Day 256: Therefore What God has Joined Together Man Must not Separate
Matthew 19:3-12
What has God joined together? This is what one might ask themself after reading this passage. From the context of today’s Gospel, one might automatically think of marriage. However, when continuing to dive deeper into Scripture, one will come to many more conclusions. This verse is used to defend the Church’s stance on divorce. In the realm of marriage and divorce also comes the family, the body, and the domestic church.
The family begins in the Sacrament of Matrimony, where marriage occurs. This is not merely a contractual or legal agreement, but it is a Sacrament, meaning that it makes an invisible reality visible through physical objects. In the case of Matrimony, these physical objects are the bodies of the husband and wife. Through the consummation of their marriage, they are no longer two, but one flesh. From this one-flesh union, children might be born, expanding the family. From the beginning of the family, meaning just the husband and wife, the domestic church is established with the husband representing Christ and the wife representing the Church. The Church is under the mission of Christ because out of the side of Christ the Church was born like Eve was born out of the side of Adam. Christ died for the Church in order to sanctify her; therefore, the wife is under the mission of the husband and the husband is to die to self for the sake of the sanctification of his wife.
“If we live in the oneness-heart, we will feel the essence of all religions which is the Love of God. Forgiveness, compassion, tolerance, brotherhood, and all the feeling of oneness are signs of a true religion.”
Sri Chinmoy
The Church is the place of Love of God because He so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son to humanity for their redemption and salvation. Because of this multi-faceted union within marriage, family, the human person as body and spirit, and the domestic church, one can see that if one thing is out of place, it causes it all to fall. It is similar to the Church and all her teachings. Truth is woven like textiles and when one starts taking certain strings away, it loses its beauty, strength, oneness, and truth.
Prayer: Lord, let us know what You have brought together so that we do not separate it