It is 18th August 2017. The readings are from Joshua 24:1-13; and the Gospel from Matthew 19:3-12. In the first reading Joshua recounts the history to the people of God focusing on how God brought them out of slavery and fought wars on behalf of them and offered them the land that they never labored for. It is the work of the leader to make people to be faithful to God and God’s contribution in their lives. A good leader must be faithful God and repeat the exact record of what God did during the liberation struggle instead of promoting oneself and the family of origin one comes from. A leader needs to be faithful to God at all times. No leader must exalt oneself more than God. Fidelity to truth and without distorting the history for one’s convenience must be passed on to the younger generation. In today’s reading, Joshua relates the events of the salvation history and inviting the people of God to renew their dedication and commitment to God. The responsorial Psalm is the hymn of praise for all what God has done. The Gospel teaches us strongly the importance of the marriage and its indissolubility and oneness. God wanted this institution for the welfare of the human society promoting the intimacy that emerges out of love and to complement between male and female. In every corner of a developed society, this institution of marriage is under threat. People are looking for an easy way out to deal with intimacy and companionship. Faithfulness and intimacy between man and woman are attacked, ridiculed and mocked. Marriage is not the solution to all human problems but it is the answer to the integral human development. Marriage provides the space to deal with the challenges of physical, psychological, spiritual in nature. Marriage is not just an option or opinion proposed by a bunch of people. Marriage is God’s plan for the humanity to continue the human life here on earth. Marriage is sacred, the sacrament and a sacrifice of love offered through faithfulness and respect in promoting the welfare and the good of the spouses and the children. To be faithful means to be available at all times without being preoccupied with none. As the spouses please one another and engage in an unselfish love, so the single needs to be celibate and be generously available to God by their selfless service to the humanity. The only purpose to be single is to be available to God through a loving and caring encounter to a suffering humanity. May we be faithful the life we have chosen and promote the goodness of God in all we do and say. May you have a good day.