Gen 2.18-24; Ps 127; Heb 2.9-11; Mk 10.2-16

1. I doubt if there is anyone who would not agree that one of the greatest problems facing Western society today is the breakdown of family life. Many would say that it is the greatest problem of all, that many of society’s other tragedies flow from this breakdown. There is also the almost universal encouragement of artificial contraception. And what about all the abortions performed day in and day out, all those unborn children being murdered? When the Catholic Church speaks out about these things, as she is obliged to do, the general response is to attack the Church for being inflexible and out of touch with reality.

2. The whole subject of families and children is very emotive, because it is so central to our lives, whether or not we are married or have children. We feel deeply about our families. Anyone with any decency is deeply concerned about the safety and well-being of children. These things are matters so close to our hearts that many people feel they have an absolute right to their own opinions, and a right to determine our own course of action. Well, the second of those convictions is certainly true. Free will is one of our greatest gifts – the ability to determine our own course of action. It is with our God-given faculty of free will that we make our moral decisions, guided by our conscience. The question we must always ask ourselves is this: ‘What is it that guides my conscience?’

3. You may feel that this question doesn’t make sense, for isn’t conscience just a quiet voice within us? We don’t guide it; it guides us. Properly understood, conscience is the way we apply our intellect, our understanding, to particular moral situations. It is the application of the general – principles and rules – to the particular. Conscience is not just a feeling or an instinct. It is a power of our mind, a power of judgement, and we have an obligation to educate it. Our consciences must be ‘informed’. Nowadays it is all too easy to be vague about matters of duty and responsibility, what is right and what is wrong. It was not always the case, as we can see from the word conscience itself. If we look at the makeup of the word, we get to its Latin origins. The first part of the word, ‘con’, means with. The second part is ‘science’. So ‘conscience’ means ‘with science’ or ‘with knowledge’. Following our conscience means acting with correct knowledge, correct judgement. Conscience is only a true guide, a reliable judge, if we form it properly, if we feed it with truth.

4. For Catholics, of course, our first and perfect guide to the truth is Our Lord Himself. He is the truth, the life and the way. If we study His teaching, we will fulfil our obligation to inform our consciences. On marriage for example, His teaching in today’s gospel is clear. Marriage is to one partner only, and is for life. Our Lord teaches that only this is blessed by God. He makes this perfectly clear when a group of teachers of the Law of Moses try to catch Him out. In the past they had been quite right to look to Moses as the revelation of God’s law, as the way to inform their consciences. But now that Christ the Word of God had come, things had moved on. Christ reveals the truth of the divine law more clearly than ever before. He does not abolish the Law of Moses, He perfects it.

5. Jesus shows that what Moses taught about divorce was permitted only because man was so hard-hearted. What Christ offers instead is a more perfect way, a new heart, a new life of grace and holiness, a life that is able to share in God’s love, and reflect it to others. Quoting from the book of Genesis, the Lord teaches that God’s will is unchanging. From the very beginning, it was always God’s will that man and wife should be together in a perfect union. This union of man and wife has two aspects. Firstly, the two spouses can only achieve this life-long union if they give themselves to each other totally. In this way, they will discover themselves more fully, and lead each other further into love. And secondly, this union will be indissoluble, something which is required for the good of the children. Married love is a sign of the faithful and indissoluble love which God has for mankind, the love which the Lord Jesus has for His Church. In Christian marriage, the partners show God’s love to each other, and they also become witnesses to others of the power of that love. The unity and indissolubility of marriage is not something invented by the Church. It is part of what is called ‘the natural law’: it corresponds to something implanted by God deep within our human nature. The human instinct for a lifelong partnership of love reflects an inbuilt need, a natural capacity, put within us by the Creator.

6. The connection between the unity of marriage and its fruitfulness of which children are the sign par excellence, this connection was doubtless in the mind of Saint Mark when he wrote down the part of his gospel which we read today. We also have here one of the few occasions when Our Lord shows anger. The disciples had turned away those who were bringing children to Jesus. They probably felt that the children were a nuisance, that Christ had more important things to do than waste His time with them. The disciples were well-intentioned, but they misjudged the case. Their consciences were leading them to the wrong conclusion. What Jesus had already told them before had not registered: “Whoever receives one such child in my name receives me; and whoever receives me receives not me but him who sent me.”

7. Let us ask God to bless all those who are married, especially those who have the difficult task of bringing-up children. May the Holy Spirit help parents to nurture their children’s conscience so that they grow and develop in harmony with the mind and heart of Christ, the mind and heart of love.