27th Sunday of Ordinary Time

The Covenant of Marriage Mk. 10:2-16

What is the difference between a Contract and a Covenant?

A Contract is an agreements between two parties that can be broken. 

For example a lease is a contract between the landlord and the tenant;  

It can be altered or changed depending on the terms of the contract. 

A Covenant however is a promise made by an individual that can never be broken. 

God made a Covenant with Abraham to make of him a great nation. 

God made  a Covenant with Noah to never destroy the earth by flood again. 

God made a Covenant with Israel to be their God. 

And at the Last Supper, Jesus made a New and Eternal Covenant. 

God has kept His Promises. 

All Sacraments are Covenants. 

Where God makes a Promise to us and never goes back on it. 

At Baptism God makes a Promise to always be our God. 

At Confession, God keeps His Promise to always forgive us,

At Confirmation we are permanently sealed with the Holy Spirit,

At Ordination, one becomes a priest forever, for God does not take back His blessing. 

And Marriage is a Covenant whereby 

a bride and groom each make Promises to be true in good times and in bad, in sickness and in health, all the days of his life. 

Marriage is not a contract that can be broken but a Covenant that is forever. 

This is why Jesus said, “what God has joined, Man cannot divide. 

At the Last Supper Jesus made a New and Eternal Covenant. 

That He sealed it, in His own Blood on Calvary. 

Whereby He Promised to be true to us in good times and in bad;

In sickness and in health to us forever and ever;

For He is the Bridegroom and the Church is His Bride

And Heaven is an Eternal Wedding Feast.