Joined by God

~Twenty - seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time~

 

~~~ Genesis 2: 18-24 ~~~ Psalm 128 ~~~ Hebrews 2:9-11 ~~~ Mark 10: 2-16 ~~~

 

The Genesis reading and Mark's gospel provide

bookends of the readings today.

God created man and woman to be together.

God created man and then woman from the beginning of creation.

The beauty of the union of marriage between a man and a woman

can be traced all the way back to the Genesis writings.

 

"...from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.
So they are no longer two but one flesh."

 

When a man and a woman are joined in marriage they become one...

they complete one another.

This is no way dismisses the single life.

This in no way implies the celibate life to be missing something.

 

For our lives to be spiritually complete

we must acknowledge the presence of God.

If God is not present in our lives,

 whether in the single or married state,

 we will be lacking.

 

Moses perhaps was responding to pressure when he decided

to allow divorce to become acceptable.

Unfortunately in our society today divorce is more

often the rule than the exception.

 

Remaining faithful to your marriage vows is certainly challenging.

Some even say today that monogamy is not possible.

That somehow it is not normal, I disagree.

 

It is clear from the beginning that God had a hand

in the male female connection.

It seems clear to me that when a couple forgets to keep

God in their marriage they are jeopardizing their union.

 

 

If you are in a marriage find a way to include God.

Make God an integral part of your relationship.

 

Statistically married men live longer.

I will go out on a limb here and speculate that having a woman

in a man's life is a good thing. 

 

Pray together as often as you can.

Ask God to guide you in your decisions as a couple.

Remember to put the other person first in your marriage.

The Sacrament of Marriage is one of love.

Marriage should exemplifiy God's love for us

just as we love our spouse.

Painted Promise Across the Sky

~~~ Genesis 9: 8-15 ~~~ Psalm 25 ~~~ 1Peter 3:18-22 ~~~ Mark 1: 12-15 ~~~

Covenant...Rainbows...

No matter how old I get I like most people enjoy seeing rainbows. There is something almost magical about the way the colors arch so perfectly across the sky. It is as if God has gotten out his giant water color set to paint in the air. It reminds me that we have the most phonomenal God. It makes me giddy with excitement. The best is when you see the rare double rainbow or twin rainbows side by side. Two for the price of one rain shower. 

I wonder how far a rainbow can be seen?

As we see in today's Genesis reading God had a definite plan in mind when he revealed the first rainbow across the sky for Noah. He told Noah, "This is the sign that I am giving for all ages to come, of the covenant between me and you and every living creature with you..." God promised to never send another devastating flood. This covenant God entered into with Noah was with all people the whole of mankind.

One might ask why would God use a rainbow? Today we understand that a rainbow is created by light from the sun refracting through water, but in Noah's time it was more mysterious. The theme of water runs throughout the Bible. This is just one of the early references that alluded to our cleansing of sin and evil. In a way God was baptizing the whole earth.

We have this reading during Lent because it is a preview of our salvation. It certainly has nothing to do with any weather phenomenon. We need to be remind each year of our salvation story and Lent is the prefect time to get our attention. We need to be reminded because in spite of our Baptism and faithfully following Jesus we still fall into sin.

It seems the power of sin is stronger than our knowledge of God's saving power. No matter who you are or what position you hold in society or the church; we must all be vigilant about sinfulness in our lives. Lent is a time to return to God's way. Lent is a time to remember the message of the rainbow. The message of God's immense love for all of his living creatures.

The Grace of God is always available for us to draw strength,
all we need do is ask for it.

The next time you see a rainbow remember that it is a sign of God's covenant. a promise of our salvation. It is a sign to give us hope in our eternal reward with
God in heaven.

This image reflects God's covenant of life to me.

The light reflected throughout is the gift of eternal life.

The Gift of Baptism.