a man leaves his father and his mother
and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh." Quoting these
words almost in full, Christ gave them an even more explicit
normative meaning (since it could be supported that in Genesis they
express de facto statements: "leaves. cleaves. they become one
flesh"). The normative meaning is plausible since Christ did not
confine himself only to the quotation itself, but added: "So they
are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined
together, let not man put asunder." That "let not man put asunder"
is decisive. In the light of these words of Christ, Genesis 2:24
sets forth the principle of the unity and indissolubility of
marriage as the very content of the Word of God, expressed in the
most ancient revelation.
The eternal law
4. It could be maintained at this
point that the problem is exhausted, that Jesus Christ's words
confirm the eternal law formulated and set up by God from "the
beginning" as the creation of man. It might also seem that the
Master, confirming this original law of the Creator, did nothing but
establish exclusively his own normative meaning, referring to the
authority itself of the first Legislator. However, that significant
expression "from the beginning," repeated twice, clearly induced his
interlocutors to reflect on the way in which man was formed in the
mystery of creation, precisely as "male and female," in order to
understand correctly the normative sense of the words of Genesis.
This is no less valid for the people of today than for those of that
time. Therefore, in the present study, considering all this, we must
put ourselves precisely in the position of Christ's interlocutors
today.
Preparation for
the Synod
5. During the following Wednesday
reflections at the general audiences, we will try, as Christ's
interlocutors today, to dwell at greater length on St. Matthew's
words (19:3ff.). To respond to the indication, inserted in them by
Christ, we will try to penetrate toward that "beginning," to which
he referred in such a significant way. Thus we will follow from a
distance the great work which participants in the forthcoming Synod
of Bishops are undertaking on this subject just now. Together with
them, numerous groups of pastors and laymen are taking part in it,
feeling especially responsible with regard to the role which Christ
assigned to marriage and the Christian family, the role that he has
always given, and still gives in our age, in the modern world.
The cycle of reflections we are beginning today, with the intention
of continuing it during the following Wednesday meetings, also has
the purpose, among other things, of accompanying from afar, so to
speak, the work of preparation for the Synod. However, it will not
touch its subject directly, but will turn our attention to the deep
roots from which this subject springs.
Taken from: L'Osservatore Romano Weekly Edition in English 10
September 1979, page 1
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