Brent opened the weekly discussion by saying A divorce law, AB7303, is being proposed in the National Assembly. Well, what do you think about it, and is it a faith matter?
Maria, who was raised Catholic, said, I’m against it. Wasn’t Jesus against divorce? Didn’t he say, “What God has joined together, let no man separate”? Yes, it is a faith matter.
Pastor Cortez replies, Yes, indeed it is a faith matter. Jesus definitely sees marriage and family as sacred institutions, and that’s why it’s wise for the Catholic Church to call marriage a sacrament. Jesus makes clear a major reason to protect the sacredness and inviolability of marriage—the children. In Mark 10 and Matthew 19, from which this saying comes, right after the saying we see Jesus taking children in his arms and blessing them, saying “Let the children come unto me, and do not hinder them, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.” The sad, awful fact is that divorce often damages a child’s natural faith in God, and thus hinders them, maybe forever, from entering the kingdom of God.
Tony interjects: Yes, but in Matthew 5 Jesus would allow divorce on the basis of infidelity. The Catholic Church is so adamantly opposed to the proposed law, it seems stricter than Jesus! Yet I hear that the priests are not preaching against the widespread immorality in the media and entertainment industries, allowing people who are openly “living in sin” to take communion, and I’ve even heard of a Filipino bishop who has a mistress! So, as a Manila Times columnist put it, the Church is actually helping this law come into being!
Cortez replies: I hear what you’re saying. From my reading of it, the legislation tries to take seriously the sanctity of marriage, while recognizing that some marriages are irretrievably broken. But it’s not a “no-fault” thing, unlike in America (a very bad thing, I’d say), and it asks for a six months cooling off period, except in cases of domestic violence. It is trying to be just: many people suffer here because of the no-divorce rule in the Philippines. An annulment can take years, and cost about 250,000 pesos; both parents suffer because they cannot remarry, and the children are in limbo. I know a man who’s on his third “marriage”. with three kids from the first, six from the second, three from the third. It’s a mess—who takes their father’s name, and where are the legal responsibilities for the children?
Brent comments: It appears to me that a carefully written divorce law would be good for the country. As it is now, I wonder if the no-divorce situation could actually weaken families!
How so? asks Tony. Cortez replies, Well, I once read a little book by a priest called Split- Level Christianity. He reports that there are many Filipino men who after Mass would go outside the church, smoke, and joke about their mistresses. It may be that men like this think, “I can get away with it; there’s no divorce here anyway.”
Edna, Brent’s wife, now speaks up. Pastor, I want to say something. You helped Brent and me see that marriage is indeed like a sacrament. Before we saw that, we were putting money above marriage and the family, by one of us working overseas. While Brent stayed faithful (I hope!, everyone laughs) we were not ministering grace to each other, and we may have even made it more difficult for our children to believe in and walk with the Lord, as seen in our son becoming rebellious. Now it’s like Easter in our house, thanks to you!
Let’s go for merienda.
(I’d love to hear from you on this or other faith matters: hpkuiper1@gmail.com.)
