Today at Holy Mass we hear in the Gospel of St Mark some words about the Sacrament of Marriage…..”But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh”……Marriage is a vocation…..And a marriage between a man and a woman is a sacred union….Do we view it that way?…Does society view it that way?…….Marriage is the vehicle where by a man and a woman die to themselves and in doing so permit God to enter into their lives together……However, because we are human we all are flawed…This is why God helps us in our marriage…This is why marriage is a Sacrament…Sacramental grace sustains a couple…..As we all know, life has many chapters…We all need grace….To reject this grace made available to us by God and his Church is a huge mistake.
“Give me discernment, that I may observe your law and keep it with all my heart”
My wife and I have given talks to young married couples who were preparing for their marriage as Catholics….The first thing I would ask these couples before I began my presentation was…”What is the goal of your marriage?”……..Americans love to set goals….We want to establish businesses…..We want to excel in athletic competition……We want to achieve financial security…All these things are well and good…But what is the goal of your marriage?…Have you ever thought about that?……As a Catholic, the primary goal of your marriage should be to get your spouse to heaven…Nothing is more important than that!…My goal is to get my wife to heaven and her goal is to get me to heaven…..How do we do that?……We pray the Rosary together daily with our children….We go to Mass every Sunday as a family....And we both live Sacramental lives……We take the vows of our marriage to heart….What are the vows we make when we get married as Catholics?……Our marriages are to the fruitful, which means we are open to life…We are to be faithful….And our marriage is to last until death…..These vows are very easy to “say”, as all words are…But to live them out we need Sacramental grace…..It is a HUGE mistake to think you can do these things without God’s grace….Why is that?…Because we are ALL sinners…This is why God made marriage a Sacrament…..Sadly our world does not view marriage in this way…This is why we face as a society so many of our problems…..God’s way works…Don’t believe me?……Take a good hard look at the 2000 years the Catholic Church has taught what it has taught and look at the results…Stop focusing on the “bad apples” within the Catholic Church…If you take a sober look at the results of those who are faithful Catholics, you will see everything you need to know……Again - God’s way works…Its “our way” that does not work......How do I know this? - History tells us everything we need to know - So does looking out our window - If we have “eyes” to see and are honest with our self……Our Lord has given us all the “tools” we need…All we have to do is “paint within the lines”…..And open our ears and hearts to God’s instruction…..And allow God’s grace to enter into our marriage…This does not mean you or your wife will be perfect…There are no “perfect people”…But when you live your marriage as a Sacrament…..Life is so much easier……So I will ask again - What is the goal of your marriage?
“Make me understand the way of your precepts, and I will meditate on your wondrous deeds”
Today St Mark at Mass tells us about marriage….That marriage is between one man and one woman…And as a result, the “two become one flesh”…...When we live out our vocation and view our marriage through the lens of the Church, relying on Sacramental grace …Many people may read this and disagree…To those people I say….Results speak for themselves - "You tell a tree by the fruit it bears"…...We can ignore the good results of what the Catholic Church has taught for 2000 years all we want…But that will not change a thing, nor will it change the results….We can also take a good sober look at the “fruit” of our culture’s definition of what “marriage” is….How are we doing collectively?…….So why don’t we consider an alternative?…Why not try it God’s way?…I can not answer that for you…All I can say is this…I am not perfect, nor is my wife…Our marriage is Sacramental - Why is that?….Because I am not perfect and nor is my wife…But I got some news for you - God is perfect and because of that our marriage is strong….”What God has joined together, no human being must separate”….Marriage is a vocation…Two imperfect people, joined together, looking in the same direction, relying on God’s grace and sharing the same goal…To reach heaven together
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