Letter to Families

love: something entirely new and previously unknown to the whole pagan world. At Cana in Galilee Jesus is, as it were, the herald of the divine truth about marriage, that truth on which the human family can rely, gaining reassurance amid all the trials of life. Jesus proclaims this truth by his presence at the wedding in Cana and by working his first “sign”: water changed into wine. Jesus proclaims the truth about marriage again when, speaking to the Pharisees, he explains how the love which comes from God, a tender and spousal love, gives rise to profound and radical demands. Moses, by allowing a certificate of divorce to be drawn up, had been less demanding. When in their lively argument the Pharisees appealed to Moses, Jesus’ answer was categorical: “from the beginning it was not so” (Mt 19:8). And he reminds them that the One who created man created him male and female, and ordained that “a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh” (Gen 2:24). With logical consistency Jesus concludes: “So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder” (Mt 19:6). To the objection of the Pharisees who vaunt the Law of Moses he replies: “For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so” (Mt 19:8). Jesus appeals to “the beginning,” seeing at the very origins of creation God’s plan, on which the family is based, and, through the family, the entire history of humanity. What marriage is in nature becomes, by the will of Christ, a true sacrament of the New Covenant, sealed by the blood of Christ the Redeemer. Spouses and families, remember at what price you have been “bought”! (cf. 1 Cor 6:20). But it is humanly difficult to accept and to live this marvellous truth. Should we be surprised that Moses relented before the insistent demands of his fellow Israelites, if the Apostles themselves, upon hearing the words of the Master, reply by saying: “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry” (Mt 19:10)! Nonetheless, in view of the good of man and woman, of the family and the whole of society, Jesus confirms the demand which God laid down from the - 52 -

Turn static files into dynamic content formats.

Create a flipbook

Letter to Families

Published on May 25, 2010Christianity

Catholic Information Service - Hart Series

No pontiff in the history of the Catholic Church has devoted as much time and effort to strengthening family life than has John Paul II. Before his election to the papacy, Karol Wojtyla, as priest and bishop, spent long hours counseling young adults and newly married couples; as poet and playwright he explored the challenges confronting couples in dramas such as The Jeweler’s Shop; as a professor of philosophy he examined ethical decisions faced by couples within marriage in such works as Love and Responsibility. As pope, John Paul II launched many initiatives to enhance the Church’s pastoral mission to families, including convening the 1980 World Synod of Bishops on the topic of the family; establishing the Pontifical Council for the Family and the Pontifical John Paul II Institute for Studies on Marriage and Family; as well as initiating World Youth Day and the World Meeting of Families with the Holy Father.