Sacrament of Holy Matrimony

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Sunday, 27 December 2015 : Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (Second Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 John 3 : 1-2, 21-24

See what singular love the Father has for us : we are called children of God, and we really are. This is why the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, we are God’s children and what we shall be has not yet been shown. Yet when He appears in His glory, we know that we shall be like Him, for then we shall see Him as He is.

When our conscience does not condemn us, dear friends, we may have complete confidence in God. Then whatever we ask we shall receive, since we keep His commands and do what pleases Him. His command is that we believe in the Name of His Son Jesus Christ and that we love one another, as He has commanded us.

Whoever keeps His commands remains in God and God in him. It is by the Spirit God has given us that we know He lives in us.

Alternative reading

Colossians 3 : 12-21

Clothe yourselves, then, as is fitting for God’s chosen people, holy and beloved of Him. Put on compassion, kindness, humility, meekness and patience to bear with one another and forgive whenever there is any occasion to do so. As the Lord has forgiven you, forgive one another.

Above all, clothe yourselves with love which binds everything together in perfect harmony. May the peace of Christ overflow in your hearts; for this end you were called to be one body. And be thankful. Let the word of God dwell in you in all its richness. Teach and admonish one another with words of wisdom.

With thankful hearts sing to God psalms, hymns and spontaneous praise. And whatever you do or say, do it in the Name of Jesus, the Lord, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as you should do in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not get angry with them. Children, obey your parents in everything, because that pleases the Lord. Parents, do not be too demanding of your children, lest they become discouraged.

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Sunday, 27 December 2015 : Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (Psalm)

Liturgical Colour : White

Psalm 83 : 2-3, 5-6, 9-10

How lovely are Your rooms, o Lord of hosts! My soul yearns, pines, for the courts of the Lord. My heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.

Happy are those who live in Your house, continually singing Your praise! Happy the pilgrims whom You strengthen, to make the ascent to You.

O Lord of hosts, hear my prayer; give ear, o God of Jacob! Look upon Your shield, o God; look upon the face of Your anointed!

Alternative reading

Psalm 127 : 1-2, 3, 4-5

Blessed are you who fear the Lord and walk in His ways. You will eat the fruit of your toil; you will be blessed and favoured.

Your wife, like a vine, will bear fruits in your home; your children, like olive shoots will stand around your table.

Such are the blessings bestowed upon the man who fears the Lord. May the Lord bless you from Zion. May you see Jerusalem prosperous all the days of your life.

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Sunday, 27 December 2015 : Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : White

1 Samuel 1 : 20-22, 24-28

And Hannah became pregnant. She gave birth to a son and called him Samuel because she said : “I have asked YHVH to give him to me.”

Once more Elkanah went to the Temple with his family to offer his yearly sacrifice and to pay his vow to YHVH. Hannah would not go along but she said to her husband, “I will bring the child there as soon as he is weaned. He shall be presented to YHVH and stay there forever.”

When the child was weaned, Hannah took him with her along with a three year old bull, a measure of flour and a flask of wine, and she brought him to YHVH’s House at Shiloh. The child was still young. After they had slain the bull, they brought the child to Eli.

Hannah exclaimed : “Oh, my lord, look! I am the woman who was standing here in your presence, praying to YHVH. I asked for this child and YHVH granted me the favour I begged of Him. Now, I think, YHVH is asking for this child. As long as he lives, he belongs to YHVH.”

And they worshipped YHVH there.

Alternative reading

Sirach 3 : 3-7, 14-17a (Greek Septuagint version – Sirach 3 : 2-6, 12-14)

Whoever honours his father atones for his sins; he who gives glory to his mother prepares a treasure for himself. Whoever honours his father will receive joy from his own children and will be heard when he prays.

Whoever glorifies his father will have a long life. Whoever obeys the Lord gives comfort to his mother. He serves those who brought him to birth as he would serve the Lord.

For kindness done to one’s father will never be forgotten, it will serve as reparation for your sins. In the day of adversity the Lord will remember it to your advantage; for just as ice melts in the heat, so will your sins melt away. The man who abandons his father is like a blasphemer; he who annoys his mother is cursed by the Lord.

