Love story: Looking into God's covenant of love

		Living the Scriptures  with St. Paul University  Catholic Center  Fr. Randy Timmerman

The Bible is a love story. From Genesis through Revelation, the story of God's love for his people unfolds. We see God drawing us into a covenant, not unlike the marital covenant between a husband and wife.

It is a reoccurring story: God extends his love, and time after time his people reject his love. Yet, God remains faithful to this desire to draw his people into union with him.

From the biblical perspective, roles in marriage are not about value, they are about function. In God's blueprint, men and women are equal; they just have different roles. What does it mean to be a "subordinate wife" or for a "man to lead his home"?

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time (Sunday, Aug. 27, 2006) Jos 24:1-2a, 15-17, 18b Ps 34:2-3, 16-17, 18-19, 20-21 Eph 5:21-32 or 5:2a, 25-32 Jn 6:60-69

First a lesson in St. Paul's understanding of the relationship between husband and wife. He draws from the Genesis 2 creation account; "for this reason a man shall leave his father and his mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh."

In this creation account, we are told that "it is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to him."

Eve becomes Adam's perfect match; they are one flesh. When Adam meets Eve, he becomes fully aware, and fully human; without her he is incomplete: "this at last is bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh." She is much more than helper.

Another translation of the Hebrew word for helper is "lifesaver." Eve, and those who have followed, are through womanhood and in the context of marriage, intimately involved in the support, strengthening, and nurturing of their husbands.

Women bring unique gifts to the Body of Christ. The gift of womanhood suggests a life of virtue, loyalty, humility, and gentleness.

Women are God's conduit in bringing new life into the world, and he blesses them with love and courage deep enough to give their lives for others, especially their children. Women alone are the ones to whom the gift of bringing forth life is entrusted.

For the woman, the perfect witness to what it means to be a woman is none other than Jesus - the Word made flesh. It is in him that we see the perfect picture of loyalty, obedience, meekness, gentleness, courage, and ultimate sacrifice.

The husband is charged with the function of "leading the home." Recall again the perfect witness of manhood, Jesus - the Word made flesh. In him, we see that "he came not to be served, but to serve, to give his own life as a ransom for the many."

He laid down his life for the sake of his bride, the Church. "No one takes my life, I lay it down freely" (John 10:18). Jesus said, "I came that they might have life and have it abundantly." Thus, the function of a husband is to lead his loved ones into being fully alive in Christ.

Reflection questions • The Scriptures speak often of the unfaithfulness of God's people despite the Lord's faithfulness. Often God's response to their unfaithfulness is "slow to anger, abounding in mercy." Where are you called to witness to this in your relationships? • If you are married, or hope to marry, what function of the mystery of Christ's love for the Church are you in particular called to build up through your witness?

The analogy of marriage, of the love between a husband and a wife, is one that helps us see deeper into God's love for us. Paul is speaking about the mystery of Christ the bridegroom and his love for his bride, the Church.

Marriage helps us see into the very inner heart of God the lover, the one who pursues us relentlessly. The sacrament of marriage points to the reality of God's free, faithful, full, and forever love for us.

Fr. Randy J. Timmerman is pastor of St. Paul University Catholic Center on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.

St. Paul's Web site is www.stpaulscc.org

Faith Alive!

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