[1]The matrimonial
covenant, by which a man and a woman establish a lifelong partnership between
themselves, derives its force and strength from creation, but for the Christian
faithful it is also raised up to a higher dignity, since it is numbered among
the Sacraments of the new covenant.[2]
Three critical questions are asked during marriage preparation, in the presence
of the community, and the church’s minister that reflects and highlights today’s
Feast of the Exultation of the Cross. The questions are:
1. Are you entering
into Marriage without coercion, freely, and wholeheartedly?
2. Are you prepared, to
love and honor each other for as long as you both shall live?
3. Are you prepared to
accept children (being open to life and a partner with God in his creative
power)?
Barely on their journey from Egypt, the
Israelites murmur against Moses about their thirst their hunger, and this
pattern of murmuring recurs throughout the trek. In other words, their
commitment to God and his covenant regularly flounders. The episode in Numbers marks
yet another occasion. Their murmuring brings divine punishment. A divine
characteristic for sinning is punishment, but also extending a path to mercy
and reconciliation. So, God instructs Moses, to raise up a bronze serpent on
a pole so that all who are bitten can look upon it, will live.
Jesus, who came down from heaven, “emptied himself, humbled himself, became obedient
to death, even death [by being raised
up] on a cross. Because of this God
greatly exalted him” (Phil 2:7-9) Christ’s saving act
is grounded in God’s love, it is characterized by his free consent, his choice
made without coercion; it is because of his love, he gave himself completely,
with a promise to be with us for as long as we live; and it is by his being raised up on the tree, that we who believe in
him may gaze upon him to find the path to eternal life.
Raised up on
cross, Jesus enters into his exaltation. Having done the Father’s will throughout
his life,
he has modeled the vows we use in the Sacrament of matrimony. Christ
in John’s Gospel sums up his work with, “It is finished” (Jn 19:30). On the cross, Jesus has
consummated his covenantal promises and bond to his bride the Church.
Today’s feast celebrates the cross’s ironies and it invites all of us to rededicate ourselves to its mission. Jesus’ saving work may be complete, now the mission of the Church begins. We are the Church and when we are bitten by doubt, temptation, and sin, we need to look no farther than the Savior raised up on the cross, and we will live.
[1] Scripture (NABRE), Numbers 21:4b-9; Phil
2:6-11; John 3:13-17
[2] The Order of Celebrating Matrimony
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