My son, conduct your affairs with discretion and you will be loved by those who are acceptable to God.

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Sunday, 4 October 2015 : Twenty-Seventh Sunday of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Francis of Assisi (Homily and Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, on this day, we heard about a very clear message from the Holy Scriptures, at a very appropriate time as we as the Church are heading to a very important meeting between the bishops of the Church on the matter of the Family and Marriage, in the General Ordinary Assembly of the Synod of Bishops scheduled to begin today.

It is a very clear reminder sent by the Lord to His servants in the Church, the cardinals and bishops assembled in Rome together with our Pope, that the institution of the holy matrimony or marriage, and the institution of the family are not to be tampered with or disturbed or changed in any way comprehensible. And the Church as the custodians and the Body of the faithful must preserve these institutions as far as they are able to, and support them with all of their might.

There must be no alteration or perversion to the sacred rules which had governed how the Church treat all holy marriages and union between man and woman as decreed by the Lord since the beginning of time, and which Jesus His Son had reaffirmed through His own words. Those who dare to try to alter the laws of God and the laws of the Church to suit the world and to suit their own selfish ends, will incur the wrath of God and the condemnation of hell.

Why is this so, brothers and sisters in Christ? This is because firstly we have to realise that there have been increasingly ever greater attacks on not just our Faith and the Church, but on the very fabric and foundation that holds our faithful ones together, that is the institution of the family and by extension therefore, the institution of the holy matrimony or marriage.

Without marriage and solemn union between man and woman, there can be no family, and without family, there can be no Church, since it is through a functioning, proper and sanctified family, that new generations of the faithful can be born. These are the gifts of God, the gift of life which God has given to the union of man and woman which He had blessed.

And that is why the devil is trying to assault us all, and assault God’s Church, not only by promoting the culture of death, disrespecting life unborn and life of all people, treating unborn children as if they are not living, but he is going even further, and in trying to destroy the very foundations of our Christian communities, that is our families. Satan knows clearly that, if he can shake and weaken these foundations, he will be able to reap the fruits of his efforts, namely fallen souls which he will bring with him to hell.

This is the aim of the devil, who is always prowling about seeking souls to devour and destroy, in his hatred against God and His beloved ones, whom he would want to bring with him to his condemnation. And there are so many of his fellow fallen angels out there going about, planting the seeds of dissent and disobedience against God and His commandments, especially those relating to the sanctity of life, of holy matrimony, and of the family.

They masked their true intentions by persuading mankind to disobey the Lord in the name of free will and freedom to choose. This has been what we know as the pro-choice movement, where countless millions of life had been destroyed in the name of free choice, and then, now, even the world is trying very hard to make it the same for the institution of holy matrimony and the family, by giving alternatives, such as unnatural unions and adulterous relationships.

There are many those, even sadly within the Church who advocated accepting such perversions and such corruptions that mocked the sanctity of true marriage and true families built on the foundation of Faith. They advocated that those who have disobeyed the Lord and His laws by accepting and promoting the destruction of the families and of marriage, such as through divorce and remarriage should be given mercy and be allowed to return to the Church more easily, and be reallowed to receive the Holy Communion.

However, this is what I would call, advocating false mercy and in fact damnation to those who have sinned and disobeyed the Lord in these matters. Our world nowadays are obsessed with mercy and soft ways, and they prefer the soft application of justice and dislike punishments and harsh words, but these are simply ways for the devil to confuse us and to make us think that to sin against the Lord is acceptable, and that He will forgive us easily our sins.

But we forget the fact that just as much as God is loving and merciful, and just as much as He loves all of us, the most beloved ones of all His creations, He is also a wrathful and just God, who does not tolerate any forms of evil and sins in His presence. The devil is trying to lead us to think that God does not mind our sins, or that there is a way to be easily forgiven without repentance, or by simply fulfilling our faith obligations while continuing to live in sin.

