Tuesday February 14th, 2017 Matthew 19:1-12
"?but from the beginning it was not so." (verse 8)
Divorce has touched most families in Canada today. Over the last fifteen years, the divorce rate in this country has climbed from 1:3 to almost 1:2. Sadly, families of faith are not left untouched by this reality.
Many years ago, when I was still working as a registered nurse in the maternity ward of a large city hospital, a young mother shared with me that her baby would not be baptized in her own denomination as the pastor could not allow it on the grounds that she was divorced and not yet married to the father of her new baby. I immediately shared this with my own pastor who said, “Tell them to come here! They will be warmly welcomed.” And so they were. The young couple was married, the baby was baptized, and they became faithful members of the congregation. A few years later, a second child was born.
Divorce sometimes heals a failed human relationship. The church can be a powerful instrument of healing during very dark days. Jesus asks us not to harden our hearts against anyone but to bear one another’s burdens with compassion.
At the root of all healing is love-love given and love received.
God of love, grant me the grace to live without judgment or reservation. Teach me the many ways of love. Amen. — MKW
Contributed by A Healing Ministry
Divorce has touched most families in Canada today. Over the last fifteen years, the divorce rate in this country has climbed from 1:3 to almost 1:2. Sadly, families of faith are not left untouched by this reality.
Many years ago, when I was still working as a registered nurse in the maternity ward of a large city hospital, a young mother shared with me that her baby would not be baptized in her own denomination as the pastor could not allow it on the grounds that she was divorced and not yet married to the father of her new baby. I immediately shared this with my own pastor who said, "Tell them to come here! They will be warmly welcomed." And so they were. The young couple was married, the baby was baptized, and they became faithful members of the congregation. A few years later, a second child was born.
Divorce sometimes heals a failed human relationship. The church can be a powerful instrument of healing during very dark days. Jesus asks us not to harden our hearts against anyone but to bear one another's burdens with compassion.
At the root of all healing is love-love given and love received.
