Made for Communion
Homily for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year B)
…a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh (Mk 10:7-8).
What a week it has been. Praise God most in our area were spared the worst of the damage caused by flooding in our region. Most whom I have spoken with in our community suffered mainly from lack of cell phone and internet service. While that’s only a minor inconvenience compared to the loss of life and property that many have endured in recent days, the truth is that the inability to connect with loved ones, especially in a time of crisis, can be a great source of stress and anxiety. While it is good to seek solitude from time to time, for relaxation, reflection and prayer, it is not good to be isolated, which is how many of us recently felt. And so we rejoice when the cell towers go back up and the communication begins flowing again.
So the words of the scripture might resonate a little differently for us today when we read that “it is not good for man to be alone” (Gen 2:18). No, it isn’t, and we know that. That’s because we, as human beings made in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:27), were made for communion. God himself is a community of Persons — that’s what the Trinity is. So as creatures made in the image of the Trinity, we are also meant to be part of a community of persons. And the first community we belong to — the community we are born into — is the community of the family. That’s what today’s readings are all about — God’s design for the human family.
That design is rooted in the commitment between a man and a woman that we call marriage: that a man should leave his father and mother and cling to his wife and the two shall become one body (cf. Gen 2:24, Mk 10:7-8). That union is meant to be exclusive, life-long, and fruitful. The “one body” referred to here is not only the union of the married couple but the children produced by them, who literally and physically receive their body from their parents’ bodies. It is therefore no accident that Jesus follows up his teaching about the indissolubility of marriage with the exhortation to “welcome the child,” just as God followed up the creation of man and woman with the command to be fruitful and multiply (Gen 1:28). This is why the Church has always condemned contraception, as acting against the “one flesh” union of marriage, and abortion, that seeks to murder the result of that union; and why the Church condemns fornication, that is, sex outside of marriage, because children deserve to be raised in loving, stable families.
Today, however, our society largely sees children as burdens to be avoided. But children are a blessing! We don’t say that enough. Yes, they require sacrifice. As the father of seven I know that well enough. But even the sacrifice required in raising children is a blessing. Yes, they require time and money and patience. They force you to prioritize someone else over yourself. But that is all a blessing, because it helps us to grow in virtue and holiness. It helps us to be more like God who is Love (cf. 1 Jn 4:8), because that’s what love does. Love gives itself for the good of others. Parenting teaches you to do that. There are other ways to do that, for sure, but parenting a child allows you to give yourself for the good of another in a very direct way. Each new child is a brand new human soul, loved into being by God, who will exist for all eternity, hopefully exalting in God’s glory as one of the saints. There is nothing more creative, nothing more impactful we can do than raising a child.
But there is more going on in our readings today than just an exposition on the good of family life. There is a deeper spiritual reality here. The human family on earth is important because it is a sign of an even greater family in heaven; a family God wants us to be members of.
That language of a man leaving his father and mother and clinging to his wife and becoming one flesh is covenant language. A covenant is a special type of oath or promise that creates family bonds. That’s why we refer to marriage as a covenant instead of a contract. The promises you exchange with your spouse go beyond legal agreements. Marital promises make you part of a family. The terms of a contract apply only to a small segment of your life. But the covenant you have with your spouse involves the whole of your life.
That’s why “covenant” is also the word used to describe our relationship with God. Like marriage, it involves our whole lives. God uses covenants all throughout scripture: there is the covenant with Abraham, the covenant with Moses, and with David, and then finally the new and everlasting covenant with the Church in Jesus Christ. The most basic form of that covenant as expressed in the Old Testament is “you will be my people and I will be your God.” Through these covenant promises God makes us part of his family, and we call that family “the Church.”
The Fathers of the Church speak of the Church as having been born from the blood and water that flowed forth from the side of Christ at the crucifixion. Just as the Old Adam’s bride was made from his side as he slept, the bride of the New Adam, Jesus, is made from his side as he “sleeps” on the cross. In marriage a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife and the two become one flesh. So Jesus leaves the side of his Father at the incarnation and becomes one flesh with us in the womb of the Virgin. And just like human marriage, the marriage of the human and divine in Christ is fruitful, for (as it says in Hebrews), Christ “has brought many children to glory” through the Church (cf. Heb 2:10). Every time someone is reborn in baptism, another child is brought to glory in the womb of Mother Church, born again into the divine family. This is why you have to become like a child to enter into the kingdom of God (Mk 10:15). We need to be born into His family.
This is what we are made for. The communion we experience with one another is a sign pointing us to the greater communion we are called to have with God. This is reflected especially in the family, but we also see it any time communities band together to show love for each other, because the nature of God is a communion of love. St. Augustine said, “If you see charity, you have seen the Trinity.” That has been one of the real blessings to come out of this tragedy, to be able to witness neighbors helping neighbors. Donations of water, food, clothing and other necessities have been just pouring in from places near and far: people donating not only their money but their time and energy to help others, in many cases people they have never even met before, but whom they nevertheless love and care for. We call this work “charity” from the Latin word caritas, and this is precisely the kind of love Christ says we are to have for one another. When we see this caritas, this selfless giving and sacrifice in the human community, we are reminded that we are one, and that, too, is a sign of the communion we are to have in Christ.
Now I keep using that word “communion” and so far I haven’t mentioned the thing we most typically call by that word in the Catholic Church. You might say I’ve been saving the best for last. But consider this: when Jesus institutes the Eucharist with the words, “this is my body which is given for you,” those are covenant words that echo all the way back to the covenant with Israel: you will be my people and I will be your God. You are mine and I am yours. This is my body, given for you. With these covenant words, Christ calls us into communion with the Father, through our spousal bond with him, in the power of the Holy Spirit, incorporating us into the eternal family, the communion of the saints.
May all our human communities — and most especially our families — by their lived charity, reflect the gift that Christ gives us in the Eucharist as a sign and promise of the perfect communion of love that awaits us in heaven as children of God. Amen.