“For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place…Even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer…” (Isaiah 56, 57) To the Holy Temple do the youth of Israel look, keeping their lives clean and pure, that they might be found worthy to enter in, and partake of covenants everlasting, with each other, and with the Lord their God. In the temple are a few men with authority delegated to them by the Lord’s prophet upon the earth, who holds the same keys given Peter in the meridian of times; “thou art Peter…I will give unto thee the keys of the kingdom of heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven: and whatsoever thou shalt loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 16) Not “till death do you part,” is the sacred ceremony entered into in the House of the Lord, but, provided covenants of faithfulness and chastity are kept, marriage is “for time and for all eternity,” which covenant and promise shall be of full force when the couple are out of this world. They have entered into a covenant with God and with each other; God does not break covenants, and they must not! Under so sacred a covenant, the establishment of a family and children takes on the greatest importance. The father assumes his sacred role as protector and provider. Motherhood becomes a sacred calling; the divine service of motherhood can be rendered only by mothers, and may not, must not, be passed on to others! Is this not the wisdom of God? For in the Lord’s eyes, the family is paramount; it is central to His plan for our eternal destiny.
Steven and Elizabeth Skola