February 28, 2025
Friday of the
Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 345
Reading 1
A kind mouth multiplies friends and appeases enemies,
and gracious lips prompt friendly greetings.
Let your acquaintances be many,
but one in a thousand your confidant.
When you gain a friend, first test him,
and be not too ready to trust him.
For one sort is a friend when it suits him,
but he will not be with you in time of distress.
Another is a friend who becomes an enemy,
and tells of the quarrel to your shame.
Another is a friend, a boon companion,
who will not be with you when sorrow comes.
When things go well, he is your other self,
and lords it over your servants;
But if you are brought low, he turns against you
and avoids meeting you.
Keep away from your enemies;
be on your guard with your friends.
A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter;
he who finds one finds a treasure.
A faithful friend is beyond price,
no sum can balance his worth.
A faithful friend is a life-saving remedy,
such as he who fears God finds;
For he who fears God behaves accordingly,
and his friend will be like himself.
Responsorial Psalm
Psalm
119:12, 16, 18, 27, 34, 35
R. (35a) Guide me, Lord, in the way of your
commands.
Blessed are you, O LORD;
teach me your statutes.
R. Guide me, Lord, in the way of your commands.
In your statutes I will delight;
I will not forget your words.
R. Guide me, Lord, in the way of your commands.
Open my eyes, that I may consider
the wonders of your law.
R. Guide me, Lord, in the way of your commands.
Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous deeds.
R. Guide me, Lord, in the way of your commands.
Give me discernment, that I may observe your law
and keep it with all my heart.
R. Guide me, Lord, in the way of your commands.
Lead me in the path of your commands,
for in it I delight.
R. Guide me, Lord, in the way of your commands.
Alleluia
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Your word, O Lord, is truth;
consecrate us in the truth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel
Jesus came into the district of Judea and across the Jordan.
Again crowds gathered around him and, as was his custom,
he again taught them.
The Pharisees approached him and asked,
""Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?""
They were testing him.
He said to them in reply, ""What did Moses command you?""
They replied,
""Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce
and dismiss her.""
But Jesus told them,
""Because of the hardness of your hearts
he wrote you this commandment.
But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.
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,
no human being must separate.""
In the house the disciples again questioned Jesus about this.
He said to them,
“Whoever divorces his wife and marries another
commits adultery against her;
and if she divorces her husband and marries another,
she commits adultery.”
https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/022825.cfm
Commentary on Sirach
6:5-17
Sirach today gives some advice on friendship. He has some
wise things to say. According to the Harper-Collins Study Bible:
Friendship was an important concept in social relations
during the Hellenistic period and is referred to several times in Sirach (9:10;
11:29-14:2; 22:19-26; 37:1-6). In Greek literature of the time, a friend was
one who remained true in times of distress and could therefore be trusted with
one’s official or private interests and affairs. Today’s reading brings to an
end a section of instructions and admonitions which test one’s resolve,
integrity, and capacity for making judgements in keeping with wisdom piety.
(edited)
True friends are discerned, not by how much money they have,
but by whether they will continue to stand by one in times of difficulty and
misfortune. Such friends are rare, and their value is beyond estimation.
The word ‘friend’ is one we tend to use very casually, and
we call people friends with whom we have only a relatively superficial
acquaintance. Or we term as friends people who are useful in getting things we
want. A genuine friend, with whom one can open oneself completely and in whom
one can have total trust, is not easy to find.
Some of the points made today are worth considering:
- Friends
are won by our speaking kindly and being courteous to people. Why do some
people seem to have lots of close friends and others have very few?
Perhaps one of the main reasons is here. To find a friend one has first to
be a friend.
- People
with whom you are friendly can be many, but a close adviser and confidant
will be “one in a thousand”. As we said, the word ‘friend’ can be used
very loosely. It is genuine friendship that we are speaking of here.
- True
friendships, which are based on genuine love, take time to develop. Mutual
attraction is not enough. Hence, “…gain them through testing, and do not
trust them hastily.”
Sirach gives a few examples of what we would now call
‘fair-weather’ friends:
…there are friends who are such when it suits them,
but they will not stand by you in time of trouble.
…there are friends who turn to enmity
and tell of the quarrel to your disgrace… [one thinks of bitter
divorce proceedings]
…there are friends who are companions at the table,
but they will not stand by you in time of trouble.
When you are prosperous, they become your second self
and boldly command your slaves,
but if you are brought low, they turn against you
and hide themselves from you.
Sirach advises us to “Keep away from your enemies”, those
who are hostile to us. But in this, we also have to remember the Gospel
injunction to pray for them and be ready to forgive and be reconciled with
those who have harmed us.
