Sunday, September 14, 2014

The Holy Father demonstrates how the Church supports marriage and family ...



"Pope Francis married 20 couples on Sunday, some of whom had already lived together and had children..."
- Source

It seems to me all that secular media and papal critics take from these stories is that the Holy Father married couples already 'living in sin.'  They seem unable to comprehend the act of reconciliation which occurred, the blessing it brought to couples - especially those with children.  It demonstrated nothing is impossible with God - there is always a way back.  The Pope blessed these couples, dignified and sanctified their love, uniting them to Christ and the Church.  Surely the couples had been properly prepared beforehand to celebrate the Sacrament of Matrimony.  

I like very much what the Holy Father had to say in his homily.  An excerpt:
The love of Christ, which has blessed and sanctified the union of husband and wife, is able to sustain their love and to renew it when, humanly speaking, it becomes lost, wounded or worn out. The love of Christ can restore to spouses the joy of journeying together. This is what marriage is all about: man and woman walking together, wherein the husband helps his wife to become ever more a woman, and wherein the woman has the task of helping her husband to become ever more a man. Here we see the reciprocity of differences. The path is not always a smooth one, free of disagreements, otherwise it would not be human. It is a demanding journey, at times difficult, and at times turbulent, but such is life! Marriage is a symbol of life, real life: it is not “fiction”! It is the Sacrament of the love of Christ and the Church, a love which finds its proof and guarantee in the Cross. - Pope Francis

4 comments:

  1. “The love of Christ, which has blessed and sanctified the union of husband and wife, is able to sustain their love and to renew it when, humanly speaking, it becomes lost, wounded or worn out. The love of Christ can restore to spouses the joy of journeying together.”

    The Wedding Feast at Cana... sometimes the wine runs out... and sometimes the new wine comes in the form of new life – a child. I’ve seen that happen as well.

    “I’ve seen two hearts split down the line,
    then watched water change to wine.
    Love restored in your good time.
    All praise and glory be...”

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  2. It would seem that the Holy Father was "eating" with (hopefully) repentant sinners. Maybe having their marriages blessed by the pope will help them overcome the negative statistics that face couples who cohabit and engage in premarital sex. Let's face it, how many laity (or religious for that matter) make it to the day of their vows without serious sins against the 6th and 9th commandments. I have a priest friend who was very honest about "knowing" women in the biblical way before he took his vows. He is one of the saintliest priests I know.

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  3. Maybe I am missing something here, but I don"t understand why so many are condemning this action of Pope Francis. I agree with you entirely, Terry. The Pope has brought these couples from a life of sin into the holy sacrament of marriage. Why aren't we all celebrating this? That is a truly beautiful quote from Pope Francis. God bless our Holy Father for showing the world the beauty of marriage. I think this is precisely what Our Lord would have done.

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    Replies
    1. Amen! They have been reconciled with our Lord Jesus Christ and His Church. I am happy for them. ^^

      Pope Francis must have been happy too.

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