swear to god: refreshing sacrament

Lately I’ve been reading about the Sacraments; one book in particular, Swear to God by Scott Hahn, has really shed some light on the meaning and biblical roots of the Sacraments.

Just the other night, I was reading a section in this book on the Sacrament of Marriage – and it really touched me. Hahn had made this Sacrament a little more real to me. His words are eloquent, and what touched me most of all was what he shared from his own heart, and his own lived experience with this Sacrament.

In essence, the Sacraments communicate the real presence of Jesus, but also more than that: they are “efficacious signs”, because they “affect graces” that are symbolized, therefore making them more than mere symbols. In all the Sacraments, it is Jesus Himself who is “acting”, and communicating his Life and his graces. The biblical roots are many, and they are deep. However, I wish to only speak of what touched me in what I read in Hahn’s book, particularly this section on Marriage.

Reflecting on his own marriage with his wife Kimberly, Hahn says this:

“Indeed, it was His name we invoked when we made our vows, His help Kimberly and I enlisted and His protection, for the sake of His promise. It is His presence that makes the covenant binding. Jesus Christ abides in our marriage, in a real way, for as long as we both shall live” (p. 185).

How beautiful! How Christocentric (Christ-centered). And how very much it ought to be, seeing as Marriage really is – in the end – all about Jesus. How beautiful indeed, to have a proper perspective on Marriage, receiving it as the gift it truly is, from Jesus Himself.

“Marriage is a sacrament not merely in some ethereal or abstract way,” Hahn writes: “It is a sacrament in the most complete, body-and-soul way possible” (p. 186). Speaking of his wife Kimberly, he continues: “She is a blessed sacrament to me, and an hour with her is an hour of prayer… In her I see, reflected, the love of the Holy Spirit and the reality of the Church. In our bodily union, I contemplate something of the communion of Christ with His own bride, the Church” (p. 186).

How refreshing, once again, to read such inspiring words – words that reflect the true nature of marriage, its sacramental nature. These are words that echo the ancient understanding that even Paul had, who saw in marriage a profound mystery, referring to the mysterious union of Christ with his bride the Church (see Ephesians 5:25-32).

“It is for me, and me alone, that Kimberly’s presence is a sacramental presence of Jesus Christ,” Hahn says (p. 187). Yet he also understands another fundamental truth about the Sacrament of Marriage that seems to be all but completely lost in our world today:

“It is not just an inward reality for couples only. Marriage is a sacrament of the Church, and it is an outward sign of any inward grace received by the couple. A married couple shows the world that God is faithful forever; that He is loving and merciful; that He is lavish in His fruitfulness; and much more, as well… [Marriage] will be a lasting statement to an unbelieving world that finds fidelity impossible to believe” (p. 187).

Hahn ends this section in his book by pointing out that marriage would not be a Sacrament if it were just symbolic in nature. This, too, seems to be a concept that is lost to the world, an “unbelieving world”. It seems evident that people who have not had genuine encounters with Jesus Christ in and through his Sacraments tend to seek other experiences to fill that void - a void that only Jesus can fill. Marriage then becomes trivialized, in a sense, and is brought down to the human level, catering only to those desired experiences that human beings long for. And this is understandable, for we are all made to be filled with life, and “to the full” (see John 10:10). If we aren’t filled with Jesus, we will inevitably seek fulfillment in other ways.

Why would marriage not be a Sacrament if it were just a symbol, as Hahn points out? Because marriage, as a Sacrament, contains the real presence of Jesus Christ (p. 187).

How beautiful.  How refreshing.