Dear friends,<\/p>\n
The readings this weekend focus on marriage. Both Old and New Testaments of the Bible reveal God\u2019s thoughts on the dignity and significance of marriage. From the moment of human creation, man and woman were made for each other, that they would not be alone and would be fruitful and multiply. God reveals Himself as a Trinity of Three Persons, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit. This is one of the great mysteries in revelation, that God is One, but Three Divine and equal Persons. As Jesus reveals Himself as the Son of the Father and predicted the coming of the Holy Spirit, He made it clear that God is a unity of persons. The unity that God enjoys within the existence of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, set the framework for human creation, interaction, and unity. Just as God always wills the good and loves perfectly, human beings are called to love perfectly. This is where Biblical marriage takes its form.<\/p>\n
Jesus said in the Scriptures, there is no greater love than laying down one\u2019s life for one\u2019s friends. Human life is a gift from God and all of us are called to receive the gift and give ourselves as a gift to another in return. The concept of religious life and of celibacy embrace the gift of laying down one\u2019s life for service of Christ. The sacrament of marriage is about choosing to lay down one\u2019s life for the good of the spouse and procreation. The notion of two becoming one requires the ability and the actuality of physical union; but, also is about choosing to will what\u2019s good for the other despite one\u2019s preferences. Marriage is certainly under attack in modern culture, but the attack is very simple to understand.<\/p>\n
Adam and Eve, in the Original Sin, wanted to know what God knows. They ate from the tree of knowledge of Good and Evil. The sin was Pride. They wanted to be like God. The sin of humanity from the beginning is pride. \u201cI want to be right.\u201d \u201cI want to be in charge.\u201d \u201cMy needs are what\u2019s most important.\u201d \u201cI should be at the front and taken care of, instead of me serving another.\u201d Aside from actual physical abuse, which is always sin and a reason for physical separation in marriage, in our culture the majority of divorces or even basic friendship breakups are the result of pride and selfishness. Marriage is a Biblical revelation that requires one woman to lay down her life for one man, and vice versa. When a culture fails to live for the other, then this kind of love becomes extinct. In divorce, people have all sorts of excuses of not having needs met, that \u201cI deserve better,\u201d \u201cI have served him\/her all this time and it\u2019s now my time,\u201d or the biggest lie of the devil, \u201cI can do this all on my own.\u201d There is often more to a relationship that can\u2019t be summarized in one person, statement or attitude. No one can control what a spouse chooses to do or how one responds and so the Bible always calls us to focus on \u201cmy\u201d yes, commitment, or faithfulness. However, Christ Jesus reveals that the failure to lay down your life and choose someone other than yourself, every day, no matter how you think you\u2019ve been hurt, misunderstood, unloved, uncared for, etc, is the failure to love like Christ.<\/p>\n
In simple terms, let us pray for all our married couples. Let us pray that men and women will continue to lay down their lives for each other. Let us pray that moms and dads will choose to love and raise their children together. Let us pray for persistence in the wake of temptation and hurt in the human heart. Most of all as we pray for honoring commitments, let us pray for the gift for men and women to forgive each other, while living in the present ordered to a peaceful tomorrow. Only in forgiveness is the peace of Christ truly known.<\/p>\n
God bless you,<\/p>\n
Fr. David Richardson<\/p>\n
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