Friends,
in our Gospel today, Jesus defines the fundamental sacredness of
marriage. I’m convinced that the deep sacramental and religious meaning
of marriage—even within the Church—has been, in recent years,
dramatically compromised. We say that marriage is a vocation, but do we
mean it?
We
can look at human sexual relationships at a number of different levels.
Two people can come together purely for physical pleasure, for economic
reasons, or for psychological companionship. And we might witness two
people coming together out of authentic love.
But
none of
these levels is what the Bible means by marriage. When I was doing
parish work I would invariably ask young couples, "Why do you want to
get married in church?" Most would say something like, "Because we love
each other." But I would reply, "Well, that’s no reason to get married
in church."
They
usually looked stunned, but I meant it. You come to church to be
married before God and his people when you are convinced that your
marriage is not, finally, about you; that it is about God and about
serving God’s purposes; that it is, as much as the priesthood of a
priest, a vocation, a sacred calling.
Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 345
A kind mouth multiplies friends and appeases enemies,
and gracious lips prompt friendly greetings.
Let your acquaintances be many,
but one in a thousand your confidant.
When you gain a friend, first test him,
and be not too ready to trust him.
For one sort is a friend when it suits him,
but he will not be with you in time of distress.
Another is a friend who becomes an enemy,
and tells of the quarrel to your shame.
Another is a friend, a boon companion,
who will not be with you when sorrow comes.
When things go well, he is your other self,
and lords it over your servants;
But if you are brought low, he turns against you
and avoids meeting you.
Keep away from your enemies;
be on your guard with your friends.
A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter;
he who finds one finds a treasure.
A faithful friend is beyond price,
no sum can balance his worth.
A faithful friend is a life-saving remedy,
such as he who fears God finds;
For he who fears God behaves accordingly,
and his friend will be like himself.
Jesus came into the district of Judea and across the Jordan.
Again crowds gathered around him and, as was his custom,
he again taught them.
The Pharisees approached him and asked,
"Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?"
They were testing him.
He said to them in reply, "What did Moses command you?"
They replied,
"Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce
and dismiss her."
But Jesus told them,
"Because of the hardness of your hearts
he wrote you this commandment.
But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife,
and the two shall become one flesh.
So they are no longer two but one flesh.
Therefore what God has joined together,
no human being must separate."
In the house the disciples again questioned Jesus about this.
He said to them,
“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another
commits adultery against her;
and if she divorces her husband and marries another,
she commits adultery.”
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