Our parochial vicar has a blunt way about him, which is something I can appreciate; there's no guessing involved. But sometimes he can also take the obvious and carry it through to a conclusion that is profound.
That's when you smack yourself in the head and think, "I should have thought of that!".
Our priest was talking about the woman in the Gospel who married seven brothers who all died without producing children. At the resurrection, whose wife will she be? The answer of course, is nobody's since there is no marriage in heaven. But why?
The reasoning was fairly straightforward. The primary purpose of marriage is the procreation of children. In heaven there is no more death, therefore the need to continue perpetuating the human race no longer applies. Thus, there is no more marriage.
Similarly, the other major purpose of marriage is the unitive aspect. In heaven we will all be perfectly and radically united to Christ, therefore we will have no need to be united to someone else in marriage.
Ah-ha. I should have thought of that.
No comments:
Post a Comment