Jesus said to the Pharisees, “I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.”
These words of Jesus from the Gospel reading reflect the love of God for his people that God had spoken through Ezekiel. Just as God made a covenant with the Israelites, he gave to his human family a covenant to keep in the sacramental bond of marriage. “Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were a girl, and I will set up an everlasting covenant with you.” Jesus responds to his disciples’ question about whether it is better not to marry since divorce does not leave open the possibility—“what God has joined together, man must not separate”—by saying, “Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom that is granted.” That is, only those who are inclined not to marry, should not marry, such as those who are incapable or those who instead remain unmarried for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven.
Today’s readings are challenging and difficult to consider. God, help me understand that what Jesus said about marriage and divorce is valid today in a world that confuses the sacramental nature of marriage for types of union between man and woman that in no way relate to God, “the Creator [who] made them male and female.” The Gospel acclamation seems a haven in the midst of the Gospel’s turbulent topic. “Receive the word of God, not as the word of men, but, as it truly is, the word of God.” You name it as it is, Lord, by saying of the sacrament that the two shall become one flesh. How often does divorce result from your being displaced from the sacrament through lack of commitment, infidelity, conflict, domestic violence, or substance abuse? As for hardness of heart, among the innumerable divorces that take place, how often is that the cause?
God, you know me and you love me. I know you love those whose marriages are broken and in darkness. Let the warmth and light of your love shine on those going through divorce and the healing process of annulment. Teach me to return to you throughout the day for the grace to sustain and nourish me, to lift me up when I fall or fail to see you. Father, be before me; Jesus, be at my side; and Holy Spirit, guide me.
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.