No, that is not the way, brothers and sisters in Christ. God indeed does not hate or despise us as a person, and as someone whom He loves greatly and dearly, but He has also a great enmity against us because of our disobedience and sins. He has decreed it very clearly that He has created us man and woman, and He has created woman in the beginning from man, in order to make him complete, because she was taken from man.

This means that without the holy union between man and woman, a man is incomplete, and so is also a woman, who will also be incomplete, unless the two of them are united in the holy union blessed by God. God did not bless them to be united and then to dissolve the union later on. What Jesus had said to His disciples is true, and remains true to this day, that the holy union of matrimony is indissoluble, and no man should ever break what God had united.

God did not mince His words or being unclear or gave alternative explanations. He was truly very clear when He said the truth to His people. Moses only allowed the people of Israel to file for divorce and to break the unity of the holy union because of their stubbornness and constant bickering in disobedience against God and His laws.

These people refused to listen to God and to Moses, and they constantly wanted to follow their own ways. Therefore, in disgust and indignant moment, Moses did allow them to do such a wicked thing, but that meant that each of those who did so risk themselves in sinning against God. It was not because Moses has received God’s approval that the holiness of marriage can just be substituted with a deed of divorce.

But Jesus made it extremely clear that whoever has divorced his wife or husband when that union has been legally blessed and made one by the Lord, that is a valid Sacrament of Holy Matrimony, it is a sin against the Lord Himself. And worse still, if the person who had divorced then decide to remarry again by finding another partner, for whatever reason, it is an even greater sin against God.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us all use this opportunity to pray, pray hard and fervently for the guidance of the Holy Spirit to be with the bishops and the cardinals, and all the participants of the General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops that will begin today and last another two weeks. Let us pray that the devil will not be able to have his way in this holy gathering, and may all who seek the destruction of the true faith and the institution of the Family and the Holy Matrimony be condemned and be destroyed.

Let us all pray for the repentance and the turning of those who have sinned against the Lord by disregarding the holiness of life, the holiness of marriage and union between man and woman, and the holiness of the family, that they may be turned from a path of sin into the path towards redemption and salvation in God. May the Lord Almighty be with all of us, guide us and keep us in His grace. Amen.

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Friday, 6 February 2015 : 4th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Paul Miki and Companions, Martyrs (First Reading)

Liturgical Colour : Red

Hebrews 13 : 1-8

Let mutual love continue. Do not neglect to offer hospitality; you know that some people have entertained angels without knowing it. Remember prisoners as if you were with them in chains, and the same for those who are suffering. Remember that you also have a body.

Marriage must be respectful by all and husband and wife faithful to each other. God will punish the immoral and the adulterous. Do not depend on money. Be content with having enough for today for God has said : ‘I will never forsake you or abandon you,’ and we shall confidently answer : ‘The Lord is my Helper, I will not fear; what can man do to me?’

Remember your leaders who taught you the word of God. Consider their end and imitate their faith. Christ Jesus is the same today as yesterday and forever.

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(Usus Antiquior) Second Sunday after Epiphany, Feast of the Chair of St. Peter at Rome, Feast of St. Paul the Apostle, and Feast of St. Prisca, Virgin and Martyr (II Classis) – Sunday, 18 January 2015 : Homily and Scripture Reflections

Liturgical Colour : Green

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the Second Sunday after Epiphany, the beginning of the Sundays after Epiphany and we are still in the middle of the season of Christmas, when we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ our Lord. And as we proceed towards the upcoming season of the Lent, Holy Week and Easter, we move on from the birth and youth of Christ, and we began to hear His works and ministry in the readings which we heard today.

Our Lord Jesus was baptised by John the Baptist in the Jordan and that baptism marked the beginning of His ministry in this world. He called His disciples, the Apostles, and they followed Him. But He had not immediately started His works and miracles yet as He would later show to the world. He was tempted by Satan during His forty days sojourn in the desert and triumphed, and after He had called His first disciples, He likely returned to His home and His mother, Mary in Nazareth.

