Whew! What a week it has been in the Scriptures! Our first reading today from James 5 has so many lessons for us, about perseverance, judging and the compassion and mercy of the Lord. James also tells us, “Let your ‘Yes’ mean ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ mean ‘No.’ ” Very important words about Christian integrity. In today’s Gospel from Mark 10, Jesus talks about marriage.
We all know that marriage is under attack. Fewer and fewer people are getting married, resulting in more and more children living in single parent households, many of which have no father figure. This is not optimal for children. There is, however, some good news on the marriage front.
For many years it was believed that Catholics had the same divorce rate as society in general. This is not true. Catholics have a markedly lower divorce rate (about 27%), and the numbers are even better for couples who attend Mass regularly. Maybe the old axiom is true: the family who prays together stays together. Let’l all pray for marriages, that couples will put God at the center of their lives and their marriages.
Father, we offer up to you all marriages today and every day. Give couples the grace to live out their sacrament, to make each other holy, and to put Jesus at the center of their relationship. Amen.
My husband and I have been doing Pre Cana for over 23 years now. One thing we have seen is that the couples w attending church function as a family and attending Mass when able have stayed together. We do try to get the message across to keep God in their married life.