Daily Retreat 09/10/08

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2008 Sep 10 Wed: Ordinary Weekday
1 Cor 7: 25-31/ Ps 44(45): 11-12. 14-15. 16-17/ Lk 6: 20-26

From today’s readings:  “For the world in its present form is passing away....  Listen to me, daughter; see and bend your ear....  Blessed are you who are poor, for the Kingdom of God is yours....”

On Marriage and Celibacy

Chapter 7 of Paul’s first letter to the Corinthians includes a dense synthesis of Church teaching on marriage and celibacy.  While the lectionary only highlights a few verses, a thorough reading of the entire chapter, as always, will be much more advantageous.

Paul’s presuppositions are clear: most people have temperaments and characters best-suited for the married state, and thus, any consideration of Christian celibacy is not to be construed as suggesting that marriage is sinful in itself. The Lord Jesus Himself, in fact, addressed the issue of conjugal fidelity on more than one occasion (e.g., Mt 5:27-32;19:1-12).  

St. Paul took pains to show how Christ’s teaching on matrimony could and should be concretely applied as moral guidance in particular situations evidently common among the Corinthians at that time - by extension, all of Christ’s teaching, especially on pureness of heart and the sanctity of marriage, can and should be applied as moral guidance in every life today as well!