The Call of Jesus…

In his answer to the Pharisees Jesus does not question the validity of the Law of Moses, but claims that it was a concession to human sinfulness. He recalls God’s original plan for marriage, revealed in Genesis: that man and woman be united in an indissoluble bond. For Jesus, what God intended from the beginning is the norm for every marriage. And in attempting to restore marriage to a serious life-long commitment, Jesus’ argument also protects the woman from being treated as a disposable possession of her husband.

In a world where marriage was taken lightly because divorce was managed easily, Jesus calls everyone to go back to the beginning to uncover the original plan of God. It is a call to return to the roots of marriage, an invitation for man and woman to see their commitment to each other in the light of God’s seeing. This is not to punish people with idealism, but invite them to live in loyalty to God’s original call.

Experience teaches us that things do go terribly wrong. People do make mistakes. Infidelities do happen. Hurt does appear on the agenda. Spouses do become victims and oppressors. Endless silences do happen. Marriages do collapse. There are legions of causalities to prove this, the walking human failure and inadequacy, even if the help seems to many to be slow in coming. Nevertheless, the Church must submit to the vision of Jesus, and that vision remains the norm. Because we believe that marriage is a sacrament, we refuse to see it as a casual experiment for adventurous people. In recalling Genesis, Jesus invites all of us to catch up with our beginning.

Human Life

God’s greatest gift to us is the gift of life. We are not owners of that life, we are caretakers and stewards. As such we are called to respect, protect, nurture and appreciate God’s greatest gift. What we do with God’s gift of life is our gift to God. On this pro-life Sunday, as we pray for pregnant women to give birth to their babies rather than have an abortion, we have to ask ourselves: What kind of caretakers are we? Are we truly the keepers of our brothers and sisters? All human life is sacred. All human life has infinite value in the eyes of God. This is our faith! Are we willing to proclaim publicly our faith in the dignity and value of all human life? Are we willing to help organizations geared to help young pregnant women to bring their babies to full term rather than have an abortion? Abortion not only diminishes the unborn but it diminishes all of us. It speaks to the dignity and value of all of us. “Since it must be treated from conception as a person, the embryo must be defended in its integrity, cared for and healed, as far as possible, like any other human being.” (Catechism of the Catholic Church #2274)

A special word of thanks to Leonard Vercellotti, and to all the good people who support him in his great work with “Birthright