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(Gn.2:18-24;\xa0\xa0 Ps.128:1-6;\xa0\xa0 Heb.2:9-11;\xa0\xa0 Mk.10:2-16) \u201cThis one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.\u201d The beauty and blessing of marriage, the marvel it is, and how it reaches unto heaven. \u201cIt is not good for the man to be alone.\xa0 I will make a suitable partner for him.\u201d\xa0 This is the loving thought of our Lord God while looking upon the man He has created.\xa0 And so from the body of the man God creates woman.\xa0 How indelibly one are these two, in origin, in destiny, and in the eyes of their Creator.\xa0 Inseparable should they be: \u201cone flesh.\u201d And if it were so, if these lived as He intended, the blessings sung of by our psalmist today would be upon all: \u201cYour wife shall be like a fruitful vine in the recesses of your home; your children like olive plants around your table.\u201d\xa0 Then would we reflect the glory of God and His love for His Church and its children.\xa0 Then would we \u201csee the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of [our] life.\u201d The love of man and woman, of husband and wife, is truly as the love of God for His bride, the Church.\xa0 Hear what St. Paul says of the Christ, who has come to bring \u201cmany children to glory\u201d: \u201cHe who consecrates and those who are being consecrated all have one origin.\u201d\xa0 Does he not say Jesus has become as our brother, made perfect through suffering \u2013 \u201cflesh of [our] flesh\u201d?\xa0 Does the Lord not thus wed Himself to us by the incarnation and death of His only Son?\xa0 And look at Jesus in our gospel, surrounded by children waist deep.\xa0 He has just spoken of the sanctity of marriage and now He clearly conveys its blessed fruits, both for husband and wife on earth, and for Him and His Church.\xa0 He declares of the children He has called to Himself, \u201cThe kingdom of God belongs to such as these,\u201d and then \u201cHe embrace[s] them and bless[es] them,\u201d wedding them unto His heart. As woman is born out of the side of man, as she is flesh of his flesh, so the Church is born out of the pierced side of the Lord, from the blood and water that flow there, becoming one with His blessed Body.\xa0 And let all men and women know, every husband and wife understand, that their marriage is blessed alone by God and finds its life in Him.\xa0 It is He to whom they are truly wed, and their offenses against one another offend only Him.\xa0 If you seek to separate from one another, you work to separate yourself from God; for as He is love, so He is every marriage, and to Him you are beholden to bear fruit in His name.\xa0 Great will be the blessing upon your home if you cherish your oneness in Him \u2013 great as the blessings upon His Church, which in His love He does now form.\xa0 Make all your love one with Him. Written, read & chanted, and produced by James Kurt. Music: "Marriage" from The Innocent Heart, first album of Songs for Children of Light, by James Kurt. ******* O LORD, bring life forth in our midst through the children you bless. YHWH, let us be joined to you in the sacrificial flesh of your Son.\xa0 Bone of His bone let us be, one with Him forever.\xa0 As you join together man and wife on this earth, so join us to you in Heaven. O let us never be divorced from love of one another or from you, dearest LORD!\xa0 Then we shall be blessed; then we shall remain in your presence and know your arms around us.\xa0 O let us have the faith of a child and come humbly before you to hear your Word of truth spoken of by your Son, and so let us share in His salvation.\xa0 Let us never harden our hearts against your good will for our lives and we shall prosper in your peace. We are taken from you, O LORD, and must be united with you again.\xa0 But if we do not love one another and bear fruit in your Name, if man and wife do not stand as the paragon of your love, what shall become of the human race?