Scripture readings for this reflection can be found at Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time | USCCB
In our gospel for today we see once again the confrontation between Jesus and the Pharisees. The Pharisees were always looking for ways to trip up Jesus in His teachings on the Laws of God. After asking about whether it’s lawful or not for a man to divorce his wife, Jesus teaches very clearly that once married, the man and woman become as one flesh. We hear the familiar teaching from Jesus, “What God has joined together, no human must separate.
When a couple is discerning marriage, like any
vocation, they must have God in the center of their decision. The love of a man
and woman towards each other is to mirror the love God has for all of us.
The example that the Pharisees mention in today’s
gospel about Moses permitting a husband to write a bill of divorce and dismiss
the woman shows the selfishness of their outlook towards marriage. The man in
this instance has all the rights and the woman is left with nothing. Our Lord
is reminding Pharisees that once married, in God’s eyes, the couple become as
one flesh. Both the man and woman are equal in God’s eyes.
The Church, with this scripture in mind, is always
attempting to be careful in the preparation of a couple considering marriage.
The couple needs to understand that God must be part of their decisions to
marry. And that, as the marriage vows says, it’s for good times and bad times,
in sickness and in health. The couple needs to have the love of each other
always utmost in their minds and hearts and to have God as the center of their
marriage. Marriage is not to be taken lightly.
In paragraph 1601 of the Catechism of the Catholic Church we read, "The
matrimonial covenant, by which a man and a woman establish between themselves a
partnership of the whole of life, is by its nature ordered toward the good of
the spouses and the procreation and education of offspring; this covenant
between baptized persons has been raised by Christ the Lord to the dignity of a
sacrament."
Let us pray for all
married couples and for those considering marriage to remember the love they
have for each other is meant to be everlasting in the eyes of God.
From Arlene B. Muller
ReplyDeleteI LOVE "Both the man and woman are equal in God’s eyes" and the reference to PARTNERSHIP in the quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church. GOD ordained husbands & wives to be EQUAL, COMPLEMENTARY PARTNERS in marriage. GOD created BOTH males & females in His image, so neither is higher than the other, & males & females reflect different attributes of GOD
YES, GOD instituted the Sacrament of Matrimony (marriage). He created marriage at the beginning of time & Our LORD JESUS blessed it & raised it to the level of a Sacrament at the Wedding Feast of Cana, where He performed His first public miracle.
YES, putting Our LORD at the center of the marriage & at the center of everything in the marriage is essential from the beginning of the relationship & the decision to marry throughout the lives of husband & wife in what GOD intends to be a devoted lifelong marriage in which the husband & wife are mutually devoted to Our LORD; to one another, to the practice of our faith, to their family, & to serving others.
My parents were married 64 years until my Dad died. When asked the "secret" of their devoted, faithful lifelong marriage, my Mom always said, "Put JESUS in the center of your marriage". My Dad would always respond with a quip: "the first hundred years are the hardest!" Together my Mom & Dad knew; loved & served GOD, one another, their family & extended family including friends they invited to family celebrations, & our parish church. They served as Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion for over 20 years. They not only looked at each other but they looked in the same direction: upward to Our LORD, Our Lady & the saints & outward to family members & others who needed their humble & loving service.