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. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate." In the house the disciples again questioned Jesus about this. He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."
And people
were bringing children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples
rebuked them. When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them,
"Let the children come to me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God
belongs to such as these. Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the
kingdom of God like a child will not enter it." Then he embraced them and
blessed them, placing his hands on them.
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Reflections:
How’s your married life?
Here are examples of marriages in
crises: 1.) A man betrays his wife by having an illicit affair. 2.) A wife
stays in the same house with her husband but they seldom speak to each other
and she only stays with him for the sake of their children. 3.) A wife filed
for nullity of her marriage in the church tribunal citing irreconcilable
differences as one of her grounds. There are countless more marriages that are
breaking apart, why is this happening? To whom could we attribute this debasing
of the Sacrament of Matrimony or Marriage?
Perhaps this is caused by the lack
of strong foundation on the couple’s faith and understanding about the
Sacrament of Marriage. Perhaps this is caused by their moral arrogance and
their lack of humility, forgiveness and perseverance to make their marriage
work. Perhaps this is influenced by their own family background for
example, when they were young they saw that their own parents were not also
faithful to their marriage.
The breakup of the Sacrament of
Marriage is not the desire of God because from the beginning God envisioned
the Sacrament of Matrimony to be until eternity. This is the reason why Jesus
tells us in the gospel: “A man shall leave his father and mother and be joined
to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but
one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate
(Mark 10:7-9)."
What then is the secret to a long
and lasting marriage? We need to have childlike humility,we need to have Jesus
in our lives, we need to be forgiving, we need to be persevering and we need to
have a daily prayer time as a family. As father Patrick Peyton famously said,
“The family that prays together stays together.”
But sad to say, humility,
forbearance, forgiveness and prayerfulness are the virtues that are lacking
amongst married couples nowadays. It is so easy for them to separate now
without considering the welfare of their family. Why is it hard for us to
become humble, forbearing, prayerful and forgiving?
The answer is very simple: Because
we are not faithful followers of Jesus. Yes we attend Holy Mass, we pray and we
read the bible but we don’t take to heart the teachings of Jesus. Hence, may of
us are captured by the temptation of Satan.
Let us not forget that to destroy
the marriage covenant Satan always sugarcoats his temptation with everything
that is attractive, good and rosy. Why? For us to be deceived and for our minds
and hearts to override the very serious consequences that will come after we
succumb to the temptation. Hence, we
have to be very discerning because Satan’s temptation is a reality of married
life.
No marriage is perfect because we
are not perfect as well. Therefore, we have to adjust to the many imperfections
of married life for it to last a lifetime. – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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