St. Mary's Catholic Church of Tomahawk, WI

Dear Brothers and Sisters:

We are on the twenty seventh ordinary Sunday of the year to reflect on the importance of the institution of marriage. The first reading tells us about the creation of the first man and woman. The purpose of creating them both is to aim for the good of their partnership and companionship. This reading signals the depth and meaning of human partnership and the intensity of interpersonal relationship. The purpose of creation is humanity’s ultimate good and the goal is the establishment of the fundamental and primordial institution known as marriage. What is our approach towards marriage?

The second reading focuses on the bonds between parents and children and the bonds among siblings. These familial bonds comprise the nature of the relationship that God establishes with and among the faithful in Christ. The reading highlights that Christ’s suffering paves the way for believers to enter into the divine family. Through baptism God incorporates us into divine family. How do we really cherish and live this family status with God and what would we do to sustain this bond, to obtain heavenly status?

In the Gospel, Jesus’ teaching on marriage and family is one of his most demanding lessons. Pharisees test him on the topic of marriage and divorce. Jesus establishes Himself as the superior teacher and points them to the tradition of Moses. To know Mosaic teaching on marriage and divorce would require them to know both the mandates of Torah and the meaning of its stories. Eventually Jesus refers to Genesis which tells of humanity’s primordial origins and our God given call to bonds of partnership with a marital union, which God joins, no one may separate. How serious and loyal are we to this teaching?

Fr. Aloysius Royan Anthony