From the responsorial psalm: “I believe that I shall see the bounty of the LORD in the land of the living. Wait for the LORD with courage; be stouthearted, and wait for the LORD. I long to see your face, O Lord.”
A reading from the holy Gospel according to Matthew (Mt 5:27-32)
Jesus said to his disciples: “You have heard that it was said, You shall not commit adultery. But I say to you, everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. If your right eye causes you to sin, tear it out and throw it away. It is better for you to lose one of your members than to have your whole body thrown into Gehenna.”
Describing the radical action needed to preserve purity and avoid sin, Jesus goes on to refer to Jewish law in relation to divorce before explaining how to go further and deeper with this issue than external practice. “But I say to you,” Jesus says, “whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) causes her to commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery.” Jesus speaks to the sanctity and permanence of marriage, challenging the accepted Jewish law. He teaches the significance of avoidance of lustful desires and upholding God’s standard of marriage as a lifelong commitment. By saying “unless the marriage is unlawful,” Jesus refers to unions that were determined to be invalid in the first place, the basis for Catholic teaching on annulments. In speaking to the disciples, Jesus teaches them about the need for purity, faithfulness, and the preservation of marriage that God has joined together.
God, thank you for the gift of sacramental marriage. A sacred union before you and before the Church, it is meant to last a lifetime as a covenant between a man and woman and a visible sign of your unconditional love and grace working through them. Instituted by Christ, it is a continuous sign of his presence throughout a couple’s lifelong journey toward holiness as witnesses to your love. The same selfless love Christ offered in his suffering and death models for married couples the gift of self in laying down their lives for each other in his name. Pour out your grace, Lord, on sacramental marriage, and make it a means of glorifying your name.
Glory be to the Father, and to the Son, and to the Holy Spirit, as it was in the beginning, is now, and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.