And it was to the wedding in Cana that His mother brought Him along, together with His disciples, and there He performed His first miracle, even though He did not intend to do it in the beginning. The couple met a big trouble on their wedding day, as they ran out of wine in the midst of that important occasion. This is truly a potentially very embarrassing event for the wedding couple, one that could have brought them shame forever.

For we have to understand that a wedding ceremony was a very important event and celebration in the society of the people of God, and it was written in the laws and the customs of the people, that such an event should be properly and thoroughly prepared. Many guests were to be invited and many people usually took part in such celebrations. Therefore, it is very important that the host, that is the couple celebrating their wedding, to provide as best as they could for their guests.

And wine is central to the celebrations of the wedding, just as it is central to the feasts and celebrations of the people of God. Wine is a symbol of joy, of celebration and of happiness, which also symbolise the happiness and joy the couple would have in their wedded life as husband and wife. To run out of wine on such an important occasion would be indeed the ultimate embarrassment and taboo as it would be seen as a very bad omen and a shame on the couple and their families.

Fortunately, as we heard in the Gospel, Mary intervened for their sake, and asking for the help of her Son, she sought to alleviate their problem. And even though Jesus was reluctant to help, as it was not yet His time to come to reveal His divinity to the people, but He listened to His mother’s request nonetheless. And we know the rest of the story. The water was turned into wine, and from having no wine at all, the couple received great praise and accolades for keeping the best quality wine until the end, the water turned to wine by Jesus.

From all these, we have two main things that we should learn and treasure from. The first one is the value and importance of marriage between man and woman. This is an institution and indeed the holy Sacrament that had been under constant attack and defilement in the recent years and decades, and as a result, our community and society begin to also lose their faith, because marriage is no longer viewed as sacred and as a result, the institution of the family is weakening too.

The wedding at Cana is a reminder for us all, that as Jesus chose to do His first miracle there, that we have to treasure married life for those of us who are already married, and we have to stay faithful to one another. We cannot overlook the importance of the family, and thus, all of us the faithful have to preserve the fullness of truth, our faith in our families, and this is the foundation of the strong faith we ought to have in all of us.

And secondly, that we have our Mother Mary, the mother of our Lord Jesus, and the mother of us all as the guide, helper, and protector for us all. She is the mother of God, for she is the mother of Jesus, God made Man, and thus she sits now closest to the throne of her Son in heaven, the Almighty God and King of kings. And as she is the closest to our Lord, just as at Cana, whatever she requests to her Son is likely to be heard.

Therefore, it is good for us to deepen our devotion to Mary our mother, and through that the devotion we should have for our Lord Jesus Himself. We should ask for the protection and the prayers from our Blessed Mother, for if we, who like the wedding couple, encounter problems in this world, and if we ask her with the fullness of faith in God, then surely Mary will not hesitate to seek the help of Jesus her Son, and intercede for our sake on our behalf.

May Almighty God therefore bless all of us, and through Mary His mother, may He show us the path to salvation in Him. Let us all strengthen and renew our commitment to Him, and renew the love and faith in our families, treasuring the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony we have among us, and keeping our families ever strong and faithful, under the watchful eyes of our mother Mary and her Son, our Lord and God. Amen.

 

Epistle :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/17/usus-antiquior-second-sunday-after-epiphany-feast-of-the-chair-of-st-peter-at-rome-feast-of-st-paul-the-apostle-and-feast-of-st-prisca-virgin-and-martyr-ii-classis-sunday-18-january-2015-2/

 

Gospel :

https://petercanisiusmichaeldavidkang.com/2015/01/17/usus-antiquior-second-sunday-after-epiphany-feast-of-the-chair-of-st-peter-at-rome-feast-of-st-paul-the-apostle-and-feast-of-st-prisca-virgin-and-martyr-ii-classis-sunday-18-january-2015-4/

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Final document of the 2014 Extraordinary Synod on the Family

(Update : The official final Synod document is still in processing and will be released soon. Below document is the summary by the Synod Fathers)

The 2014 Extraordinary Synod on the Family had been concluded, and we give thanks to God for helping His Church to defend the true Faith, and that He did not allow those who wished to see our Faith compromised and destroyed to have their way. May the Lord continue to watch over His Church as we await the second part of the Synod of the Family in 2015.

