Jan 13, 2016
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THE THE THE THE THE WWWWWORD OF GOD ?ORD OF GOD ?ORD OF GOD ?ORD OF GOD ?ORD OF GOD ?
( Biblical Topic )
Fr. Xavier Khan Vattayil
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Author : Fr. Xavier Khan Vattayil
Copyright : Reserved
Co-ordinator : Sabu Kasarcode
Translation : S. Jose Kodankandath- Mumbai
Corroboration : Dilon
Lay out : Sebastian K.T.
Published by : Maranatha Media Centre
Printed at : Magicteck,Pkd. Mob. 9846568540
1st Impression : 2013 July
Copies : 10,000
Price : `̀̀̀̀ 8.00
INTERMARRIAGEIS IT ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF GOD ?
(English)
Deut 5:32,33 “You must therefore be careful
to do as the Lord your God has commanded you:
you shall not turn to the right or to the left. You
must follow exactly the path that the Lord your God
has commanded you, so that you may live, and that
it may go well with you, and that you may live long
in the land that you are to possess.”
Is intermarriage permissible for a child of God?
What does the Holy Bible say in this regard?
Tobit 4:12-13 “Beware my son, of every kind
of fornication. First of all, marry a woman from
among the descendants of your ancestors; do not
marry a foreign woman, who is not your father’s
INTERMARRIAGEIS IT ACCORDING TO THE WORD OF GOD ?
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tribe; for we are the descendants of the prophets.
Remember, my son, that Noah, Abraham, Isaac and
Jacob, our ancestors of old, all took wives from
among their kindred. They were blessed in their
children and their posterity will inherit the land.
So now, my son, love your kindred, and in your
heart do not disdain your kindred, the sons and
daughters of your people by refusing to take a wife
for yourself from among them. For in pride there
is ruin and great confusion. And in idleness there
is loss and dire poverty, because idleness is the
mother of famine.”
The Holy Bible does not approve intermarriage.
You therefore, do not get deceived by entering into
intermarriage. Do not chop away the traditions of the
family of our forefathers. Do not ignore the paths of
sanctified life revealed and constituted by the Holy
Spirit through our ancestors. Influenced by the
haughtiness and thoughtlessness of your youth age,
do not jump into conclusions.
Wisdom 3:11 “For those who despise wisdom
and instruction are miserable. Their hope is vain,
their labours are unprofitable, and their works are
useless.”
The arrogance inside your mind turns out to be
the reason for your ruin, chaos and anarchism. Just
examine the life of Solomon. God liked him very much.
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More than what he had asked, God gave and kept on
blessing him.
2 Chronicles 1:12 “Wisdom and knowledge are
granted to you. I will also give you riches,
possessions and honour, such as none of the kings
had who were before you, and none after you shall
have the like.”
God abundantly blessed and loved Solomon. But,
we see the downfall of Solomon from Verse, 1 Kings
11:1 onwards. As God appeared to Solomon the third
time, He declared that the kingdom will be torn away
from him.
1 Kings 11: 11-12 “Since this has been your
mind and you have not kept my covenant and my
statutes that I have commanded you, I will surely
tear the kingdom from you and give it to your
servant. Yet for the sake of your father David I will
not do it in your lifetime; I will tear it out of the
hand of your son.”
God took away the pomp, splendor and
prosperity from Solomon.
What was the reason?
It was because of intermarriage.
1 Kings 11:1-8 “King Solomon loved many
foreign women along with the daughter of Pharaoh:
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Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian and Hittite
women, from the nations concerning which the
Lord had said to the Israelites, ‘you shall not enter
into marriage with them, neither shall they with
you; for they will surely incline your heart to follow
their gods;’ Solomon clung to these in love. Among
his wives were seven hundred princesses and
three hundred concubines; and his wives turned
away his heart. For when Solomon was old, his
wives turned away his heart after other gods; and
his heart was not true to the Lord his God, as was
the heart of his father David. For Solomon followed
Astarte the goddess of the Sidonians, and Milcom
the abomination of the Ammonites. So Solomon
did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, and did
not completely follow the Lord, as his father David
had done. Then Solomon built a high place for
Chemosh the abomination of Moab, and for Molech
the abomination of the Ammonites, on the mountain
east of Jerusalem. He did the same for all his
foreign wives, who offered incense and sacrificed
to their gods.”
Solomon had married and brought several
princesses belonging to other casts and tribes from
the kingdoms he had conquered in war.
Exodus 34:15-16 “You shall not make a
covenant with the inhabitants of the land, for when
they prostitute themselves to their gods and
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sacrifice to their gods, someone among them will
invite you, and you will eat of the sacrifice. And
you will take wives from among their daughters for
your sons, and their daughters who prostitute
themselves to their gods will make your sons also
prostitute themselves to their gods.”
To Solomon it never felt that bad, his filthy deeds
which were forbidden by the Lord, God. And what was
the result? His tribe became weak… later ruined….
