Apologetics for the Masses #252

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General Comments

Hey folks,

Just got news that my EWTN television "mini-series" on "Blue Collar Apologetics" will air Monday - Friday, April 13-17, at 6:30 PM and 3:00 AM (both times Eastern) each of those days. Also, my "EWTN Live" show with Fr. Mitch will air on April 8th. Please pray that the series is well received by the viewers and that the folks at EWTN get good feedback on it. I'd love to do more of them. I'll remind you again as the time draws near.

Introduction

With same sex "marriage" in the news these days in a big way, I thought I would share with you guys a series of articles I wrote for our diocesan newspaper on Marriage and the Eucharist. It's basically the written version of my audio on the same topic, with a few modifications. I draw parallels between the two sacraments and then use those parallels to explain some of the Church's teachings that many folks have trouble with. One of those teachings is the Church's stance on same-sex "marriage". I'm going to reprint the articles exactly as they appeared in the newspaper, so if you think your diocesan paper might be interested in printing them, you can just copy them as is. I'll put three of the articles in this issue, and the remaining four in the next one.

Challenge/Response/Strategy

Apologetics 101

by John Martignoni

What I want to do over the next few weeks, is to draw some parallels between the Sacrament of the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Marriage, and to show how the two, become one, in both Sacraments. I hope by doing so that this will possibly broaden your understanding of both of these sacraments - giving you a better understanding of the Eucharist, in marital terms; and a better understanding of marriage, in Eucharistic terms. Then, I want to look at some of the Church’s teachings in certain areas, using these parallels. First, though, I want to establish this parallel between the Sacrament of the Eucharist and the Sacrament of Matrimony.

And I want to do that by starting where you should always start - “In the beginning...” The Book of Genesis. Genesis, chapter 2, verses 21-24: “So the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man, and while he slept, took one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh; and the rib which the Lord God had taken from the man He made into a woman and brought her to the man. Then the man said, ‘This at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called Woman, because she was taken out of Man.’ Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife and they become one flesh.”

What do we have here? We have woman being made from man, and from the very moment of this creation, we see the Word of God putting the relationship between Adam and Eve, the first man and the first woman, into a marital context. “Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh.”

God, put Adam into a deep sleep, then, in some mysterious way, created Eve from Adam’s flesh - exactly what God did and how He did it, we don’t know. Was it a rib, or is the rib just the best way the ancient writer could understand and describe what happened? Again, we don’t know for sure. But, we know that Eve was created in some manner from Adam. One flesh became two, but then God joined the two back into one. Through marriage...the two become one.

And here in Genesis 2, we are given the correct sequence of events leading up to the two becoming one. There is a 3-step process here: Step 1) The man leaves his father and mother. In other words, he makes a decision to leave the home of his youth and to establish his own household. He has made a commitment. He’s not leaving his father and mother for some trial period of time; or to make a test run. He has made a commitment. Without a commitment, there is no marriage.

Step 2) The man cleaves to his wife. The Catechism describes the marriage ceremony in this way: “...the spouses...seal their consent to give themselves to each other through the offering of their own lives,” (Paragraph 1621). The man cleaves to his wife. He gives himself totally and completely to his wife. All that he is and all that he has he gives to her. He gives his very life to her...and she does likewise with her husband. This is what happens during the marriage ceremony. Husband and wife cleave to each other. And, as the Catechism states in paragraph 1623, “...the spouses, as ministers of Christ’s grace, mutually confer upon each other the sacrament of Matrimony by expressing their consent before the Church.” Again, through mutual consent - and mutual commitment - husband and wife confer upon each other the sacrament of Matrimony.

Step 3) And they become one flesh. Husband and wife join together in the marital embrace, and the two become one flesh. Remember how Adam described the woman? As “flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone,” because she was taken from man. What had originally been one flesh - man, was made into two - man and woman, and now it is one again, through the Sacrament of Matrimony.

The Sacrament of Matrimony is a process...a process that is extended over a certain length of time. It begins during the marriage ceremony, where husband and wife cleave to one another - they declare their mutual consent and commitment to each other before God and before man - but it is not until the first time husband and wife come together physically, in the marital embrace, that the sacrament is completed or finished. It is not until the first time husband and wife come together physically, in the marital embrace, that the sacrament is said to be “consummated”.