The Church is the guardian of the Tradition of the Faith and the Deposit of the Faith, and no one may alter the teachings of the Church which came down to us from the Apostles and thus from Jesus Christ our Lord. We can help sinners to return to the Faith but not to offer false mercy. The sanctity of the Sacrament of Holy Matrimony is inviolable, and marriage is between one man and one woman, made one by the Lord and no man should divide. Remember that Jesus had said that those who divorce and remarry commit adultery and thus live in a state of grave sin.

The same state of sin also apply to all others in unnatural order outside of Christian marriage, and until they repent from their sins and make their penance, they should indeed abstain from receiving the Most Precious Body and Blood of Christ, lest they sin against the Holy Spirit. Let us help them by welcoming them back and guiding them to repentance, that one day they may once again receive the Lord with full faith.

I also recommend all of you to read the Papal Encyclical Humanae Vitae by Blessed Pope Paul VI and the Theology of the Body by Pope St. John Paul II, as well as the Catechism of the Catholic Church.

The text of the final summary document of the 2014 Extraordinary Synod on the Family can be found below.

http://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2014/10/18/0768/03043.html

 

III EXTRAORDINARY GENERAL ASSEMBLY

OF THE SYNOD OF BISHOPS

 

MESSAGE

            We, Synod Fathers, gathered in Rome together with Pope Francis in the Extraordinary General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, greet all families of the different continents and in particular all who follow Christ, the Way, the Truth, and the Life. We admire and are grateful for the daily witness which you offer us and the world with your fidelity, faith, hope, and love.

Each of us, pastors of the Church, grew up in a family, and we come from a great variety of backgrounds and experiences. As priests and bishops we have lived alongside families who have spoken to us and shown us the saga of their joys and their difficulties.

The preparation for this synod assembly, beginning with the questionnaire sent to the Churches around the world, has given us the opportunity to listen to the experience of many families. Our dialogue during the Synod has been mutually enriching, helping us to look at the complex situations which face families today.

We offer you the words of Christ: “Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will enter his house and dine with him, and he with me” (Rev 3:20). On his journeys along the roads of the Holy Land, Jesus would enter village houses. He continues to pass even today along the streets of our cities. In your homes there are light and shadow. Challenges often present themselves and at times even great trials. The darkness can grow deep to the point of becoming a dense shadow when evil and sin work into the heart of the family.

We recognize the great challenge to remain faithful in conjugal love. Enfeebled faith and indifference to true values, individualism, impoverishment of relationships, and stress that excludes reflection leave their mark on family life. There are often crises in marriage, often confronted in haste and without the courage to have patience and reflect, to make sacrifices and to forgive one another. Failures give rise to new relationships, new couples, new civil unions, and new marriages, creating family situations which are complex and problematic, where the Christian choice is not obvious.

We think also of the burden imposed by life in the suffering that can arise with a child with special needs, with grave illness, in deterioration of old age, or in the death of a loved one. We admire the fidelity of so many families who endure these trials with courage, faith, and love. They see them not as a burden inflicted on them, but as something in which they themselves give, seeing the suffering Christ in the weakness of the flesh.

We recall the difficulties caused by economic systems, by the “the idolatry of money and the dictatorship of an impersonal economy lacking a truly human purpose” (Evangelii gaudium 55) which weakens the dignity of people. We remember unemployed parents who are powerless to provide basic needs for their families, and youth who see before them days of empty expectation, who are prey to drugs and crime.

