“They say to him: ‘Why then did Moses command to give a bill of divorce, and to put away?’ He saith to them: ‘Because Moses by reason of the hardness of your heart permitted you to put away your wives: but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and he that shall marry her that is put away, committeth adultery.’ His disciples say unto him: ‘If the case of a man with his wife be so, it is not expedient to marry,’ Who said to them: ‘All men take not this word, but they to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs, who were born so from their mother’s womb: and there are eunuchs, who were made so by men: and there are eunuchs, who have made themselves eunuchs for the kingdom of heaven. He that can take, let him take it.’”
St. John Chrysostom makes the point that to desire divorce is a sign of unchastity, and so the strict call to marital chastity is outstanding to the unchaste Pharisees, who do not have a solid retort but to run to Moses to try to cover their lack of knowledge of the truth: “As a lame man hath fair legs in vain: so a parable is unseemly in the mouth of fools” (Proverbs 26:7). Jesus, being the source of the commands of God, knows both the commands and their reason for being given at the time at which they were given, and thus answers that it was on account of the hardness of the hearts of Israel, who were given permission to divorce that they may not do greater evil to their wives: “If a man take a wife, and have her, and she find not favour in his eyes, for some uncleanness: he shall write a bill of divorce, and shall give it in her hand, and send her out of his house” (Deuteronomy 24:1), but this was simply concession to the extremely weak, and not the fulness of the commandment to love. Jesus is both clear and strong in His words here, but brings out the treasure of truth as a lovely balm: “Therefore every scribe instructed in the kingdom of heaven, is like to a man that is a householder, who bringeth forth out of his treasure new things and old” (Matthew 13:52), that in the Garden, where there was no interference to love, the idea of divorce was ludicrous: “This now is bone of my bones, and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23), but when men would kill or abuse their wives for the sake of gaining someone younger and fairer, divorce would be preferable: “Thou shalt not kill” (Exodus 20:13). It was something tolerated, not commanded, and in no way befitted righteousness: “Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity: therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows” (Psalm 44:8). Jesus then speaks with His own authority: “Never did man speak like this man” (John 7:46) that fornication alone truly severs the bond of marriage, for it destroys love as nothing else, thus does Wisdom say: “He that keepeth an adulteress, is foolish and wicked” (Proverbs 18:22). The bodily union between husband and wife is a physical reality that, as was said before, expresses a spiritual intertwining that is already present, and so by committing adultery, one shows in their body that their heart has already deserted the other. To dissuade the attempt to falsely accuse and to call His people to a higher state, Jesus then says that to marry while one divorced is still alive is adultery, for if one should leave a spouse due to adultery, they should fasten themselves to Him who is always faithful: “Art thou loosed from a wife? Seek not a wife” (1 Corinthians 7:27), who will repair their heart and hold it with a tenderness they then need. Now, after all of this, the disciples then speak that it is not expedient to marry, because a spouse may be found to be filled with bad habits, a disagreeable disposition, or simply unloving: “A diligent woman is a crown to her husband: and she that doth things worthy of confusion, is a rottenness in his bones” (Proverbs 12:4), and to tolerate these for the sake of love and the image of the Trinity in marriage is firmly held in the commandment to love: “For the unbelieving husband is sanctified by the believing wife; and the unbelieving wife is sanctified by the believing husband” (1 Corinthians 7:14), with adultery alone being sufficient reason to dissolve the marriage. Jesus sees this difficulty, and brings forth a new treasure, a commandment unthinkable to many, utter foolishness to the secular world and suppressed by those outside the Catholic Church, the vocation of divine love: “Let her marry to whom she will; only in the Lord. But more blessed shall she be, if she so remain, according to my counsel” (1 Corinthians 7:39-40). It is not a hidden mystery, a turn of fate, a question of if God permits it to remain celibate for the love of Jesus, but the one who ardently desires to be entirely His, He will give the grace to do so: “Ask, and it shall be given you” (Matthew 7:7); But the fruit of the Spirit is, love… continency, chastity. Against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:23). Some fail in the battle to be continent, but this should not dissuade, for the Psalmist says: “A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand: but it shall not come nigh thee” (Psalm 90:7), ah, but Theophila, what a magnificent gem continence is! To be so upheld by divine love that one takes no other lover, this is a shining display of the power of grace: “And whereas I was more good, I came to a body undefiled. And as I knew that I could not otherwise be continent, except God gave it, and this also was a point of wisdom, to know whose gift it was” (Wisdom 8:20-21). Therefore, Jesus moves into the topic of eunuchs, who were servants in charge of the wives of kings, just as those who are continent in the Church are at the unhindered service of His beloved people: “He that is greatest among you shall be your servant” (Matthew 23:11). There are some that were made so by men or themselves, in which there is no love, for even a righteous act without the will’s assent and the animation of love is nothing. Likewise, to be forced not to marry or to embrace celibacy for the sake of work, position, luxury, peace, or such worldly pleasure is loveless, but to do so for the love of Jesus is supernatural and transcends the natural vocation of marriage: “These are they who were not defiled with women: for they are virgins. These follow the Lamb whithersoever he goeth” (Apocalypse 14:4). When the Lord says, “He that can take it, let him take it,” it is a call to the fight: “Whosoever is fearful and timorous, let him return” (Judges 7:3). This is not to entangle one in discernment on if they can, but to realize that the celibate state is as magnificent as it is difficult; many are the chaste saints who were barraged by the devil, who sought to ruin the beauty of their spiritual marriage to the King: “While the king was at his repose, my spikenard sent forth the odour thereof” (Canticle 1:11), which the enemy would seek to suppress through doubt and actions that are less than beautiful love. The soul that is consecrated is invited to a higher state, but more is expected of them, a more beautiful love is demanded, for their whole vocation is the love of Love: “ The unmarried woman and the virgin thinketh on the things of the Lord, that she may be holy both in body and in spirit” (1 Corinthians 7:34), and they are expected to make themselves beautiful for Beauty Itself and by His standards: “Behold thou art fair, O my love, behold thou art fair, thy eyes are as those of doves” (Canticle 1:14). Thus, to make oneself a eunuch is not in doing anything to one’s body, but taming both it and the soul that they may always be oriented to the greatest, most beautiful act of love that Jesus sets before them. The body, heart, and mind are thus all called to a state of divine love, the body that it may be entirely spiritual and used for the sake of God’s kingdom: “But I chastise my body, and bring it into subjection: lest perhaps, when I have preached to others, I myself should become a castaway” (1 Corinthians 9:27); the mind, that it may be adorned with thoughts of the Beloved and the beauty of Christian life and thereby guard the heart: “Be not conformed to this world; but be reformed in the newness of your mind, that you may prove what is the good, and the acceptable, and the perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2); and the heart, that it may be given freely to the Beloved, and guarded from all else as a woman guards herself from despicable suitors: “With all watchfulness keep thy heart, because life issueth out from it” (Proverbs 4:23); “My sister, my spouse, is a garden enclosed, a garden enclosed, a fountain sealed up” (Canticle 4:12).