18 August, 2023 | Friday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Gospel Mt 19:3-12
And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?” 4 He answered, “Have you not read that he who created them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 and said, ‘Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate.” 7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce and to send her away?” 8 He said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for sexual immorality, and marries another, commits adultery.” 10 The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” 11 But he said to them, “Not everyone can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who is able to receive this receive it.”
Reflections:
God
created the human beings in his own image and likeness of God. God gave both male
and female equal dignity. In the Gospel
Jesus reminds us of the original intention of God in creation that in marriage
a man and woman shall become one flesh. They are to be united
in love and fidelity to each other. So no one should destroy this unity, one
should rather make every effort to build up this union. Jesus also speaks about
celibacy as a way of life for the service of the kingdom. Married life and
celibacy both need love and faithfulness to fulfill the plan of God.
Activity :
Affirm
every day that you are created in the image and likeness of God.
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