St. Ambrose stated: "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." Therefore from the cross we can conclude that Christ entered into His own death and thus from the piercing of His side with the lance both water and blood poured forth signifying the very creation of His spouse, the Church. This water which pours forth from the side of Christ signifies to us the waters of baptism and the blood which poured forth from His pierced side signifies the Holy Eucharist. Removed from baptism we cannot be members of the Church. Baptism is necessary to achieve this reality in order that we may be found "without spot or wrinkle." When we come forth to receive the Most Holy Eucharist we come forth to receive Christ who makes Himself present for us under the appearances of bread and wine. In the Eucharist we can say that two come together and in return they become one.
St. Paul's Letter to the Ephesians sums up two great realities for us. This letter sums up Christ's abundant love for His Church and thus too it proclaims the love that must be present when two enter into the Sacrament of Matrimony in order to become one flesh. Christ surrendered Himself totally upon the cross for our sake in order that we though found imperfect may be sanctified. This is what the husband and wife do for each other when they enter into the life giving sacrament of matrimony. Two join together in this sacrament in order to participate in the life giving reality that is made apparent through the cross. Marriage is thus for the good of the spouse because it must become a goal of the couple to get each other to Heaven.
St. Paul further instructs us in this same letter that marriage is a "great mystery." This word "mystery" reflects the very origin of the word "sacrament." It is Christ upon the cross who offers Himself without reservation to the bride who is the Church. In this same manner He takes marriage and elevates it to the status that it held from the very beginning when God called the world into creation and found it to be good. We must remember the words of Christ as given to the Pharisees in Matthew's Gospel: "For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so." And so what are we told concerning this beginning? We are instructed from Genesis: "Then the Lord God said, "It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him a helper fit for him." And also verse 24 of Genesis: "Therefore a man leaves his father and his mother and clings to his wife, and they become one flesh."
In this becoming of one flesh the couple enters into what is known as the marital embrace and in return springs forth the generation of new life. From this creation brought about by this total surrendering of self unto the other we receive a child who in return will raised and nourished within the faith by their parents. We too are called to enter into communion with Christ who pours Himself out for us through the Eucharist. Whenever we receive the Eucharist we receive Christ who is the bridegroom into our life. Through our reception of the Eucharist we allow ourself to join with Christ in both mind and heart. Through our reception of Communion we surrender who we are, unto Christ, in order that we may be sent forth from here to serve Him by our life. In John 6 when they received the bread of life which came down from Heaven they were called to grow in their love and faith for the one whom they served.
May each of us continue to keep all married couples in our prayers that through their total giving of self they may grow closer to the love of Christ. May we pray also for our youth that they too may be inspired by Christ's total outpouring of self upon the cross, which in return, elevated marriage to the status of a sacrament and thus returned it to its proper understanding which was understood from the beginning. In a matter of minutes we will move onto the intimate encounter of receiving Jesus present in the Eucharist, thus becoming one with Him. John Paul II stated: "The Eucharist is the sacrament of our redemption. It is the sacrament of the Bridegroom and of the Bride."
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