Does God ever say no? Of course he does. But we must know that a “no” today may not mean a “no” for all time. We must persevere in prayer, especially when we’re not sure or we don’t think that God has answered our prayer. We see a shining example of this in today’s Gospel reading from Mark 7. A woman comes to Jesus and asks Him to drive a demon out of her daughter. Jesus lets this foreigner know that His first mission is to the children of Israel; He tells her “no.” But the woman persists. And because of her persistence, His “no” becomes a “yes.”
Marriage is under attack these days. People want to redefine marriage to fit what they want it to be. Men should be able to marry other men, and women to marry other women, they shout. But the Church steadfastly stands against this heresy. Why? Because that is not the way that God designed marriage. We see it from the beginning. From today’s first reading from Genesis 2: “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh.”
The people who want to redefine marriage are usurping God. To satisfy their own passions and desires, they must take God out of the equation of what marriage was designed to be. And if we don’t go along with their twisted thinking, we are bigots and haters and homophobes. Personally, I don’t see how God could make things any more clear. Man and wife. The two become one flesh. And through their love they become “fruitful and multiply.” So tell me…did God get this all wrong? Is this nothing more than God’s marriage mistake? If that’s what you believe, do me a favor. You go tell God that He’s all wet on this. Me…I’ll stay right here. Me and lightning don’t get along so well.
Father, from the beginning you have ordained that marriage is between a man and a woman. May we all recognize your will for marriage, and may all marriages be strengthened. Amen.
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