It is consummated. The two have become one. Husband and wife have been joined together by the power of God. The physical joining between husband and wife is the sign and the seal of the mystical joining between husband and wife that is done by God. This joining by God is, again, said to be consummated the first time husband and wife join together physically and intimately. And, every time after that, when husband and wife join again in the marital embrace, it is the sign of the mystical joining done by God. Every time husband and wife join again in the marital embrace, they are, essentially, renewing their wedding vows...committing themselves, totally and completely, all over again. They are giving their lives, completely and totally, just as they did on the day of their wedding.

Next week: It is consummated...

(Send any questions/comments to: jmartignoni@bhmdiocese.org. If you would like to sign up for John’s free apologetics email newsletter, simply go to: www.biblechristiansociety.com/newsletter. You can also order his free CD’s on various apologetics topics at the website.)

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Apologetics 101

by John Martignoni

In this series of articles, we’re looking at the parallels between Marriage and the Eucharist. We left off last week talking about how when husband and wife come together in the marital embrace for the first time, the marriage is said to be consummated. The two, have become one. And, every time husband and wife join together physically after that, they are, essentially, renewing their wedding vows...committing themselves, totally and completely, all over again. They are giving their lives, completely and totally, just as they did on the day of their wedding.

They are, in a very real sense, re-presenting themselves to one another, and to God. They are, in a very real and mysterious sense, present again at their own wedding. The marital embrace brings husband and wife back to that day when they were joined together by God; and particularly it brings them back to the moment that the joining was consummated. The physical and intimate union of husband and wife is the sign of the sacrament. It should never be looked at it as just a physical union. It should be seen as a renewal of the marital vows...as a total self-giving to one another.

Again, the Sacrament of Matrimony is said to be finished, or consummated, the first time husband and wife engage in physical relations...the first time they “know” each other. Let me shift gears here for a moment and take you to the foot of the cross. To the crucifixion of our Lord and Savior. Jesus has just poured Himself out for all of us...for all of mankind. He has given Himself totally, and without reservation...for us. Beginning a few hours earlier, in the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus freely committed Himself to God’s plan for our salvation. He had said to the Father, not My will, but Thine be done. Now, here He is on the cross, and what does He say at the very moment of His death? John 19:30 tells us: “When Jesus had received the vinegar, He said, ‘It is finished;’ and He bowed His head and gave up His Spirit.”

In the Douay-Rheims version of the Bible, that passage reads this way: “Jesus therefore, when He had taken the vinegar, said, ‘It is consummated.’” It is consummated. What was consummated? His total giving of Himself was consummated. The total giving of His very life...which had begun several hours earlier in the Garden of Gethsemane...was consummated. And, who was this total giving of self for? He gave Himself up for His bride, the Church. Ephesians 5:31-32, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one. This is a great mystery, and I mean in reference to Christ and the church.”

The language of marriage is used here in reference to Christ and the Church. Step 1) For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother. Jesus left His Heavenly Father to put on the mantle of humanity...he humbled himself to become one of us. Jesus left His earthly mother, Mary, because it was time for Him to establish His own household..the Church. He had made a commitment. A commitment to us for our salvation. That was His whole purpose for being here. He left His Father and mother for us.

Step 2) And he shall cleave to his wife. Jesus gave Himself to us fully, without reservation. He cleaved Himself to us in the Garden of Gethsemane when He said to the Father, not my will but thine be done. He cleaved Himself to us when He freely consented to give His body up for scourging and abuse. He cleaved Himself to us as He carried His cross through the streets of Jerusalem. He cleaved Himself to us when He allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross. And, when He had given Himself totally and completely for us, He said, “It is consummated.”

Step 3) And the two shall become one. Through His death, Jesus made us one with Himself. Colossians 1:21-22, “And you, who once were estranged...He has now reconciled in His body of flesh by His death, in order to present you holy and blameless and irreproachable before Him.” And we see this same theme again in Ephesians, chapter 5, verses 25-27, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the Church and gave Himself up for her, that He might sanctify her...that He might present the church to Himself in splendor, without spot or wrinkle or any such thing....”

In both Colossians and Ephesians we see Christ giving Himself up for us, dying on the cross for us, so that we may be “presented” holy and blameless and irreproachable before Him, without spot or wrinkle. And where is it that we are “presented” to Him? Well, where is it that the Bride is presented to the Bridegroom? At a wedding! We will be presented to the Bridegroom in Heaven, at the wedding feast of the Lamb! Revelation 19:7 says, “Let us rejoice and exult and give Him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His bride has made herself ready...And the angel said to me, ‘Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.’”

Next week: From the side of Christ...

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Apologetics 101

by John Martignoni

Continuing our series on the parallels between the Sacraments of Marriage and the Eucharist, we talked last week about the consummation of the marriage between man and woman and the consummation, on the Cross, of the marriage between Jesus and His Church. We left off by mentioning the Bride being presented spotless and without wrinkle to the Bridegroom – Jesus Christ – at the marriage supper of the Lamb in Heaven. And, again, we see from Ephesians 5, that the Church is the Bride of Christ. Which means that we, as individual members of the Church, are also the bride. We, as members of the Church, are all, in a sense, individually brides of Christ.

Now, a few more parallels between the Sacraments of Marriage and the Eucharist. The bride of Adam came from where? From Adam’s side. The Bible tells us that God put Adam into a deep sleep and while he was sleeping, God took a rib and formed Eve. Where does the bride of Christ, the Church, come from? The Catechism, quoting St. Ambrose, says, “As Eve was formed from the sleeping Adam’s side, so the Church was born from the pierced heart of Christ hanging dead on the cross,” (#766). In other words, as Christ “slept” the sleep of death, His side was pierced, and from His side was created His spouse. From His side poured forth water and blood. The Church Fathers saw in this the waters of baptism and the blood of the Eucharist. It is through the waters of Baptism that we become members of the Body of Christ, of the Church, and it is through the blood of Christ in the Eucharist that we are able to receive Christ’s total giving of Himself. It is through the Eucharist that we receive the very life - the blood - of Christ. It is through the Eucharist that the two become one.

Marriage and the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the Body of Christ. And during the Mass, we re-present this Body to the Father. We re-present Christ’s sacrifice...His total self-giving, His being poured out on the cross...we re-present all of that to the Father. Every time we give ourselves to our spouse totally and completely in the marital embrace, we are re-presenting the total giving of self that we made on our wedding day. The Eucharist is a participation in, the re-presentation of, a past event that is made present...the Crucifixion. At the Crucifixion, Christ gave Himself...poured Himself out...totally and without reservation for us. Whenever husband and wife are physically intimate, it is a participation in, the re-presentation of, a past event that is made present...their wedding day. On their wedding day, each spouse gave themselves...poured themselves out...totally and without reservation for each other.

When husband and wife “know” each other for the first time after their wedding, God says, through the Church, “It is consummated.” A process of total self-giving, which began several hours earlier with the free consent and commitment of each spouse, is consummated. The two have become one. When Jesus died on the cross, a process of total self-giving, which began several hours earlier in the Garden of Gethsemane, with the free consent and commitment of the spouse...when the self-giving was complete...when all that could be given was given...God said, “It is consummated.”

Husband and wife become one...through the marital embrace. How do we become one with Christ? Through the Eucharist. The Eucharist is the ultimate marital embrace. The physical joining between bridegroom and bride is the sign and the seal of the mystical joining between bridegroom and bride that is done by God. The marital embrace brings bridegroom and bride back to that day when they were joined together by God; and particularly it brings them back to the moment that that joining was consummated. Every time the bridegroom and the bride embrace, the bridegroom should give himself completely and totally to the bride...every time the bridegroom and the bride embrace, the bride should be completely open to receiving the bridegroom into her body. In the Eucharist, the Bridegroom gives Himself completely and totally to the bride...we, the bride of Christ, should be completely open to receiving the Bridegroom into our bodies.

Receiving the Eucharist is a more personal and more intimate act than anything that occurs between husband and wife. We generally, however, don’t view it that way. As we receive the Bridegroom into our bodies, what are we receiving? We are receiving His love...Scripture tells us that no greater love hath man than this, to die for his friends. We are also receiving His life. In John 6:54, Jesus tells us that whoever, “Eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life.” The Eucharist is all about giving us life...eternal life. By receiving the Eucharist into our bodies we are receiving God’s own life into ourselves. We are receiving Life itself.

Next week: Christ formed within us...

Summary

I hope all of you have a great week! I'm off to Franklin, Tennessee for a volleyball tournament with my daughter this weekend. I hope when the weekend is over she can say, "Veni, vidi, vici." Either that or, "That was fun!"

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