In ten years since the death of Solomon, his five
successors were beheaded. The explanation of that
terrible decline of his kingdom can be read in the Book
of Sirach.
Sirach 47:16-21 “Your fame reached to far-off
islands, and you were loved for your peaceful
reign. Your songs, proverbs, and parables and the
answers you gave astounded the nations. In the
name of the Lord God, who is called the God of
Israel, you gathered gold like tin and amassed
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silver like lead. But you brought in women to lie at
your side, and through your body you were brought
into subjection. You stained your honour and
defiled your family line, so that you brought wrath
upon your children, and they were grieved at your
folly, because the sovereignty was divided and a
rebel kingdom arose out of Ephraim".
Solomon’s life experience in the Holy Bible….
….for what has it been given to us ?
1 Cor 10:11 “These things happened to them
to serve as an example, and they were written down
to instruct us, on whom the ends of the ages have
come.”
Yes ! It is a lesson for us. Christians who are
engaged in love-affair with others belonging to
different casts and communities are living in sin. It is
wrong. It is to be corrected. It has to be stopped !
Here are some statements which usually sprout
from many:
‘Are not all the children of God?’ ‘ What if I marry
anyone ?’
‘ Is it not the match of mind, the most important
matter ?’
‘ I will marry whom I like. No one need advise
me…! ’
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The Holy Bible preaches, thus:
Isaiah 30:1 “Oh, rebellious children, says the
Lord, who carry out a plan, but not mine; who make
an alliance, but against my will, adding sin to sin.”
Sirach 5:9 “Do not winnow in every wind, or
follow every path.”
Sirach 6:2-4 “ Do not fall into the grip of
passion, or you may be torn apart as by a bull. Your
leaves will be devoured and your fruit destroyed,
and you will be left like a withered tree. Evil passion
destroys those who have it and makes them the
laughing stock of their enemies.”
The path which you think right may not be right.
Your wisdom and logical reasoning may not show you
the right way.
Proverbs :16:25 “Sometimes there is a way that
seems to be right, but in the end it is the way to
death.”
Intermarriage is not at all an arrangement of God.
The Holy Bible does not support this. You do not get
cheated. Do not ignore the preachings of the Holy
Church. At the behest of a sudden impulse, do not
dilute or discard the customs and life-styles that were
followed by our ancestors. Hold on to our traditions.
Help your children to grow up, rooted in the Word of
God.
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Supporting the intermarriage, some of those who
used to proudly pretend to stick on to the progressive
thoughts in matters relating to marriage, used to raise
some questions.
If suppose we disagree and detach
those who have prepared for intermarriage,
and hold another marriage, if that
relationship too ends up in failure ?
While thinking of this, there is a point that we have
to understand. Marriage, life-partner, family…. all
these are as per God’s plan and design. If a marriage
takes place as per the Will of God, and later it turns
out to be in misery and hardship, that has to be
shouldered on.
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By that marriage what if our God is wishing for
the sancti f ication of a soul ? Marriage is an
arrangement of God, as well for the eternal salvation.
1 Peter 4:12 “Beloved, do not be surprised at
the fiery ordeal that is taking place among you to
test you, as though something strange were
happening to you.”
Some people ask doubts: After I gave
promise to marry and then if I change my
mind…. Won’t it be a cheating? Will not
there be some curse?
No. As the Sacraments l ike marriage and
priesthood are covenants that last till the moment of
the person’s death, that person has the right to turn
away from it till the moment just before accepting
those Sacraments. Marriage must be with fee will. It
should not be under any pressure or compulsion.
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Withdrawal from an unwelcoming / inter-caste
love-affair in response to anyone’s advice does not
bring any curse at all.
Some others are stating: The person is
of a good character. Won’t drink; no
smoking habits; no cards-playing nature;
is of a very virtuous behaviour… Highly
educated; got a good job too. Only, the
person is not from our caste. Can this
relationship be led to marriage? What shall
I do?
While thinking of marriage, not only the job,
character, health etc… are to be taken into
consideration, but also you must think about your
relation with Jesus Christ. You should not do anything
that will fade this relationship.
“Because, you are Israel.”
You are the child of a Covenant. There should
not be any action from your side that may break the
Covenant with God.
2 Cor 6:14-15 “Do not be mismatched with
unbelievers, for what partnership is there between
righteousness and lawlessness? Or what
fellowship is there between light and darkness?
What agreement does Christ have with Beliar? Or
what does a believer share with an unbeliever?”
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2 Cor 6:17-18 “Therefore, come out from
them and be separate from them, says the Lord,
and touch nothing unclean; then I will welcome
you, and I will be your father, and you shall be my
sons and daughters, says the Lord Almighty.”
Often we come across some persons who used
to say:
‘If this marriage is not taking place, I do not want
a marriage at all !’
This is not a right thought. While our God is giving
you an instruction, you should not behave obstinately.
Sirach 3:26-27 “A stubborn mind will fare
badly at the end, and whoever loves danger will
perish in it. A stubborn mind will be burdened by
troubles, and the sinner adds sin to sins.”
