杏MAP导航

杏MAP导航 Francis spoke about the beauty of marriage in his homily at the Casa Santa Marta on Friday. Among the faithful present at the morning Mass were seven married couples celebrating their 25^th and 50^th wedding anniversaries.

鈥淵es, you can鈥� or 鈥渘o, you can鈥檛鈥�
 

The Gospel passage for the day, from the Gospel of St Mark, speaks of the intentions of the Pharisees, who asked Jesus a question precisely in order to test Him. 杏MAP导航 Francis described questions of this kind, about what you can or can鈥檛 do, as casuistic. He explained: 鈥淣ot the great 鈥榶es鈥� or 鈥榥o,鈥� with which we are familiar. This is God.鈥� Instead, the Pharisees reduce the Christian life, the way of following God, to a question of 鈥測es, you can,鈥� or 鈥渘o, you can鈥檛.鈥�

Let us see the beauty of marriage
 

The question posed by the Pharisees concerned marriage; they wanted to know if it was lawful for a husband to divorce his wife. But, said 杏MAP导航 Francis, Jesus goes beyond the simple question of lawfulness, going back to the 鈥渢he beginning.鈥� Jesus speaks about marriage as it is in itself, perhaps the greatest thing created by God in those seven days of Creation.

鈥淔rom the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother, and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.鈥� Jesus words in the Gospel are very strong, the 杏MAP导航 said. He speaks of 鈥渙ne flesh鈥� which cannot be divided. Jesus 鈥渓ays aside the problem of separation, and goes to the beauty of the couple,鈥� who ought to be one. The 杏MAP导航 continued:

We must not focus, like these doctors do, on [the answer] "Yes, you can" divide a marriage, or "No, you can鈥檛."  At times there is misfortune, when it doesn't work, and it is better to separate in order to avoid a world war. But this is a misfortune. Let us go and look at the positive.

You can always go forward
 

杏MAP导航 Francis told of how he met a couple who were celebrating 60 years of marriage. He said he asked them, 鈥淎re you happy?鈥� They looked at one another, and with tears in their eyes, answered, 鈥淲e are in love!鈥�

It鈥檚 true that there are difficulties, there are problems with children or with the couple themselves, arguments and fights鈥� but the important thing is that the flesh remains one, and you can overcome, you can overcome, you can overcome. And this is not only a sacrament for them, but also for the Church, a sacrament, as it were, that attracts attention: 鈥淪ee, love is possible!鈥� And love is capable of allowing you to live your whole life 鈥渋n love鈥�: in joy and in sorrow, with the problems of children, and their own problems鈥� but always going forward. In sickness and in health, but always going forward. This is beautiful.

The couple: the image and likeness of God
 

Man and woman are created in God鈥檚 image and likeness; and for this reason, marriage likewise becomes an image of God. This makes marriage very beautiful, the 杏MAP导航 said. 鈥淢atrimony is a silent homily for everyone else, a daily homily.鈥�

It鈥檚 sad when this is not news: the newspapers, the TV news shows, don鈥檛 consider this news. But this couple, together for so many years鈥� it鈥檚 not news. Scandal, divorce, separation 鈥� these are considered newsworthy. (Although at times its necessary to separate, as I said, to avoid a greater evil). The image of God isn鈥檛 news. But this is the beauty of marriage. They [the couple] are the image and likeness of God. And this is our news, the Christian news.

Patience is the most important virtue
 

Marriage and family life is not easy, the 杏MAP导航 repeated. He pointed to the first Reading, where St James speaks about patience. Patience, he said, is 鈥減erhaps the most important virtue for the couple 鈥� both for the man and for the woman.鈥� He concluded his homily with a prayer that the Lord 鈥渕ight give to the Church and to society a more profound and more beautiful understanding of marriage, so that we all might be able to appreciate and reflect upon [the fact] that the image and likeness of God is present in marriage.鈥