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 separate.â€� 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. During these times of great confusion and spiritual unrest, the last part of the Gospel offers words of consolation. Jesus reminds us that we must “receive the kingdom of God as a little child.â€� This means that we should never allow anything to keep us from going to Him. Like a child, we run to our Lord with our burdens and cares trusting that He will look after everything. This is what it means to have faith. We do what we can and then leave the rest to the Lord. “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them: for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs.â€