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27TH SUNDAY B

CALLED TO GOD’S FAITHFULNESS
27th Sunday
I received an unusual text message from a lady:  “Dear friends, I inform you that today my husband has left me and my children for another woman.  Please pray for our family.”  I felt sad for her and her uncertain situation.  But days later, she sent another message:  Dear friends, my husband returned home today.  He missed his family and he realized that by abandoning us, he sinned against the Lord.”  This woman must really have prayed a lot and, all her friends with her.
We know it is not easy to maintain a marriage in these very trying times. How many husbands and wives, and even children, go through a lot each day just to keep the family together.
Today the Lord is gracious in reminding us about his plan for relationships, all kinds of relationships, but specially marital, between husband and wife.  In all, God demands faithfulness.  If you truly love another, you must be willing to risk everything, to lose many things, so as to prove your love.  That is why Jesus reminds us in the gospel (Mk 10):  “A man shall leave his own father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.”
It is not easy to be faithful.  It is easier to act sweet, inseparable, happy and starry-eyed.  As reality sets in, the trials begin.  A third party attracts man or woman to an extra affair.  Finances cause clashes.  Domestic irritants get in the way of sound communication.  You don’t have to be married to know that.  Its on television, in the internet and in stories people swap. It’s noticeable in the sad eyes of couples that breeze through the pressures of living with someone each day.
But this is the very reason why God demands faithfulness. In the midst of problems, if you are not faithful, you will forget to cherish and honor each other.  You will easily fall into temptation.  And it is not easy to be faithful!  God knows that, that’s why he made himself the standard of fidelity.  “What God has joined together, no human being must separate.” That’s Jesus declaring marriage a sacrament. Thus it is no merely natural or human institution or invention. In God’s eyes, marriage is based on his love and so becomes a source of grace for couples.
Today many people are indifferent to the sacraments, particularly, marriage.  They want unity of body, of emotions, of life, but not under God.  To refuse to invite God into your union is to refuse to be faithful like him.  It is God who will help couples achieve their goal, if they remain close to him. Many people have learned to trust God in their marriage and so reap the harvest of a happy relationship and a fruitful home. But still many must start believing again in the words of Jesus for every man and woman in love.
Let us pray for all married couples in difficult situations today.  Let us pray for children who are affected by these conflicts. Let us pray for all Christians, specially the youth to have a healthy vision of committed life in marriage, one that depends on God for its success and fruitfulness.