Optional Memorial of Saint John Fisher, bishop and martyr and Saint Thomas More, martyr

Martyrs in Defense of Marriage

Lectionary: 372

Thus they separated from each other;
Abram stayed in the land of Canaan,
while Lot settled among the cities of the Plain,
pitching his tents near Sodom.
Now the inhabitants of Sodom were very wicked
in the sins they committed against the LORD.

 

Today’s passage from Genesis describes a scenario hard to imagine in the 21^st century: wide-open stretches of fertile land unoccupied by human settlements. Abraham and Lot lived approximately 1800 BCE; I understand that Alexander the Great found similar opportunities fifteen centuries later. The human population of the world was still very small. Wikipedia reports that, “…It took over 2 million years of human prehistory and history for the world's population to reach 1 billion, and only 200 years more to reach 7 billion.”

The same passage also reveals a traditional preference for rural over city life. Lot chose foolishly when he settled in Sodom, as following chapters will show. God would rescue him after Abraham’s pleading for him, but his family seemed to prefer the loose morals of urban life. Lot’s wife turned back, and his daughters behaved very badly.

A recent history of cities, Metropolis, shows that one of their main attractions, even in prehistoric times, was their opportunities for sexual adventurism. Rural families, neighbors, and churches scrutinize and manage young people’s behavior, but they have little authority after sundown in the city. As Nora Bayes sang after the First World War, "How Ya Gonna Keep 'em Down on the Farm (After They've Seen Paree?)"

More alarming, Metropolis says that, as of the 21^st century, most human beings live in major cities. Rural life, customs, and mores are rapidly disappearing. This is not just an American phenomenon. This development is sudden and unprecedented; and the wisdom of traditional societies are flummoxed by its challenges.

Although Christianity flourished in the cities of the Roman Empire because of its strict morality, our ancient church faces a very different world. The city offers a panoply of alternative lifestyles that compete with the once-accepted model of marriage as one man, one woman, and their biological children, in sickness and in health, till death do us part. The traditional methods of criticizing, shaming, and ostracizing no longer suppress fornication, adultery, divorce, abortion, and homosexuality. Consequently, formerly aberrant illnesses like alcoholism, drug abuse, and suicide have become epidemics. Traditional wisdom, like “Just Say No,” fails before these challenges.

Many people ask, “When will the Roman Catholic Church rewrite its definitions of marriage to fit this new age?” But, as the Bible shows, our traditional understanding of marriage has been challenged since long before Jesus was born. The teachings in Genesis 2 – that it is not good to be alone; that a couple should be suitable helpmates to one another; that “a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body;” and that they should feel no shame in their intimacy – feel like they were born of controversy! Marriage has never been easy.

Marriage has been reliable as a bedrock of family and society and, for that reason, has often been the butt of jokes. My favorite quip is, “I have never considered divorce. Murder, yes; but never divorce.” Many Catholics still live that way. Divorce is not an option. They work it out; they make it work. With God all things are possible.

The Church stands by these faithful men and women despite the worrisome trends of an ever-changing world. As the world changes and society showers contempt both upon our beliefs and on those who practice them, we beg the Lord for grace, courage,  joy, and the freedom of true love. 

On this memorial feast day of Saints Thomas More and John Fisher, martyrs, we should remember they died for opposing the illegitimate marriage of King Henry VIII  to Anne Boleyn.