PRI Reflections on Scripture • 8-16-24 - Friday of the 19th Week in Ordinary Time

Finding God In Our Hearts with Msgr. Don Fischer

Gospel

Matthew 19:3-12

Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying,

"Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?"

He said in reply, "Have you not read that from the beginning

the Creator made them male and female and said,

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, man must not separate."

They said to him, "Then why did Moses command

that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?"

He said to them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts

Moses allowed you to divorce your wives,

but from the beginning it was not so.

I say to you, whoever divorces his wife

(unless the marriage is unlawful)

and marries another commits adultery."

His disciples said to him,

"If that is the case of a man with his wife,

it is better not to marry."

He answered, "Not all can accept this word,

but only those to whom that is granted.

Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so;

some, because they were made so by others;

some, because they have renounced marriage

for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven.

Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”

Reflection

When Jesus points out an obligation to human beings, we must remember that his promise, is that he will enable us to fulfill those obligations. He’s not laying a burden on us that's impossible to fulfill. So when we see him talking about marriage, it is clear he’s saying that divorce is not the plan. But at the same time, he's also saying that marriage is not something you just do by going through a ritual and signing some papers.

It's a mystery. It's a gift. It's a vocation and needs to be honored by those who have been gifted with it.

Closing Prayer

Father, give us the wisdom to understand the work of human beings in relationships doing so much to help the world to become what God wants it to be. And we ask this in Jesus’ name, Amen.

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