Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time.
My dear Parishioners,
Peace! There are ten (10) “In Brief” articles in the Catechism of the Catholic Church addressing the Fourth Commandment of the Decalogue, ‘Honor your father and your mother.’ The following is a reflection on CCC 2249.
The Catechism highlights five points integrally related to the Fourth Commandment, “honor your father and your mother,” which we will treat in sequence.
The conjugal community is one way of speaking of husband and wife. The word “conjugal” is a compound word based on the prefix for “with” (com) and the word for “yoke” (iugum). It is based on the analogy between the husband and wife being united to plow the field of life by the holy bond of Marriage as two beasts of burden are yoked to help the farmer till the field. God warns us through Saint Paul to avoid being unequally yoked or mismatched (cf. 2 Corinthians 6:14–18).
The Fourth Commandment implies the alliance or covenant of the spouses, which in turn implies those between God and Moses, Noah, Abraham, David and the new and everlasting covenant in the blood of Christ Jesus, bridegroom of Mother Church. A covenant is a sacred contract. Holy Marriage is the sacred contract made between the husband, the wife and Almighty God, and among the Baptized not just a civil contract or agreement.
The sacred contract of Holy Marriage, part of the Fourth Commandment, comes into existence through the consent of the spouses, which is to say, the profession of the holy vows of Marriage. With the help of God, the husband and wife pledge to each other and to Almighty God unity, indissolubility, and fecundity “in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health.” There is a canonical axiom “consent makes the Marriage” (cf. CIC ‘83 1108.2; 1120).
The Fourth Commandment implies both Marriage and the family. The John Paul II Institute for Marriage and the Family of the Lateran University in Rome studies Marriage in light of God’s grace and plan. Together with and based on Sacred Scripture a major texts studied is the collection of Wednesday catechises given between the years 1979 – 1984 popularly called the Theology of the Body with two main sections, “the words of Jesus” and “the Sacrament of Marriage.” The vows of Marriage, for example are treated in the catechesis of 5 January, 1983.
The Fourth Commandment also raises the issue of the two ends or goals of marriage and the family, namely: the good of the spouses and the procreation and education of children. There are temporal goods (e.g. roof over head, food, clothing) and eternal goods (helps to Heaven). The husband and wife, father and mother are to help each other and their children in both spheres. By procreation we are reminded that while the parents contribute the body, it is Almighty God who contributes the soul. The educational aspect of the Fourth Commandment includes not only reading, writing, and arithmetic, but also religion.
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr