Dear friends in Christ
Over these current Sundays of Ordinary Time, Jesus expounds the moral law as He teaches the people in His Sermon on the Mount. Many of His listeners thought what He taught was extraordinarily demanding. Jesus teaches that from the beginning God established unity and indissolubility in Marriage. For the followers of Christ, the clear and simple formula is that matrimony means one man and one woman for life. Pope Pius XI famously stated: Marriage was protected, confirmed and elevated not by human laws, but by the very author of nature, God Himself, and by the restorer of that nature, Christ our Lord. This law therefore, cannot be subject to the variable choice of men, not even by the contrary judgement of the spouses themselves (Casti conubi). This teaching has been also affirmed and reaffirmed by all the subsequent Popes, Councils and Synods of the Church. The intrinsic nature of Marriage, as established by God in the Bible, is what gives substance and foundation to our world and human relationships. In Christian Marriage—especially when it is Sacramental—there is a powerful sign of the permanent love of God in our world: a sign and symbol of God’s enduring concern to support us on the pilgrimage through this life to eternal life. We are in the middle of National Marriage Week, which whilst not an exclusively Christian initiative, gives us the occasion to celebrate, reflect on, and rejoice in, this great Sacrament in Christ and the Church. At a time when there are all-too-few Marriages, and when family life is weakened by secularising influences, our focus is thanksgiving to God for all those who persevere in this sacred bond. We remember all those who are discerning Marriage too, and we hold in prayer and the support of our affection, those who struggle in their relationships and family life. None of us claims perfections in the way we live the Christian vocation, which is why together we strive for virtue and perfection through the living of the virtues of enduring love.
At the Mass his weekend we shall pray for all of these intentions, and offer the blessing of the Church to those who live the Sacrament of Marriage, especially any who celebrate a significant anniversary this year.
God bless you all, your homes and your families.
Msgr Kevin Hale