In Proverbs 9 we hear that “Wisdom has erected her seven pillars. This is a great opportunity to write about the number 7 and its sacred character in our faith. The Hebrew word shibah or shebua, means seven. But it can also mean “to swear.” So, when we say, “I swear I’m telling the truth,” it’s like saying “I seven myself, I’m telling the truth.” Strange, no? Shibah is used so many times in the Bible in reference to something sacred that you can’t help but connect it to sacred things; like the 7th day when God rested, or the 7 days of many religious festivals, or especially the Catholic sacraments. 

Consider then what is a sacred act? One of the key sacred acts of life is making a vow. One of the key vows most people make happens at a wedding. Why else would almost every wedding these days end with loud applause? The ending kiss of bride and groom elicits a wild victory cheer that rivals any home run or touch down cheer. I must confess that my sense of the sacred space of a church makes me cringe a bit at that moment. It makes me cringe because the “spirit of a touchdown” seems out of place in church. But I also can’t help but feel the joy and sense of accomplishment for the couple and the family. It makes sense because it is like a victory cheer. It is hope in fidelity over infidelity, compatibility over incompatibility, love over apathy. 

Shibah connotes the sense of swearing as we think of the sense of a vow. It’s not the swearing we do when we hit our thumb with a hammer. Many young couples today avoid a Catholic wedding. So those who marry in the Catholic church do have some sense that there is something sacred when they make their vows. As St Thomas More tells his daughter Meg in the classic movie, A Man for All Seasons, “What is a vow but a promise we make to God?” Friends, this is at the heart of why Catholics who have divorced are asked, no, let me rephrase that, are required to get an annulment before marrying again. 

In a recent Uber ride a non-Catholic Christian driver asked politely, “What is the difference between Christian, Catholic and Baptist?” What followed was a delightful dialogue about Communion, history and miracles. But I’m not sure if the answer to that question might be described as the difference between two people who marry thinking they are entering a contract and two people who marry thinking they are making a vow to God. It was noted in the Uber dialogue that Catholics believe in miracles, especially miracles testifying to the real presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Why do we never hear of the “communion bread” shared at Protestant communion services dripping blood or changing to real heart tissue like has happened with Catholic Eucharistic hosts? 

Consider, from the seven pillars of Wisdom, we get the seven sacraments. At the top of the list of these sacraments we find the Eucharist as “summit of our faith” and we find marriage as the “primordial sacrament.” Now consider, wouldn’t Wisdom say every one of us should be spending time in adoration in our adoration chapel or the many that exist in our area?