From The Bishop

In the Gospel of the Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time ( (Mark 10:2-16), Jesus speaks about marriage, “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife and the two shall become one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together let no one separateâ€�. From this simple statement we have the foundation for our understanding of the Sacrament of Marriage. We see that this union is between one man and one woman, the two become one in the Lord, and this union is indissolvable. It is no coincidence that immediately after this statement by Jesus, he makes reference to children. Thus children are so intimately connected to marriage. The two become one and the fruit of their love is new life â€" a child. This is a message that the world needs to hear as the distractions created by those who promote a very different understanding of marriage, family and gender become more pronounced. On Sunday, the Synod on Marriage and the Family begins in Rome. Let us pray that this Gospel will serve as an inspiration to the Synod Fathers in their deliberations. May the fruit of this synod result in proposals that will strengthen marriage and family life so that more couples will see the beauty of being married in the Lord with openness to children and a life-long commitment to each other. May the Holy Family of Nazareth inspire us with their love!