On this second Sunday of Lent, when we contemplate the Transfiguration of Jesus, we get a glimpse of the joy God has in store for us. Peter did not want to leave the mountain top. It is difficult to come back down to earth when we have had an ecstatic experience. We are grateful for these joyous moments, however, because they keep us going through the ordinariness and the difficulties of daily life. The Church puts this Gospel passage just after the beginning of lent, to encourage us to walk with Jesus along the way of the Cross to Easter. (It is still not too late to bring a small stone to church to be carried in the offertory procession as a sign of our hardness of heart and our need for renewal and reconciliation.)

For most people, the experiences connected with the Sacrament of Matrimony are a glimpse of the joy that awaits us in heaven. The loving union of husband and wife, the happiness when a child is born, the satisfaction of seeing children grow and mature and go out on their own, the comfort of growing old together - these all bring an anticipation of what God has prepared for us in eternity. These "better" times help with the "worse".

 The marriage covenant between two baptized Christians is a bond which God seals and which cannot be broken, except by death. The Old Testament presents marriage as an image of God's loving relationship with his Chosen People. The New Testament teaches us that the Sacrament of Matrimony is a holy sign of Christ's union in love with his Body, the Church, through his death and resurrection. Church laws and regulations try to preserve and protect the sanctity of marriage.

It is obvious that marriage is in trouble in our day, even to the point of being re-defined by many people. Recently a doctor and his wife gave a presentation on Natural Family Planning (information which every married couple has a right to know) to the Presbyteral Council, which advises the Bishop. This couple teaches the method to couples, but has had very few "students" in the many years they have offered their services. The discussion broadened to an acknowledgement that those giving marriage-preparation classes must try simply to convince couples to stop living together before marriage. They have little time to go into the intricacies of the Church's teaching on birth control. Young people are learning their sexual ethics from Hollywood.

Many Catholics do not understand that living together before marriage, or not being married according to the law of the Catholic Church, prevents them from receiving Holy Communion in good conscience. Church law also does not allow remarriage to a second spouse while the first is still living, unless the marriage has been declared null by the Church Marriage Tribunal.

Every year, at the beginning of lent, I mention these facts and every year several people arrange to have their marital status rectified. The first step toward doing this is to request an interview with one of the priests.