READINGS:   Genesis 2: 18-24   /   Psalm 128: 1-2. 3. 4-5. 6   /   Hebrews 2: 9-11   /   MARK 10: 2-16

HIS WORD…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.

my words…How is “Marriage” nowadays in this technological generation? Some think it is a safe way to get what each spouse wants from each other. Still others think it is the easy way to absorb the properties of the rich partner. Others would marry just to get the passport, visa, green card and other documents of going to other countries. And still others marry to prove ones masculinity but could not withstand it. Where is Love and commitment in these marriages? In short, Marriages nowadays are marriages of “convenience” and “access” to human whims and caprices!

But what is original Marriage then according to the Divine Plan? God has instituted marriage from the very beginning of creation as indissoluble, as a commitment for life, and for the integrity of family life.

MARRIAGE AS INDISSOLUBLE. It is very clear from the Genesis account thatGod made them male and female; “and for this reason a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh” (Gen 2:24). And Jesus Himself ratified and strengthened it by saying, “So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, NO human being must separate” (Mk 10:9). Very clearly, to the mind of God, Marriage is indissoluble! It is forever lasting! May “forever” talaga! And NO human laws like annulment, separation, and divorce must and can destroy it!

MARRIAGE AS A LIFETIME COMMITMENT. Borne from the Divine Law of the indissolubility of marriage, comes the commitment for life in marriage. It is never temporary or interim! And it is very clear in the marriage rite couple’s prayer after the profession of their “vow” for eternal marriage; “Grant us Oh Lord, to be one heart and one soul from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, in sickness and in health, UNTIL DEATH DO US PART” (Marriage Rite for Catholic Marriages). Therefore, it is only death that can physically separate them… and not as proscribed in today’s generation of marriage as “until further notice…”

MARRIAGE AS INTEGRITY OF FAMILY LIFE.Broken marriages and broken homes nowadays are borne out of misunderstandings of spouses on management of properties, management of their personal selves, infidelities, psychological incompatibilities, and many other related and invented causes. But what about the children’s welfare? Did you not promise to God on your wedding day to be always ready to raise as good Christians the children whom God will give you? The Family is the Church in the Home (St. John Paul II). My dear married couples please make your domestic church HOLY by being faithful to each other and totally committed to this divine mission that God has entrusted to you on your wedding day. Do not nullify it but preserve it for life eternal.

MAY GOD STRENGTHEN AND EDIFY CHRISTIAN MARRIAGES NOWADAYS… (By Fr. Julius C. Lupot)