In today's readings for the Thursday of 12th week in Ordinary Time, Abraham agrees to conceive a child through the servant of his wife, Hagar. This was not God's plan. Adultery is never God's plan. Conceiving a child outside of the loving covenant between one woman and one man goes against the very image of the Trinity present in marriage and the life it brings. It seems there is always a "good" motive for going against this covenant. With in vitro-fertilization the couple would claim they want to be fruitful and love a child; in same-sex unions they claim they care for one another, in contraception they claim responsibility, in fornication they claim to be an act of love. Yet in all of these cases, a relationship is not being built on the solid rock of living in the image and likeness of the Most Holy Trinity which the one man - one woman union brings, which is can only be protected by a covenantal and indissoluble seal we call a sacrament.
Marriage once again needs to shine forth in the way God created it. In this way, we will be building our house on solid rock, and when the storms of history come, it will prove steadfast and enduring. May Our Lady, Queen of the Family renew the gift of the family for the building up of the world.
