The daily palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1904-1905, 1904-10-23
THE MINISTER'S CORNER
vgv ss3ggEgy THE CHURCH AND DIVORCE


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tituda Of the Catholic Church on the
divorce is an attitude in which she
stands alone and has stood alone for
centuries. The question therefore sug
gets itself if she stands alone, she
must either be right and her oppon-
ents wrong, or vice-versa. So before
defending or attacking her, we must
first discover her attitude on the
question, and then view it from the
spiritual, the worldly and the COM
mon sense standpoint. First then we
will define her attitude by stating
the Catholic Church declares that
marriage is a sacrament which was
instituted by Our Lord and Savior
Jesus Christ, and is a binding con-
tract between man and wife, dissolu-
BILE only by death Of one Of the two
parties. The first question therefore
We are prompted to ask is: Is such
statement true? Recognizing, how
ever, that no statement should be
made in regard to such an important
subject as this without quoting au-
thority, we note that at the time Our
Lord lived on earth and was preach
ing, there was quite an agitation
among the Jews regarding the ques-
ton of divorce The Pharisees who
We're at all times busy devising ways
and means to entrap Him brought
this matter before our Savior, tempt
ing Him, saying:
Is it lawful for man to put away
his wife?''
But He knowing the insincerity of
their hearts, answered, saying:
"Have you not read that He who
made man, from the beginning made
them male and female? For this
cause shall man leave his father
and mother and cleave to his wife
and they shall be of one flesh. There
fore now they are not two, but one
flesh. What therefore God has join
ed together, let no man put asun-
der.'
The answer defining so clearly tn.
inviolibilitv Of marriage was so plain
that His enemies wished to defend
themselves (typical of the advocates
of divorce of the present day. and
said:
"Why then did Moses command to
give a bill of divorceo'
He answered:
"Moses did not command but on
account of your heart he permitted
it-but it was not so from the begin
nine--and | say to you that whoever
shall put away his wife, except it be
for fornication, and marry again
committeth adultery, again / say he
that shall marry her who is put away
committeth adultery.'
St. Mark recording what happened
on this occasion makes Our Lord say
the same thing.
We as Catholics of course be-
lieve that Christ was the Son Of God,
but as We have to face and discuss
this question in this age and gener-
aticn with many who claim not to
believe in His divine nature, let us
ask them if the life of Christ is not
very interesting reading, if they can
find any one speech or act of his
that was not good advice or good
morals. Recognizing and admitting
this fact it is reasonable to suppose
that approaching the Importance of
His every act and word what He did
He did with the generalization and
full realization of its influence and
effect. We therefore find Him prov
inc to the unbelievers that He was
God by performing such stupendous
miracles as causing the blind to see,
the deaf to hear, the halt to walk and
even the dead to rise again to life
but in order to prove to doubling
multitude His divinity He electrified
these incredulous persons when He
performed His first miracle. Can we
doubt that He reasoned that the more
important the occasion the greater
the effect when He decided to per-
form His first Godlike act at a mar
riage, by changing the water into
wine, thus identifying marriage by
His presence and that Of His Blessed
Mother and by making it the occa-
sion of his first miracle, showing to
future generations the true way to
receive this holy Sacrament by invit-
IGN Him to be present at our marriage
in our hearts, through the holy sac
rament of the Eucharist, received
during the Nuptual Mass. Holy
Mother Church accepted her author
itr from Jesus through St. Peter anC