February 8, 2026 - Pastor Message
February 7, 2026“Some Pharisees approached Jesus and tested him, saying, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?’
“Some Pharisees approached Jesus and tested him, saying, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?’ He said in reply, ‘Have you not read that from the beginning, the Creator made them male and female and said, ‘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. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.’ They said to him, ‘Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?’ He said to them, ‘Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery’” (Matthew 19:3-9).
This week, we join the Church around the country in celebrating National Marriage Week, a time to reflect upon and celebrate the great gift of the vocation and sacrament of marriage in the Church. It is a vocation because God calls people to married life to witness his own saving love by the way they live their love for each other and their family each day, thus also making it a sacrament, a living sign of his saving love in the world. Married people give themselves completely for their spouse and their family, never taking their love away and never straying; they forgive one another when they sin; their love brings new life into the world in their children, the two literally becoming one, which takes nothing away from their love for each other but multiplies it and makes it grow. In all these ways and more, the sacrament of marriage becomes a doorway for the saving life and love of God - grace - to come into our world and lead us all to salvation.
Unfortunately, fewer and fewer people today see it that way. I won’t even attempt a guess as to why that is so, but the statistics don’t lie. Marriage in the Church is on the decline. If people get married at all, it is seen as, at best, a public expression of their emotional love for each other, and, at worst, a photo op on the beach or at their favorite outdoor venue. The thought that they are called by God to live their life together in order to lead each other, their children, and their community to eternity does not even enter their minds, nor does the thought that this sacred celebration is a source of grace for them to live out this awesome gift and responsibility.
We need to recover a true sense of the sacrament of marriage and encourage people today to celebrate their marriage as it truly is, a sacred moment that blesses their entire life together and blesses their family and community through them. If you are preparing for marriage, please contact me so that we can celebrate your marriage in the Church. If you were married outside the Church, please contact me so that we can explore the possibility of blessing your marriage in the Church. Unfortunately, for Catholics married outside the Church without the required permission or dispensation, you should refrain from receiving Communion until your marriage is rectified, as marrying outside the Church breaks sacramental communion. This is not a penalty as much as an invitation to do what is needed to bless your marriage and thus bless your family and our whole community through your consecrated love. Your natural love for each other is beautiful, but nothing can top the love of God in his Son, Jesus Christ, and, by giving your marriage to him and letting him raise it up as a sacrament, he will lift your love and marriage up to a whole new, divine level.
Fr. Marc Stockton
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