Marriage, Family, and the Beauty of Scripture

The countdown is almost over. After months of preparation and preliminary conversations and debates, the 2014 Third Extraordinary Synod of Bishops will convene Monday morning in Vatican City to begin a formal discussion of The Pastoral Challenges of the Family in the Context of Evangelization.

Synod, as Cardinal Kasper reminds us, comes from combining the Greek words syn and odos meaning “common path.” Bishops as well as expert advisors on the family from all around the globe will gather to find a “common path” forward for the Church that addresses the many diverse pastoral challenges facing its 1.2 billion sons and daughters—a path that simultaneously respects and upholds the integrity and beauty of the Catholic faith and tradition. It is no small task and its fruits are dependent upon the prayers of the faithful.

I would like to discuss, here, one of the many topics that will be discussed next week and on which Pope Francis probed the global Church in a questionnaire last year: namely, the Word of God.

The Instrumentum Laboris for the synod, a review and response to the Preparatory Document (i.e., those questions sent out by Pope Francis last November), dedicates two paragraphs to “The Knowledge of the Bible on the Family”:

Generally speaking, it can be said that biblical teaching, particularly that in the Gospels and Pauline Letters, is more extensively known today. Nevertheless, all bishops’ conferences agreed that much work remains to be done if this teaching is to become the bedrock of spirituality and the Christian life, even in reference to the family. Many responses also note the faithful’s great desire to know Sacred Scripture better.

In this regard, the formation of the clergy stands out as particularly decisive, especially in the quality of homilies, on which the Holy Father, Pope Francis has insisted recently (cf. EG, 135-144). Indeed, the homily is a privileged means of presenting Sacred Scripture to the faithful and explaining its relevance in the Church and everyday life. As a result of preaching in a befitting manner, the People of God are able to appreciate the beauty of God’s Word which is a source of appeal and comfort for the family. In addition to the homily, another important means is the promotion, within dioceses and parishes, of programmes which help the faithful take up the Bible in a proper way. What is recommended is not so much multiplying pastoral initiatives as inserting the Bible in every aspect of existing ministerial efforts on behalf of the family. Every instance where the Church is called to offer pastoral care to the faithful in a family setting can provide an opportunity for the Gospel of the Family to be announced, experienced and appreciated. [Emphasis mine]

What we can conclude from this section is that there is a great thirst among the People of God for Sacred Scripture, particularly as communicated in meaningful homilies that expound the stories and themes of marriage and family life within the Bible, and that speak to certain challenges and blessings we face at present. Outside the liturgy, the “pre-recommendation” is that Scripture be more readily diffused within the Church’s marital and familial pastoral programs.

I am fascinated that many Catholics (clergy, academics, laity) of late have placed Scripture on the backburner in their defense of and proposal for a “traditional” understanding of marriage and family in the public sphere. Most have perhaps cowered from using Scripture for several reasons, including: their own lack of confidence in doing good and solid exegesis or in anyone taking it seriously; an open hostility toward the Catholic faith; shame over the sex abuse scandals of recent years or Church doctrine on marriage and family; a desire to distance themselves from far-right Evangelicals who while often good-intentioned twist Scripture into a message of hatred and condemnation; the false belief that to argue via Scripture would somehow rightly be perceived as an attempt to force the Catholic faith upon a supposed “non-confessional” state.

I say a supposed non-confessional state because the very notion is in many ways inconsistent. Every state is based upon certain metaphysical and anthropological assertions, upon some notion of what a human being is and what purpose he or she has. Thus, it is important that we bring this point to the attention of those in the public square who believe otherwise. The bulk of Catholics aren’t advocating for a theocracy or for a conflation of Church and state. What we believe and confess is that the Church and the state have distinct yet overlapping roles requiring communication and collaboration in caring for communities and families and the persons that constitute these groups. Furthermore, it is not simply required but actually beneficial to society when such groups work together. However, a popular modern notion of man’s relationship with the state is often unwilling to entertain and even hostile towards any coordination or commingling of these roles.

Interestingly, §30 of the synod’s Instrumentum Laboris contains what appear to be prophetic words:

A Call for a Renewal in Terms of Language

The language traditionally used in explaining the term “natural law” should be improved so that the values of the Gospel can be communicated to people today in a more intelligible manner. In particular, the vast majority of responses and an even greater part of the observations request that more emphasis be placed on the role of the Word of God as a privileged instrument in the conception of married life and the family, and recommend greater reference to the Bible, its language and narratives. In this regard, respondents propose bringing the issue to public discussion and developing the idea of biblical inspiration.

While accounts of natural law shed light on traditional understandings of marriage and family, it is not by the via pulchritudinis—a “way of beauty” (cf.§59). That natural law is true is not enough. We as humans generally need more than truth to move us—we require beauty. This is where Scripture comes into play. God uttered a word and there was light (cf. Gen 1:3). This word is the Word of God, Jesus Christ. He is the Light of the World (cf. Jn 8:12). He must be probed, he must be explored, he must be re-proposed to the world once again.

I pray that the synod will reinforce this idea—that the days of fleeing from Scripture should cease and that we should return to the well-spring and source of beauty, which continues to stir people to their very core. The beauty of Scripture can and should be the foundation upon which we re-propose traditional marriage and family to the world. Indeed, to do so will be a way of “proposing, not imposing; guiding, not pushing; inviting, not driving away, thought-provoking, never disappointing” (§109).