As part of my responsibilities in my current position, I help to instruct 4 medical student each six weeks in Obstetrics and Gynecology. They keep me challenged, and some are more receptive than others. Lately,though, maybe as a function of age, they all seem to look more and more the age of my own children. That means something, though I have yet to put my finger on it.
What I do know is that it seems very important to teach them about the Culture of Life and point out the Culture of Death. Those seem like polarizing phrases but they really are not. If you have a chance to see the Gospel for today: I have posted it below:
Mt 9:3-12
Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying,
“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?”
He said in reply, “Have you not read that from the beginning
the Creator made them male and female and said,
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, man must not separate.”
They said to him, “Then why did Moses command
that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?”
He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts
Moses allowed you to divorce your wives,
but from the beginning it was not so.
I say to you, whoever divorces his wife
(unless the marriage is unlawful)
and marries another commits adultery.”
His disciples said to him,
“If that is the case of a man with his wife,
it is better not to marry.”
He answered, “Not all can accept this word,
but only those to whom that is granted.
Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so;
some, because they were made so by others;
some, because they have renounced marriage
for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”
This passage reminds us how important the Sacrament of Marriage is. And it should go a way towards re-framing the debate that seems to have developed between people about the definition or sanctity of marriage. Not everyone is called to this vocation. And not everyone is meant to be married. But there is no question that marriage is between a man and a woman. And there is also no question that Marriage is serious business. No one should enter it blindly, and as a part of it, it is so important that God be ever a central part of it.
That means that we remember that everything we have: our gifts, our spouse and our life, comes from God. We are asked to welcome children lovingly in the Spirit of Christ, if it be His will. And just like marriage, not every married couple is destined to have children. Some are willed to be childless, or to be foster parents, or be adoptive parents. As part of our marital vocation, it is incumbent to try to discern God’s will.
I have been asked what is so different about where we are now from where we were before. That is not the easiest question to answer, but there are at least two things which are different. Neither is big, but both seem to make people uncomfortable, and, to a certain extent, have led my family to fight a war with two fronts. Both my hope that the ST Anne Center will be established and thrive, and my Soul-mate’s desire to be able to teach the True Catholic faith in peace are up against some resistance.
I was reminded of this by the reading that appears in today’s morning Prayer. from 2nd Corinthians
“I willingly boast of my weakness, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I am content with weakness, with mistreatment, with distress, with persecutions and difficulties for the sake of Christ; for when I am powerless, it is then that I am strong.”
The two things are: a continued study of and adherence to the Catechism of the Catholic Church and an increased desire and attempt to discern and follow Gods will.
This has taken us into some interesting directions, which are sometimes frustrating, sometimes fun, and sometimes mystifying. But, at all times, I thank God for showing us the way.
If more people did this, or just prayed more things would be better. If more Cradle Catholics would look at the Catechism and respond to the Call for an increase in faith, they might see the true value and benefits that are a part of the Sacraments, especially Penance and the Holy Eucharist. And that would make the world better too.
May God Bless us all!
St Gianna, pray for us!
St Anne, pray for us!
Related articles
- Why The Biggest Thing We Expect From Marriage May Be The Most Unrealistic (huffingtonpost.com)
- The Catholic Church’s view of marriage (thecatholicway.wordpress.com)
- “What God has joined together, let not man put asunder” (worryisuseless.wordpress.com)
