This gospel passage has influenced our Catholic teaching = about divorce and remarriage. We be= lieve marriage is sacred. The commi= tment between a man and a woman is a sacrament of the commitment Christ makes to the Church. Just as Christ cannot= break his sacred commitment with us, so a sacred marriage cannot be broken. However, in some cases, things come to light after the wedding. In some situat= ions it is not safe or healthy for two people to stay together; their marriage is not sacred; it does not represent the love of Christ for the Church. Divorce happens.

A Catholic who divorces may still come to communion. This is often misunderstood. Divorce does not change a person&#= 8217;s status as a Catholic. However, remarriage is another matter. A person who marries outside the Catholic Church is asked= not to come to communion. If = a Catholic is divorced or interested in a divorced person, and wishes to retain commun= ion privileges, he or she opens an annulment case on the failed marriage. When annulments are granted, Catholics are free to enter a new marriage in the Church.

I wish we had another word for annulment. Many people think it means the fir= st marriage never existed and that children are illegitimate. Neither statement is true. A Church annulment says that the marriage was not a sacrament; it did not reflect the love of Christ for the Church; one of the signs is that it was not permanent. An annulment affirms what the part= ners already realize: they should not be held to their commitment because they never built a completely sacred relationship. An annulment says absolutely nothi= ng about children, and it has no status whatsoever = in the State of Missouri. When I wit= ness a wedding here, I act as a minister of the Church and as a representative of = the State. When a couple divorces= , they end the contract the State honored; if they wish to end the agreement made = in the Church, we call that an annulment because it does not technically “end the agreement;” it announces that the sacrament didn’= ;t happen – not that the marriage didn’t happen.

Canon law requires Catholics to be married in a Catholic ceremony before a Catholic priest or deacon and in a Catholic Church. Dispensations from these requireme= nts can be granted before a wedding, but without the dispensations, our Church does not recognize the new marriage. We do recogniz= e the marriages of other believers, however they take place. So a di= vorced non-Catholic needs an annulment from the Catholic Church to marry a Catholic.

In this parish several members= help me with annulments; we usually have a few of them in the works at any one time. We are anxious to help = anyone who seeks to have their marriage recognized by the Church, especially when = the marriage they are in feels right, feels sacred, feels permanent, feels committed = 211; and should have the blessing of the Church.

Divorce is awful. Jesus didn’t like it. The Church doe= sn’t like it. Families don’t like it.&= nbsp; Kids don’t like it. Sometimes people make difficult choices. The Catholic Church = does not reject the divorced; we minister to the divorced. We think that&= #8217;s what Jesus wanted us to do.