We think of so many poor families, of those who cling to boats in order to reach a shore of survival, of refugees wandering without hope in the desert, of those persecuted because of their faith and the human and spiritual values which they hold. These are stricken by the brutality of war and oppression. We remember the women who suffer violence and exploitation, victims of human trafficking, children abused by those who ought to have protected them and fostered their development, and the members of so many families who have been degraded and burdened with difficulties. “The culture of prosperity deadens us…. all those lives stunted for lack of opportunity seem a mere spectacle; they fail to move us” (Evangelii gaudium 54). We call on governments and international organizations to promote the rights of the family for the common good.

Christ wanted his Church to be a house with doors always open to welcome everyone. We warmly thank our pastors, lay faithful, and communities who accompany couples and families and care for their wounds.

***

There is also the evening light behind the windowpanes in the houses of the cities, in modest residences of suburbs and villages, and even in mere shacks, which shines out brightly, warming bodies and souls. This light—the light of a wedding story—shines from the encounter between spouses: it is a gift, a grace expressed, as the Book of Genesis says (2:18), when the two are “face to face” as equal and mutual helpers. The love of man and woman teaches us that each needs the other in order to be truly self. Each remains different from the other that opens self and is revealed in the reciprocal gift. It is this that the bride of the Song of Songs sings in her canticle: “My beloved is mine and I am his… I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine” (Song of Songs 2:16; 6:3).

 

This authentic encounter begins with courtship, a time of waiting and preparation. It is realized in the sacrament where God sets his seal, his presence, and grace. This path also includes sexual relationship, tenderness, intimacy, and beauty capable of lasting longer than the vigor and freshness of youth. Such love, of its nature, strives to be forever to the point of laying down one’s life for the beloved (cf Jn 15:13). In this light conjugal love, which is unique and indissoluble, endures despite many difficulties. It is one of the most beautiful of all miracles and the most common.

This love spreads through fertility and generativity, which involves not only the procreation of children but also the gift of divine life in baptism, their catechesis, and their education. It includes the capacity to offer life, affection, and values—an experience possible even for those who have not been able to bear children. Families who live this light-filled adventure become a sign for all, especially for young people.

This journey is sometimes a mountainous trek with hardships and falls. God is always there to accompany us. The family experiences his presence in affection and dialogue between husband and wife, parents and children, sisters and brothers. They embrace him in family prayer and listening to the Word of God—a small, daily oasis of the spirit. They discover him every day as they educate their children in the faith and in the beauty of a life lived according to the Gospel, a life of holiness. Grandparents also share in this task with great affection and dedication. The family is thus an authentic domestic Church that expands to become the family of families which is the ecclesial community. Christian spouses are called to become teachers of faith and of love for young couples as well.

Another expression of fraternal communion is charity, giving, nearness to those who are last, marginalized, poor, lonely, sick, strangers, and families in crisis, aware of the Lord’s word, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35). It is a gift of goods, of fellowship, of love and mercy, and also a witness to the truth, to light, and to the meaning of life.

The high point which sums up all the threads of communion with God and neighbor is the Sunday Eucharist when the family and the whole Church sits at table with the Lord. He gives himself to all of us, pilgrims through history towards the goal of the final encounter when “Christ is all and in all” (Col 3:11). In the first stage of our Synod itinerary, therefore, we have reflected on how to accompany those who have been divorced and remarried and on their participation in the sacraments.

We Synod Fathers ask you walk with us towards the next Synod. The presence of the family of Jesus, Mary, and Joseph in their modest home hovers over you. United to the Family of Nazareth, we raise to the Father of all our petition for the families of the world:

            Father, grant to all families the presence of strong and wise spouses who may be the source of a free and united family.

            Father, grant that parents may have a home in which to live in peace with their families.

            Father, grant that children may be a sign of trust and hope and that young people may have the courage to forge life-long, faithful commitments.

            Father, grant to all that they may be able to earn bread with their hands, that they may enjoy serenity of spirit and that they may keep aflame the torch of faith even in periods of darkness.

            Father, grant that we may all see flourish a Church that is ever more faithful and credible, a just and humane city, a world that loves truth, justice and mercy.

