Last Sunday in Philadelphia Pope Francis told families and the whole Church:
"May (God) grant us the grace to be worthy of that purity of heart which is not scandalized by the Gospel."Today at Mass we heard these words:
"Because of the hardness of your hearts (Moses) wrote you this commandment (permitting divorce.) But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate... Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."These are scandalous words to a society with an impure, hardened heart. These words are probably scandalous to many catholics. How many priests dared to preach today on the indissolubility of marriage and the immorality of marrying another while the original spouse is still living?
How many, including catholics, are scandalized by the Church's teaching, in fidelity to nature and to Christ, that marriage is only between one man and one women?
And what scandal is caused by a homosexual priest who has for years been working at the heart of the Church in the office charged with defending the doctrine of the faith and who reveals he is in love with his male partner and that he has a right to marry him?
Which is why we need to pray for all the bishops gathered in Rome for the Synod on the family that they be granted the purity of heart so as not to find Our Lord's teaching scandalous but rather they way to truth, beauty, happiness and eternal life.
Archbishop Sample of Portland in Oregon has asked the faithful of his archdiocese to join him in prayer for the Synod:
AN URGENT APPEAL FOR PRAYER! I am going to make this bold request for prayers from all who are willing and able. The Ordinary Synod of Bishops begins this Sunday, October 4 and will run through October 25. The theme of the Synod is "The Vocation and Mission of the Family in the Church and the Contemporary World." This is an extremely important moment in the life of the Church and for the future of the Christian family. I am asking us all to begin now and pray for the Holy Spirit's guidance for the Holy Father, the Synod bishops and other participants. I am suggesting that we all commit to praying the Holy Rosary and/or the Chaplet of Divine Mercy every day from now through the end of the Synod on October 25. Pray that God's will be done at this Synod and that all the powers of the Enemy, Satan and his demons, be kept far from the work of the Synod. Pope Francis said earlier this year: “Let us pray to the Lord and ask Him to protect the family in the crisis with which the Devil wants to destroy it. Families are the domestic church where Jesus grows in the love of a married couple, in the lives of their children. This is why the Devil attacks the family so much. The Devil doesn’t want it and tries to destroy it. The Devil tries to make love disappear from there.” Will you join me in prayer?