Deute. 29: 18-19 “It may be that there is among
you a man or woman, or a family or tribe, whose
heart is already turning away from the Lord our
God to serve the gods of those nations. It may be
that there is among you a root sprouting poisonous
and bitter growth. All who hear the words of this
oath and bless themselves, thinking in their hearts,
‘we are safe even though we go our own stubborn
ways.”
Sirach 5:2 “Do not follow your inclination and
strength in pursuing the desires of your heart.”
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You must be aware of what the
Holy Church is highlighting about this
subject in its teachings in CATECHISM OF
THE CATHOLIC CHURCH.
CCC 1601- “The matrimonial covenant, by
which a man and a woman establish between
themselves a partnership of the whole of life, is by
its nature ordered toward the good of the spouses
and the procreation and education of offspring;
this covenant between baptized persons has been
raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a
sacrament.”
This passage signifies that the foremost intention
of marriage of man and woman belonging to the same
Christian community / caste is so dignified by the
Sacrament of Marriage, and recognized by the Holy
Church. The purpose of this dignity is more
understood when we think of the graceful blessing of
our Lord for the procreation and education of children
of the duly wedded couple in the Christian community.
CCC 1633- “In many countries the
situation of a mixed marriage (marriage between a
Catholic and a baptized non-Catholic) often arises.
It requires particular attention on the part of
couples and their pastors. A case of marriage with
disparity of cult (between a Catholic and a non-
baptized person) requires even greater
circumspection.”
In this clause, a clear warning is highlighted about
the need for careful thinking about intermarriage,
before entering into it. The risks are so thick that there
is not a single point of advantage to either of the
persons who goes on so aggressively pondering on
such an alliance.
CCC 1634 - “Difference of confession between
the spouses does not constitute an insurmountable
obstacle for marriage, when they succeed in
placing in common what they have received from
their respective communities, and learn from each
other the way in which each lives in fidelity to
Christ. But the difficulties of mixed marriages must
not be underestimated. They arise from the fact
that the separation of Christians has not yet been
overcome; the spouses risk experiencing the
tragedy of Christian disunity even in the heart of
their own home. Disparity of cult can further
aggravate these difficulties. Differences about faith
and the very notion of marriage, but also different
religious mentalities, can become sources of
tension in marriage, especially as regards the
education of children the temptation to religious
indifference can then arise.”
A more transparent picture is depicted in this
passage on the dilemma which the two persons in an
intermarriage are about to face. Because of the
difference in culture and belief, unprovoked causes
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for unceasing tensions during the post-intermarriage
period cannot be avoided. In any of their future
planning, a core undeniable obstacle that may create
more sleepless nights can be due to the extremes of
customs and practices followed by the two different
religious thinking.
Therefore, as the follower of Jesus Christ, you
are not supposed to knowingly enter into such
accidents and spoil the aspirations of your parents,
and later spoil your own future.
What should be the attitude of a child of
God with regard to intermarriage?
1. Love everyone from other communit ies as
brothers and sisters. Do not select them as life-
partners.
2. Do not fall in love or engage in sexual deeds with
those from other communities. Always bear in
mind that any type of love-affair / sexual deeds
which are not accepted by the Holy Bible and
Canon laws are sins against the statutes of our
God.
3. Do not encourage anyone for intermarriage.
Persuade them from such affairs.
4. Adopt only the healthy directions of the Church
with regard to marriage. The Church is not
advising intermarriage. Know the preachings of
the Church with regard to intermarriage.
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5. Bring up children from childhood itself with the
right awareness of these matters.
6. During the preaching period, teach the children
about these matters.
7. If at any time such intermarriage is found to be
inevitable, the marriage can be accorded only
after the person from the other community accepts
Christian faith and becomes a member of the
Church. Also must think whether such an act could
entail others to follow such a wrong course.
Mathew 18:6 “If any of you put a stumbling
block before one of these little ones who believe
me, it would be better for you if a great millstone
were fastened around your neck and you were
drowned in the depth of the sea.”
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Prayer toThe Holy Spirit
O Holy Spirit … Comfort of my soul, I do
adore You. Enl ighten me ! Wash me!
Strengthen me! Control me! Console me!
Tell me what all I should do. Command me.
Let me obey.
O Holy Spirit … be my King. I submit
myself as your slave.
O Holy Spirit … Come and fill me !
Halleluiea ….. (Praise for a while)
(Repeat several times)
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Mystic MannaSeries of history of Saints composed
by Fr. Xavier Khan Vattayil, exclusively for Children.
01. The Dove of Love
02. The one who became Prayer, by praying
03. The Martyr at the Confessional
04. The Ark of the Covenant
05. The Apostle of the eastern countries
06. In search of knowledge; in search of nectar
07. A sufferance journey
08. The Spiritual Teacher
09. Sowing virtue, reaping virtue
10. Universal Apostle
11. The Apostle of Charity
12. The Apostle of Moloko
13. The Man of Mercy
14. The Guide of Penance
15. The Saint of impossibles
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