27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (October 3, 2021)

In today’s First Reading, we are reminded about the divine origin of the sacred institution of marriage, an institution whose Christian assumptions are severely challenged in our society. Many today don’t see man and woman divinely created to complete and complement one another, neither do they think that human beings are the summit of God’s creation nor that only woman is a suitable partner for man and man for woman.
This text from Genesis sets the stage for the Gospel in which Our Lord reaffirms not only the physical union and love between man and woman, but also the sense that this union and love are God’s design for the benefit of the couple and the good of mankind.
When we are challenged about the Church’s opposition to gay “marriage,” or divorce, or contraception, let us, like Jesus, appeal to the beginning when God’s perfect will was clearly expressed and in so doing, inspire and present marriage as the divine ideal it was meant to be.

For families, that they be filled with the graces that flow from marriage and parenthood, and become true sanctuaries of life, we pray to the Lord...