SUNDAY 22B. MARRIAGE AND THE WORLD OF FAMILIES WEEK 2 DAY 1

August 29. A Call to Action to Build Strong Marriages. Fr Rodney continued reflecting on marriage in his homily. ”By looking at people how do you know they are married? Is it something in their behavior or because they wear a ring? Couples could ask, ‘Does the fact that I am a married person have an effect on the way I live my daily life? Do I just pay lip-service to being married or do I really value the relationship and am I constantly aware of my rights, responsibilities and privileges, rather than my rights as an individual? Do we as community recognise the rights, responsibilities and privileges of couples or do we treat people only as individuals? James, the scripture writer, appears to have been a very practical man and his letter is full of sound advice. The readings both from James and the gospel point out that paying lip-service only, listening to the word without acting on it is insufficient for salvation. The same can be said about the need to Care for our Common Home.”

“Be doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves.” James 1:17-18. “This people honours me with their lips but their heart is far from me. From within, out of the heart of man come evil thoughts, deceit, slander, pride. These defile a man.” Mark 7:21-23.

Pope Francis: Both the fear of loneliness and the desire for stability and fidelity exist side by side with a growing fear of entrapment in a relationship that could hamper the achievement of one’s personal goals. AL34. “Marriage based on an exclusive and definitive love becomes an icon of the relationship between God and his people and vice versa. God’s love becomes the measure of human love.” Pope Benedict XVI in AL 70. “The book of nature is one and indivisible and includes the environment, life, sexuality, the family, social relations and so forth.” LS 6

Question for couples, individuals or groups.