It contains the teaching of the Church on the sacredness of Christian marriage and the values of chastity and restraint of bodily passions as given in the Gospels, the Letters of Saint Paul, the Catechism of The Catholic Church (1994) and Pope John Paul II’s Apostolic Exhortation Familiaris Consortio (1981).  

The capacity and responsibility of love and communion

            St Paul tells us in today’s Second Reading:  “Your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit…you should use it for the glory of God” (1 Cor 6:13.20).  We do not think enough about this dignity we have as baptized members of the Church.  Within us dwells the holy Spirit of God, if we are in the state of grace.  Sins against the flesh, sins against purity, dishonour the divine Guest who is always with us.  

            Every Christian is called, in a manner suited to his state in life, to walk in the footsteps of Christ and advance in holiness of life.  “Do you not know that your bodies are members, making up the (Mystical) Body of Christ?” (1 Cor 6:15 ).  Precisely because we belong in this way to Christ, we must try to lead good lives and not dishonour the Lord Jesus or the Church of which we are members.  A sinful member dishonours Christ, the Head, and injures the whole Body.  A good and devoted member gives honour to Christ and helps to sanctify and strengthen the Body of the Church.  

            It was God himself, the Creator, who gave us a body.  He made us capable of communion with others and asked men and women to share in his creative plan.  “God is love and in himself he lives a mystery of personal loving communion.  Creating the human race in his own image and continually keeping it in being, God inscribed in the humanity of man and woman the vocation, and thus the capacity and responsibility, of love and communion” (John Paul II, Apostolic Exhortation, Familiaris Consortio, (1981), 11).  Scripture tells us that He made them male and female and gave them the command to “be fruitful and to multiply” (Gen 1:28 ).  

            Man and woman then have been given this sacred capacity to love and to be loved, to form a family in the bond of marriage, to enter into deep communion with each other and to bring forth children.  

            Man and woman are equal in personal dignity.  Both were made in the image and likeness of God.  Each, in his or her own way, is a reflection of the power and tenderness of God.  The union of man and woman in marriage reflects God’s generosity and fecundity.  “Therefore a man leaves his father and mother and cleaves to his wife, and they become one flesh” (Gen 2:24 ).  

            The love of man and woman in marriage requires, by its very nature that it be indissoluble; that it is for life.  For the love they give each other is undivided and exclusive.  They are called to grow in their oneness and communion through day-by-day fidelity to their marriage promises.  The healthy growth, the happiness, security and emotional maturity of children also depends on them having a father and a mother who love them, and who are bound together in a stable union of marriage.  

            Therefore, living together as husband and wife without being married (called cohabitation) is not approved of by the Church.  It is seen by God’s law as sinful.  Similarly, those who are validly married cannot leave their first commitment to each other, and enter into a second relationship.  For a person to remarry while the spouse is still alive and the previous marriage is valid, even though a civil divorce has been granted, means to enter a relationship that violates the teaching of Christ.  As we read in the Gospel:  “The man who divorces his wife and marries another is guilty of adultery against her.  And if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she is guilty of adultery, too” (Mk 10:11 -12).  

            Such people often find themselves trapped in situations they cannot easily free themselves from.  The Church also cares for them and does not abandon them.  Pope John Paul II said and his words are repeated in the Catechism:  Christians who live in such a situation “are urged by the Church to persevere in prayer, to attend the Sacrifice of the Mass, to listen to God’s Word, to contribute to works of charity and to community efforts for justice, to ask for God’s help and mercy, to bring up their children in the faith and cultivate the spirit and practice of penance and thus implore, day by day, God’s grace” (Familiaris Consortio, No.84, Catechism of the Catholic Church No 1651).  

            However, they cannot share fully in the life of the Church; that is, they cannot receive Holy Communion.  Their state of life contradicts the union of faithful love between the Church and Christ (cf. Eph 5:32 ), which is brought about by the Holy Eucharist. Moreover, to approve of it would amount to approving divorce which Christ himself has forbidden.  The Church has no power to allow such a thing.  

            St. Paul ’s word in today’s Mass was:  “The body is not meant for fornication…You are not your own property…Use your body for the glory of God” (1 Cor 6:13.19-20).  Unfortunately, today’s society puts enormous pressure on the young and indeed on all persons.  Coloured magazines, TV images, social customs, the restless urge for all kinds of pleasure and gratification – all tempt the hearts of the young, and indeed of all, to indulge in sinful pleasures, to be unfaithful and to use our bodies in a way that goes against the law of God.  

            In answer to our prayer this morning, may the Lord grant all the grace and power to control their passions and live chaste and pure lives.  May Our Lady, Virgin most pure, be a model for all in our world of permissiveness and greed.  Mother Mary , conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you.  Amen.