I can just imagine the eyerolls among some people this coming Sunday as this passage is proclaimed at Mass. There goes the Catholic Church again. Why is she always so down on marriage and sexuality and the things of this world?!

The line that I am personally dwelling on this week is the last one: “The world in its present form is passing away.”

I was fortunate after ordination to the priesthood to spend several years studying the theology of the body in depth. I can still recall as if it was yesterday an experience I had sitting outside reading the Holy Father and suddenly realizing I was starting to sit up straighter.

I had a conversation with a young woman recently that I can’t shake. Hers is a rather common tale: she grew up in a strong Catholic family, went to Catholic schools, got to college and drifted away. There’s much more to it, of course, but how many young people are in her shoes, and how many parents know the anguish that hers know?