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Saturday, 26 July 2014 : 16th Week of Ordinary Time, Memorial of St. Joachim and St. Anne, Parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Scripture Reflections)

Liturgical Colour : White

Dear brothers and sisters in Christ, today we celebrate the feast day of two saints, St. Joachim and St. Anne. And in case you do not know who they are, they are actually the parents of the Blessed Virgin Mary, the father and mother of the Mother of our Lord Jesus Christ, and thus, they are the grandparents of our Lord. They truly had a great significance, especially in moulding Mary, born immaculate without sin, into the great servant of the Lord she is now.

In an age and time when mankind lived in sin, and lived in a world filled with uncertainty, greed and endless desires, St. Joachim and St. Anne were simple people, who lived humbly and righteously before God, following Him in all of His precepts and were totally obedient to His will. The light that was in them, was truly crucial, as this light became a guiding light for the one whom they bore into this world, the Mother of our Saviour.

It is perhaps that St. Joachim and St. Anne themselves did not realise how great an impact they would have on the world through Mary their daughter. However, it is through their commitment and devotion to God, and in their loving and tender care for their daughter Mary, that they imparted the love of God to her, and from her, eventually to Jesus, her Son, and eventually to all of us.

The role of St. Joachim and St. Anne cannot be diminished or be ridiculed or be made less important, for we all should know what kind of responsibilities that parents may have, or are expected to have. It is through their careful and dedicated work on Mary their daughter, that our Blessed Mother grew great in her faith. She was conceived without sin and any taints of darkness like that of her Son, Jesus, but this alone will not be good, if she did not have loving parents as that of St. Joachim and St. Anne to care for her and to provide for her spiritual growth and well-being as she grew up.

Therefore, brothers and sisters in Christ, it is imperative now that we talk about the family, and yes, the family itself as a sacred and crucial unit of the Christian society and the Church, and the dangers that are facing the family as an institution of the Christian faith. We all know that our world today and the currents of our times are not exactly favourable or friendly to the family. In fact, it was an outright hostility, if not direct conflict between the family and its values, and the contemporary ways of this world.

All of us have to understand this, by first understanding the importance of marriage, and its sanctity, being a Holy Sacrament of the Church. Marriage is a holy occasion, when a male and a female adult are joined together in matrimonial agreement and Sacrament before God, and promised to be together till death separates them. And remember that, in marriage, God made man and woman into one, one in body and spirit, and no bond that God had made sacred, man may divide.

And yet, marriage is increasingly becoming a plaything and a ridicule for the world. Marriage is no longer considered by many as sacred and holy, and many have forgotten that it is not something to be taken lightly. We have to look at how many people had decided to dissolve their marriage because of various reasons, but if we look at all those reasons, they are truly mankind’s selfish desires and their inability to reject the temptations and the lies of Satan.

Marriage inevitably leads to family, for marriage is not just for the sake of pleasure, and in particular, it should never be seen for the sake of the pleasures of the flesh and for the enjoyment of this world. If this is the case, then we have truly failed to understand the value and importance of marriage. Marriage is to bring about a holy union intended towards the creation of life. Yes, marriage inevitably leads to family, with child-bearing the grace of God to all mothers.

Therefore the family itself too is an important institution, especially because we have to realise that in our faith, we need a strong and firm foundation from the very beginning, if we are to be able to resist Satan and all of his advances on us. Without a strong foundation of faith in the family, we will not be able to reject him with full certainty, and may end up failing miserably and fall into sin.

Following the examples of St. Joachim and St. Anne, and in how they brought up Mary, the mother of our Lord, let us all remember, those in the family and with children in particular, that our familial bond must be strong, and that it must be based on love, as well as on faith in God. We have to always remember the saying, that a family that prays together will stay together.

Therefore, let us all renew our commitments to the Lord, beginning from our own families, making the effort to come together, pray together and glorify the Lord together through our actions as a family. Let us keep holy our family, respect one another in the family, and together let us help one another, as well as in the great family of the Church of God, to come ever closer to the Lord our God, seeking Him always at all times.

May God bless all families, keep them holy and in love, so that all peoples may grow forever stronger in love, in hope and in faith. Amen.