Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The word helped me and especially the song at the start of the Eucharist. It said, ‘Come from Lebanon, come my bride, come from Lebanon come.’ What is Lebanon; it is not the Promised Land, not the place of the chosen people. Lebanon typifies foreigners for the Jews. It meant where paganism, idolatry flourished. The Lord puts us in this Eucharist and calling us to be his spouse. Since the soul is feminine the Lord can be our spouse. He says to me, ‘Come from Lebanon, come my beloved.’ This song always touches me because I am truly in Lebanon. During the week I get into Lebanon because of my idolatries, my pride, my selfishness, my inability to love the other. I cannot and this is Lebanon. The Lord says come, come and gather with me for this Eucharist, all of you from Lebanon, all you Pharisees, all the proud, the lustful, the envious. Our Lord is calling all of us to this banquet.
This wonderful word calls us as it speaks of marriage, figuratively and literally and is a help to our life as Christians. It is Christ who is your husband and says, ‘I want to be one with you.’ This is why God became man, in order to be united to you. This is why the Lord allows himself to be eaten, to be one with you more deeply. Food is something we can physically assimilate. We eat it, assimilate it, chew it. The whole digestive process begins to nourish all the cells of our body. God has become food for you; he makes himself flesh for you. He is this body and this blood that you will receive today. He enters your body physically, how impressive, if you think about it. This is a mystery as well as marriage, which is called a great mystery, that two people can be one flesh.
God invites himself to enter me and my cells begin to be nourished by him. How impressive is this, how wonderful. This is what it means to be a Christian. We are called to manifest Christ in our lives. This action of eating Christ makes us one flesh with him. We become one with him and we manifest this to the world. Christ lives in me, says St. Paul. It is not longer I that live but Christ who lives in me. Now I can love, I can forgive.
The entrance song is like a tattoo on the arm, like a seal on the arm that lasts forever; this is the love of God for each one of us. When someone experiences God’s love it is like a tattoo that is not erased. It is a seal on the heart. You cannot do it, but God can. He puts it there and it remains forever. Like the seal we receive at baptism. This love is manifested in the pores of a Christian; he can love. One day we will have this tattoo of love. That is what tattoos are for: to be seen, no one gets a tattoo in a hidden place unless it is only for your spouse. I think, I don’t know. People get them to be seen.
God does the same with us. He wants us to have this tattoo of love, something that can be seen by others. Let your light shine before men so they see your good works and seeing them, give glory to God! This is a marvel. We see that this word is not just about marriage. This word is for everyone, but let me speak about this great sacrament which is a mission. Marriage is something sacred; it is a sacrament, a sign, that places the two together in a unique intimacy that is sacred. That is why you have to get it right because it is holy. It has to be done well, not badly because it is something holy. The nuptial bed is sacred, holy, because a sacrifice is made there. For a moment it is heaven. I hope the spouses experience heaven and that it does not become a hell. The procreation of saints, of Christians is holy. St. Ambrose says this, not me. The procreation of saints is holy. The procreation of a heathen is a disaster. You are not a pagan.
In the first reading from Genesis, we hear how God created Eve from Adam’s rib. Then he says you are bone of my bone and flesh of my flesh. It does not mean that women are less than men. Both are there to help the other. The woman is the right partner for the man and the man is the right one for the woman. I was impressed by one thing: God did not make many women for Adam. He did not make a harem. He didn’t say take as many as you want, one for each day of the week. He made one, only one! Because love is one. Love is exclusive. Spousal love is exclusive, and it is forever. If not, it is not love.
It always impresses me, always, because husbands come with the hope, the illusion that their love is going to be faithful. They are convinced that fidelity is possible, and not only will they be faithful, but they will love and respect each other always. Then why do so many of these marriages fail and others do not? Have you wondered about this? It is a very simple reason: human love passes. We cannot build this love for the whole life if the union is based on human love, because human love ends. Human love is very limited; it does not forgive or maybe it forgives but does not forget. There comes a time when we say, ‘Enough, it’s over, good-bye!’
Christians have another love that human love does not arrive to. It is God. If God is present, then you can forgive. This why marriage is a great mystery. Marriage makes visible the love, forgiveness and mercy of God in a way far greater than a priest. A marriage where there is forgiveness is most wonderful. They forgive everything, always, all the time, forever. It is possible because marriage is like a custom-made suit. The tailor takes measures the height, weight, the shoulders, the belly and the suit are just for you. When you wear it, it looks spectacular on you because he has made it for you. If he puts it on another person, it is no longer good. It might fit him more or less, but it will not fit him like a tailor-made suit. God is the tailor of that suit, and he made your husband tailor made for you. He made that brother for you, the one you really need, who is Christ, he is Christ!
At the end of the gospel, it does not say much about the relationship with children. Jesus says, ‘Let the little children come to me …then he embraced them.’ We are called to be like children, to be embraced by Christ, to be innocent, to let God lead our lives as a child lets his or her parents lead them. They live in the providence of their parents, but if you are not a child, if you are proud and arrogant, that’s the end of your marriage. That is why it is necessary to enter marriage as a child. They are humble, they ask for forgiveness, which is the sweetest thing in life: a child asking for forgiveness. I hope you can ask forgiveness from your wife and your husband. I hope you can apologize to your spouse; how wonderful this would be.
The world does not believe in marriage; it does not believe in love, because love has been diluted, watered down. We love everything today. One day three people will be called a marriage. People love their pets. How I love my dog, they say. Yes, because he doesn’t answer back, he doesn’t get drunk, you don’t have to sleep with him. God wants us to love the family. It is ok to have pets but don’t let them replace children. The fruit of love is children. Life comes from the spouses. It is a holy procreation. Even when you are old and cannot procreate it is important to show your love in this way. Look at Abraham when he was almost 100 years old. Be open to life. This act of love, done correctly, binds you very much together. It is an obligation of the spouses to be one, to be united. I don’t want to be graphic, but I think you get the point.
Today we can now pass to this banquet and leave here as one flesh with Jesus Christ. You can have this intimate relationship with Christ. The Lord on the cross makes love with each one of us. The cross is a bed of love where he has betrothed you, where he married you, says an ancient hymn of the Church. The glorious cross done out of love where the Lord will be betrothed to you. Let us enter into communion with him in this banquet that started with his word so you can experience his love and be able to love as he has loved us.