Today’s letter from St Paul sounds almost anti-family. He says it’s easier for someone who is unmarried to be mindful of God’s will than it is for a married person. A spouse is distracted by the worldly things marriage brings..including obligations to your significant other. But in the context of today’s Old Testament reading from Deuteronomy and the Gospel reading from Mark, we see in Paul’s letter the very reason we have Brothers In Christ at our parish…for fathers to claim the authority granted by God the Father through God the Son, Jesus, to teach his word to OUR sons and daughters. That way, God’s word is passed from generation to generation of families. And in that way, all heads of families are prophets. That’s the true wisdom of the Sacrament of Marriage…and of all the sacraments. They are outward signs of God’s grace…and we are responsible for sharing that grace by making our families his living word for others to hear.