Two Sacred Things

 Mark 10: 2-16

 The Sacredness of Marriage

² Some Pharisees came and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?”

³ “What did Moses command you?” he replied.

⁴ They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.”

⁵ “It was because your hearts were hard that Moses wrote you this law,” Jesus replied. ⁶ “But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ⁷ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, ⁸ and the two will become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. ⁹ Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

¹⁰ When they were in the house again, the disciples asked Jesus about this. ¹¹ He answered, “Anyone who divorces his wife and marries another woman commits adultery against her. ¹² And if she divorces her husband and marries another man, she commits adultery.”

The Little Children and Jesus

¹³ People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them.¹⁴ When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. ¹⁵ Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom theof God like a little child will never enter it.” ¹⁶ And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them.

The sacredness of marriage and loving respect for children are themes that strike home to this generation of ours where both suffer from neglect, to put it mildly, but there is hope.  Evidently, Pandemic-delayed weddings are predicted to take place in great numbers in the years ahead; Perhaps the absence of the sacrament has left a void that has developed a thirst for an act which signifies permanency and commitment.Fr. Robert Barron hits the nail on the head: When I was doing parish work, I would invariably ask young couples, "Why do you want to get married in church?" Most would say something like, "We love each other." But I said, "Well, that’s no reason to get married in church ." Usually, they looked stunned. But I meant it.
You come to church to be married before God and his people when you are convinced that your marriage is not, finally, about you; that it is about God and about serving God’s purposes; that it is, as much as the priesthood of a priest, a vocation, a sacred calling.

And in these days of so much child-abuse world-wide, the dignity of children shines forth in the tender care of Jesus and his strong words in their defense.

May we take heed of  these messages in today;s Gospel, live them and share them with others. Our weary world needs to hear this Good News!

Bro. Rene