Category: Marriage and Family

Jesus elevated marriage to a sacrament. A sacrament is an outward sign instituted by Christ to give sanctifying grace. Therefore, in holy matrimony, husband and wife receive the grace appropriate to that state in life. Primarily this grace will help them in sanctifying each other and the children God sends them. It will give them strength to keep the bond of matrimony in sickness and in health, for better or for worse, in riches or poverty, in good times and bad, until death parts them.

In a good marriage the spouses must be open to life, which means that they should bring forth the fruit of children, and do nothing to frustrate conception. Herein lies another great grace that ordinarily comes with matrimony, namely that God will send a couple as many children as they can properly raise, if they cooperate with Him. It takes a strong act of Faith to firmly believe this in this materialistic age, in which economics trumps trust in the Creator.

Pope John Paul II often referred to the family as a “domestic church.” This is but another way of interpreting what Saint Paul meant when he was inspired to write these tremendous words to the Ephesians: “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ also loved the church, and delivered himself up for it” (5:25).

There is only one perfect family, the Holy Family of Nazareth. Meditating on the peace, charity, and industriousness, that Jesus, Mary, and Joseph exemplified in their domestic life will help the families of poor sinners who are trying against all odds to counter the evil influences of a godless society. When the hearth has been chilled by selfishness and technological idols, this sad state will by necessity be reflected in a cold and ruthless civic disorder.

Lady Marines to Front?

Chivalry may not be dead, but it’s in critical condition. (The New York Times) The Marine Corps, the most male of the armed services, is taking its first steps toward integrating women into war-fighting units, starting with its infantry officer … Continue reading

NFP to the Rescue

The Washington Post has an article featuring “a movement of younger, religiously conservative Catholic women who are trying to rebrand what may be Catholicism’s most-ignored teaching: its ban on birth control methods such as the Pill.” Unless the WaPo has … Continue reading

Nancy Pelosi: Spiritual Imbecile

Quoth the Congresswoman: “Ninety-eight percent of women in childbearing age that are Catholic use contraception. So, in practice the church has not enforced this and now they want the federal government and private insurance to enforce it. It just isn’t … Continue reading

Normalcy as Evangelism

We live in a hypereroticised culture. And it’s getting worse. Examples abound, but from the last fortnight or so of news, we can cite the controversy of a ten-year-old model posing provocatively in Vogue magazine, just like a “grown up,” … Continue reading