After service on Sunday one of Reconciler's members asked a similar question in relation to my sermon. If there was one thing my sermon did not address it is how in fact our cultures perception of marriage even among those who call themselves Christians is a far cry from what Jesus suggests marriage is and especially Paul Evdokimov's take both on Jesus' words, Pauls interpretation and application of Jesus' teaching, and the tradition of the Church. Marriage as a discipline that is grounded in who God intends us to be as human beings and as rigorous a disciplined (ascetic) life as that of a monk or nun. Thus Jesus' insistance on marriage's permanence.
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I'm still here reading regularly, Larry. Great topic. As many churches use similar lectionaries Fr Jeff Reich preached on this as well.
ReplyDeleteI don't watch 'Today' or 'The CBS Evening News' for that matter - why pay some moderately attractive newsreader to read a TelePrompter when you can read the news yourself online? That stunt reminds me of one of those new game shows, 'reality TV', that ended with a woman called Darva Conger marrying some stranger, then quickly getting it annulled.
Like baptism has been reduced to a baby-naming party and church funerals to de facto canonisations (as universalism is the default mainstream belief now), in the vice-ridden monied classes, 'the beautiful people' like in Hollywood, marriage is basically the equivalent of dating, and the masses try to imitate that, as scads of broken homes show (don't get me wrong - in cases of abuse, civil divorce and restraining orders are the answer).
As Fr Reich said, celebrities have become secular people's substitutes for saints (who are by definition rôle models).
Cheapens the whole notion of 'rites of passage' too.