Fr. Albert
St. Peter Catholic Church, New Iberia
“I am spiritual, but not religious.” Just look at the way Jesus treats those religious and legalistic Pharisees! Look at the beatitudes. Catholics shouldn’t worry about the rules because Jesus is all about what’s in the heart… and he’s all about mercy. Oh? Try telling a woman “I love you, but I’m not committed to you” or “I promise to spend my life with you, but I won’t marry you.” Is that really love?
If someone chooses to believe that, fine, but is that what Jesus Christ taught? It is true that Jesus fights the “establishment” often in the Gospels and that he denounces legalism, but is that all? Then how do we explain this: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill.” And then “whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the kingdom of heaven.” He doesn’t even address what happens if you break one of the greater commandments.
You see, unknown to most of the crowd, this strange new teacher is not opposed to the laws they all know, he is the Son of the one who made them. He knows the law is hard, and he knows the hypocrisy of those who enforce the laws, but he does not cease to love it for all of that.
Perhaps you’ve heard the rhetoric about mercy and dealing with “real people rather than rules.” Yet, rather than making the laws easier to follow, Jesus makes them harder. To the unprepared, this is a disappointment and a shock. Rather than helping the weak who can’t keep up with all the demands of being “righteous” and “pure,” he seems to pile more on top. Murder? Now you can’t even be angry. Adultery? Not only can you not cheat on your wife, you can’t even think about another woman. Who can live like that? Where is the compassionate, gentle Jesus we all know?
He is right there, in the heart of the law. That is why he gives that strange preface “I have come not to abolish, but to fulfill.” Jesus is not here to tell us it’s okay that we can’t keep the law, but to show us whywe have the law, what it really means, and through that, how we can actually follow it. The key to all of this, of course, is love. For those Jews who were genuine, the law was not a burden, but a gift. Look at the psalm again. It is a poem, a song. And what does this joyful poetry say? “Open my eyes, that I may consider the wonders of your law!” The “wonders” of his law!
For the devout Jew, the law was a gift because it was proof of God’s love for them. The law and prophets that Jesus talks about are a gift because they are an insight into the mind of God himself! God revealed his own mind in stages. The ancient Israelites were given some temporary rules like a child with a curfew. And like a child, God was patient with some behaviors that no one would tolerate in an adult. And it is the adulthood of the law, the fulfillment of the Law that Jesus Christ brings. It is not about getting around the law of the Pharisees, but going even deeper to the very heart of the law, to the very heart of God.
Yet, to this very day, some men and women, even leaders in the Church that Christ himself established, think that they can elude what Christ is saying. It is no accident that Jesus talks about divorce and remarriage in the same place he talks about fulfillment of the law. Like trying to keep the law, many say it is impossible for some people to obey what Jesus says about divorce.
And what does he say about divorce, exactly? “Whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” The sin comes from the second marriage. It is wrong to attempt another marriage when your spouse is still alive because what God has joined, no one can put asunder. Does that mean divorce itself, divorce without remarriage is okay? Not exactly. Part of the problem is the word “divorce.” For the government, “divorce” means the marriage is no more. For Jesus and the Church, we are talking about separation. The marriage is still there, but the two partners no longer live together.
That’s what he’s thinking of when he says: “whoever divorces his wife, unless the marriage is unlawful, causes her to commit adultery.” That exception, that “unless the marriage is unlawful” tells us that there are circumstances when separation, but not remarriage, is allowed. What does “unlawful” mean? Jesus is probably talking about infidelity, but we can include abuse and other serious dangers. He is not saying you have to live with someone dangerous to you or your children’s health.
Nonetheless, the other command still stands. Whoever marries a divorced man or woman commits adultery. The marriage still exists in the eyes of God, even when one partner is unfaithful. Truly, marriage is meant as a witness to God’s covenant with humanity – that’s why law and marriage are so interconnected. God is faithful to us even when we are unfaithful and married Christians sometimes have to live out that same reality.
But, Father, what about annulments? The problem with divorce and remarriage is that violates the first sacramental marriage, which is a life-long spiritual commitment. An annulment does not dissolve a marriage, it says it was never there in the first place. Think of a disputed touchdown in football. Did the ball cross the line? If not, there never was a touchdown, even if the points were mistakenly put on the board while we waited for the review. An annulment is like that review. It looks at the wedding day to see if the “ball crossed the line” to see if both partners were sober, sincere, and serious when they made their vows. It takes two to make a marriage. If either one was incapable, forced, or lying – the marriage didn’t happen. Don’t worry though, children born in such a situation do not become illegitimate.
Still, annulments and separations are never the goal, they are a response to the messy brokenness of the world without violating the law of God. In God, the law is love and love is the law. And yet, some people still insist that being faithful to Jesus Christ’s own words isn’t loving enough, isn’t merciful enough. They say that some people are just too weak or that their situation is too complicated and difficult. They actually try to say that, for them, God makes an exception. They even try to use Scripture to make this claim.
But look no further than the first reading: “No one does [God] command to act unjustly, to none does he give license to sin.” How can such rigidity be love? Rigidity? No, fidelity. Honestly, how could real love be anything other than rigidly committed to what it loves? Is the cross not rigid? Is the command “love one another as I have loved you” not rigid? It is rigid in the same way that our very bones are rigid. Without that, life and love are not possible.
And the good news? God does not command what he does not provide the grace to do. God “is mighty in power, and all-seeing.” It is his power we see in Jesus’ fidelity to the cross. His wisdom that can guide us through our brokenness, even when we can’t see the way. And yes, when we do fall short, when we fail to keep the law of love, he will forgive. We have but to embrace the truth of his law, to admit our sin, and to resolve, with His strength, not ours, not to sin again. Even when it takes a million and one tries, “Blessed are they who follow the law of the Lord.”