TWENTY-SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
3 OCOTBER 2021
The
Pharisees know from the Book of Deuteronomy that Moses permitted a husband to
write a bill of divorce against his wife.
However, they are trying to draw Jesus into the political debate of the
day. The followers of Rabbi Shammai strictly
interpret the situations that allow a husband to write a bill of divorce. They argue that only infidelity would be an
acceptable reason. However, the
followers of Rabbi Hillel are much more lenient. They allow the husband to write that bill for
any reason, including the bad cooking of his wife.
Jesus
refuses to be drawn into that argument.
He points out that Moses did not give a formal law about divorce. Rather, he permitted divorce as a concession
to human weakness. Jesus also
understands the unfairness of this concession.
The wife has absolutely no say in this process. It is the right of the husband alone. Jesus insists that God’s intentions for
marriage have their roots in creation. We
heard that in the reading from the Book of Genesis. In God’s creation, a man and woman leave
their parents and are joined as one. Not
only are they joined as one in the physical act of making love. But that union is a new existence shared by couples
in an unbreakable covenant. No human
being has the power to separate that bond.
When his
disciples gather privately in the house, they question his tough teaching. Jesus is initiating a new reign of God in
which he will restore the harmony of the Garden of Eden. He sees divorce as a profound spiritual,
mental, and psychological tearing apart of one flesh. He invites his listeners to have the
simplicity of a child. This teaching can
be accepted only with simplicity and trust.
In our
teaching, we Catholics are faithful to this difficult teaching when we insist
that a valid marriage can be ended only by death. We regard divorce as a legal decree, but it
does not end a valid marriage. The
Church has made accommodations to human weakness. Those who question whether their marriage was
really valid in the first place can apply for an annulment. Father Jake Runyon, the Judicial Vicar of the
Diocese, will give a presentation on this subject on Tuesday evening, October
19. If you are divorced, please consider
coming to this informational session. We
also provide a ministry to those people who are divorced or separated. We also encourage anyone who has been wounded
in any way to seek therapy.
Instead of
making judgments, we continue to hold high the teachings of Jesus on the
sanctity of marriage. We work as a team
to prepare couples for marriage. We
encourage married couples to embrace the crosses and difficulties involved in
keeping their marriages healthy. Deacon
Lou and Lori Giovannini offer their sessions “Marriage in Christ,” and we
continue to develop programs to assist married couples to live their vocations.
This
teaching on marriage by Jesus spells out the implications of discipleship for
daily living. During this month of
October, we focus on the implications of recognizing all life as a precious
gift from God. In a throwaway culture
driven by a sense of consuming as much as possible, we accept the challenge of
recognizing the sanctity of the unborn and the need to care for the
elderly. We accept the challenge of
rooting out any form of racism or hatred of the immigrant. We must see the image of Christ in the poor,
the vulnerable, and those shoved to the edges of our society.
Jesus makes
great demands of us, who claim to be intentional disciples. Together, during this month of October, we
are given many specific opportunities to embrace the sanctity of the Sacrament
of Matrimony and to respect the dignity of human life from the moment of
conception through natural death.
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