“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.” — Philippians 4:8
//True holiness does not mean a flight from the world; rather, it lies in the effort to incarnate the Gospel in everyday life, in the family, at school and at work, and in social and political involvement.// - St. Pope John Paul the Great
What too many people seem to miss is that marriage is a sacrament.
That means it is a means of grace. It is one of the great seven. It is one of the gifts in which heaven is poured into our lives through the physical.
Because marriage is a sacrament it is sacred. If you trample on marriage you are trampling not just on your spouse or your future spouse or your kids. You are trampling on God’s gift to you through which you might receive the graces necessary for salvation.
Look at it this way. For most people marriage is their ladder to heaven.
If you knock down your ladder and break it apart how do hope to climb to heaven?
This is why the Catholic Church is against anything that breaks or soils marriage because when marriage is broken one of your main ladders to heaven is broken.
That’s why to trample marriage is mortal sin: because it leads to death.
What breaks marriage? promiscuity. prostitution. pornography. masturbation. artificial contraception. adultery. divorce. co habitation. fornication. sexual abuse. rape. domestic violence. domestic abuse. child abuse. abortion. all these things break marriage and more.
Furthermore, because marriage is a sacrament it is designed and administered by the church. There are rules that govern and control the sacrament of marriage just as there are all the sacraments.
You can’t have a valid Eucharist without a validly ordained priest, bread, wine and the proper liturgy.
You can’t have a valid marriage without fulfilling certain requirements which the church establishes.
This is the structure of the Holy Family. It is built from and relies on the solidity and purpose of marriage.
Break marriage and you break the family. Break the family and your break your ladder to heaven for the family is where you learn the difficult lessons of love, and if you can’t learn those lessons here with the people to whom you are closest where do you imagine you will learn them? If you can’t learn to give of yourself in loving service to your wife or your husband and your children where and when do you think you will learn these lessons and if you do not learn these lessons how do you expect to go to heaven for heaven can only be populated with people who have learned these lessons.
This is not arbitrary. It is logical. Heaven is for those who have become like Christ by his grace. To become like Christ is to have learned how to lay down your life for another. If you cannot do that in your marriage and family then when and where might you be able to do it?
So take more time to build the family. Take more time to build the marriage.
“This is the most realistic appearance of St Nicholas based on all the skeletal and historical material. It is thrilling for us to be able to see the face of this famous 4th century Bishop,” said Professor Wilkinson. The new image was unveiled at St. Nicholas Catholic Primary School.
The result of the project is the image of a Greek man, living in Asia Minor (part of the Greek Byzantine Empire), about 60-years old, 5-feet 6-inches tall, who had a heavy jaw and a broken nose. Press reaction to the facsimile tended to imply that good Saint Nicholas had had a brawling past, hence the broken nose. It is more likely, however, that his nose was broken when imprisoned and tortured during the persecution of Christians under Roman Emperor Diocletian. (+)
In the stable at Bethlehem, Heaven and Earth meet. Heaven has come down to Earth. For this reason, a light shines from the stable for all times; for this reason joy is enkindled there; for this reason song is born there. At the end of our Christmas meditation I should like to quote a remarkable passage from Saint Augustine. Interpreting the invocation in the Lord’s Prayer: “Our Father who art in Heaven”, he asks: what is this – Heaven? And where is Heaven? Then comes a surprising response: “… who art in Heaven – that means: in the saints and in the just. Yes, the heavens are the highest bodies in the universe, but they are still bodies, which cannot exist except in a given location. Yet if we believe that God is located in the heavens, meaning in the highest parts of the world, then the birds would be more fortunate than we, since they would live closer to God. Yet it is not written: ‘The Lord is close to those who dwell on the heights or on the mountains’, but rather: ‘the Lord is close to the brokenhearted’ (Ps 34:18[33:19]), an expression which refers to humility. Just as the sinner is called ‘Earth’, so by contrast the just man can be called ‘Heaven’” (Sermo in monte II 5, 17). Heaven does not belong to the geography of space, but to the geography of the heart. And the heart of God, during the Holy Night, stooped down to the stable: the humility of God is Heaven. And if we approach this humility, then we touch Heaven. Then the Earth too is made new. With the humility of the shepherds, let us set out, during this Holy Night, towards the Child in the stable! Let us touch God’s humility, God’s heart! Then his joy will touch us and will make the world more radiant. Amen.
The Christmas season is a time of great joy for the Church. The Birth of Christ, of course, is cause for great rejoicing and merriment. The vestments worn are white, and our hymns speak of love and warmth.
Yet there are two feasts the Church celebrates during this season which may seem peculiar to some. These are the Feasts of Saint Stephen and the Holy Innocents. These may seem peculiar primarily because they are the feasts of Martyrs. Stephen is known to the Greeks as the Protomartyr, the first martyr, for he was the first to die for proclaiming Christ as Lord (as recorded in the Acts of the Apostles). The Holy Innocents are the young children who died by the decree of Herod who sought to kill the prophesied King to come (as recorded in the Gospel of Matthew).
It seems strange to commemorate two tragedies in the midst of the season of joy, but not so. These feasts of martyrs serve as reminders of the dangerous idea that Jesus is Lord. Therein is the true meaning of Christmas: God has declared war on all the powers of Hell, and here comes the great general Himself. Many will die for Him, many have already died for Him, and even He has died. But God’s mystery of salvation does not end with death. A martyr’s story does not end in death. Even in the midst of winter, in the Christmas season, we recognize the Paschal victory over death and darkness. Christ rose from the grave and we too will have life in Him. That is the promise to the martyrs and that is his promise to us.
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