Published in the bulletin of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Knoxville, TN, on the 4th Sunday of Lent.
My dear Parishioners,
Peace! There are nine (9) “In Brief” articles in the Catechism of the Catholic Church addressing the Sixth Commandment of the Decalogue, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’ The following is a reflection on CCC 2400.
The Sixth Commandment, ‘You shall not commit adultery’ serves as a protector of the dignity of Marriage against various sins or grave offenses against chastity. The Catechism highlights four grave offenses to the dignity of Marriage which we consider here.
Adultery is a sin against the dignity of Marriage. Adultery is different from fornication in that one or both of the parties engaging in the sexual activity are married to others. Fornication is a sin, but so too is adultery. Both are sins against chastity and the dignity of Holy Marriage.
Divorce is a sin against the dignity of Marriage. The rise of “no-fault wholesale divorce and remarriage” became sanctioned in the USA in California in 1969 under then Governor Ronald Wilson Reagan (who was himself divorced and “remarried”), following the laws enacted by the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia in 1918, designed to revolutionize society at every level, removing the role Mother Church plays in the life of the family. The Lord Jesus reminds us that it was because of the hardness of hearts that Moses permitted divorce, but that such was not and is not God’s plan from the beginning (cf. Matthew 19:8). This is one of the central passages of Sacred Scripture upon which Saint John Paul II constructs his Theology of the Body (e.g. 2 April, 1980) for our consideration and assent.
Polygamy is a sin against the dignity of Marriage. The Greek word polugamos means often marrying or plural marriage and is the origin of the term polygamy. Polyandry is no less sinful. To have multiple wives or multiple husbands, even if serially, while the legitimate spouse is still living is a crime against chastity and the unity and dignity of Holy Marriage. Monogamy is one way of keeping this Commandment, namely, being faithful one to the other within Marriage, until death, forsaking all others. The sins of Abraham, Jacob, David, and Solomon are sins, not examples of what we should do, but what we should avoid or repent (cf. Genesis 21:11; 35:22–26; 2 Samuel 13; 1 Kings 11:12).
Free union is a sin against the dignity of Marriage. There are different forms of “free union” such as concubinage, cohabitation, ‘shacking up’ and the ‘hook-up’ culture. All of these are sins against the stability and unity and dignity of Holy Marriage and are forbidden as crimes against the Sixth Commandment.
The 1982 song Sexual Healing by Marvin Gaye, the 1989 song Love Shack by the B–52’s, and the 2000 song She Bangs by Ricky Martin, among others, all seem to celebrate and encourage these sins against chastity. Let us, as followers of Jesus Christ bear witness to the truth of the Gospel by the holiness and purity of our lives.
God bless you!
Father John Arthur Orr