The Bachelor

Embracing God’s plan for marriage and happiness  

Matthew 19:3-12  

Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?” He said in reply, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator made them male and female and said, For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh? I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.” His disciples said to him, “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” He answered, “Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom that is granted. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”   

          What is the single toughest teaching of the Catholic religion? Some may say it’s Communion and our belief it is the Body and Blood of Jesus; hence, some people accuse Catholics of cannibalism. Others think it’s our respect and obedience to the pope; who some are certain is the Antichrist. Still others may mention Mary – whom Catholics clearly worship, kneeling before her statues like Superman knelt before Zod. These are truly tough teachings, but even harder to swallow and stomach is what we maintain about marriage, namely, it is a life-long, monogamous, heterosexual union for bringing up babies. Do you know anyone who has gotten a divorce and left the Catholic church because they felt unwelcome? Don’t worry, I have, too. Anyone who has been married more than five minutes quickly, realizes, “Oh man, this is going to be hard!” Now you know why I decided to become a celibate priest. In many ways, celibacy is the easier vocation while marriage is the harder one.   

          In the gospel today, the apostles catch on to this conundrum as well: Jesus’ tough teaching on marriage. Both the Pharisees and the apostles are trying to find an easier explanation on marriage than what Jesus proposes. But our Lord insists: “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery.” In fact, the apostles go so far as to say: “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” In other words, it’s better to be a bachelor. They were thinking like I was – take the easy way out. But even in the face of such criticism and complaint, Jesus doesn’t change his teaching or water-down the doctrine. He asserts that marriage is a life-long, monogamous, heterosexual union for bringing up babies.   

          My friends, still today many don’t like marriage as Jesus taught it, and try to challenge and change it. People parade marriage as entertainment with television programs like “The Bachelor” and “The Bachelorette,” which weaken and water-down how meaningful marriage is. Some quarters of our culture are trying to redefine marriage so it is not necessarily between a man and a woman. A growing group of young people simply live together and don’t marry at all; they’ve given up on marriage. After all, you can’t get divorced if you never get married! That’s one way to avoid divorce.   

          But Jesus said two thousand years ago, and the Church continues to say today: “From the beginning it was not so.” That is, in the beginning God had a plan for our happiness, and that plan entailed marriage for the majority of us: life-long, monogamous, heterosexual union for bringing up babies. You see, true happiness is not found in bachelors, but in babies.    

          Praised be Jesus Christ!