At the same time Sirach tells us to “be on guard with your
friends”, that is, those who call themselves friends but who, in time of
stress, are likely to ditch you.
Finally, Sirach speaks of the true friend, a treasure more
valuable than anything money can buy:
Faithful friends are a sturdy shelter;
whoever finds one has found a treasure.
Faithful friends are beyond price;
no amount can balance their worth.
Faithful friends are life-saving medicine,
and those who fear the Lord will find them.
True friendship is based on love and, where there is love,
God is inevitably present, for God is love.
Last of all, Sirach provides an astute piece of advice:
Those who fear the Lord direct their friendship aright,
for as they are, so are their neighbors also.
This last phrase may mean ‘one’s friends are as dear to one
as oneself’, but it may also mean ‘one’s friend will inevitably be, like
oneself, a God-fearing person’.
When we live in truth and integrity, we live in God, and we
are likely to make as friends those whose lives are also based on truth and
integrity. There can really be no other kind of true friend.
One of the greatest tragedies in life is never to have had
really close and intimate friends. The sign of a true friend is the sense of
emptiness that comes on permanent separation because of death or some other
irreversible reason.
Comments Off
Commentary on Mark
10:1-12
Jesus is approached by some Pharisees and they ask him if it
is lawful for a man to divorce his wife. We are told they asked him this
question in order to put him to the test. It is another example of their
efforts to find Jesus on the wrong side of the Mosaic law.
As frequently happens, Jesus responds to their question with
his own to them:
What did Moses command you?
They reply that Moses allowed a man to make out a writ of
dismissal and so divorce his wife. They are quoting from the Book of
Deuteronomy which says:
Suppose a man enters into marriage with a woman but she
does not please him because he finds something objectionable about her, so he
writes her a certificate of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of
his house; she then leaves his house and goes off to become another man’s wife.
Then suppose the second man dislikes her, writes her a certificate of divorce,
puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house (or the second man who
married her dies): her first husband, who sent her away, is not permitted to
take her again to be his wife after she has been defiled, for that would be
abhorrent to the Lord, and you shall not bring guilt on the land that the Lord
your God is giving you as a possession. (Deut 24:1-4)
Jesus clearly is not happy with this
teaching and says Moses allowed divorce to accommodate the moral weakness of
the people (that is, primarily the men!). He challenges this stand with
words from the creation story in Genesis (1:27; 2:24):
…God made them male and female. For this reason a man
shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall
become one flesh.
After marriage, then, he says that there are not two
separate people, but one body. And from that Jesus concludes:
Therefore what God has joined together, let no one
separate.
When they were back in the ‘house’ (that house again, the
place where Jesus’ disciples are gathered about him—the Church), Jesus’
disciples expressed their misgivings about what they had just heard. But
Jesus went even further: a man who divorces his wife and marries another is
guilty of adultery and a woman who divorces her husband and marries another is
also guilty of adultery. He does not recognise divorce. One gets the
impression that this teaching of Jesus came as something of a shock to them.
In a sound and enduring marriage the words of Jesus are
realised. One meets people who have been married for decades and are as deeply
in love with each other, in fact more so, than on the day of their wedding. One
has only to see bereaved spouses to realise the terrible void that is left when
a partner of many years dies. They feel as if a part of themselves had
been torn from them. It can take years for life to come back to some kind
of normalcy.
However, in our own day divorce has become a very common
phenomenon. In some societies, the divorce rate is almost half of all
marriages and in most societies all over the world it is increasing.
Marriages between Catholics are also seriously affected. Obviously it is
a very complex question and cannot be dealt with here.
There are two comments to be made about this Gospel passage.
First, Jesus is attacking a situation where men, when they got tired of their
spouse and found someone more interesting, simply wrote a piece of paper and
unilaterally dumped the first wife, leaving her high and dry. Jesus
rightly deplores such a situation. His final remark indicates something
new for his time (and often not yet accepted in our own): equal rights and
equal responsibilities for both partners. He is very
clear that women are not commodities to be picked up and dropped off at will.
Second, divorce as we experience it in our society today
often involves a genuine breakdown in the marriage relationship which neither
partner wishes and which is a cause of deep pain and suffering to both
sides. It may be due to some element of immaturity at the time of
marriage, or the partners growing apart as they develop as persons.
Whatever the reason, this situation is quite different from the one about which
Jesus is speaking. One feels that Jesus would be most sympathetic to the
painful breakdowns of marriage which happen today and, as Christians, we too
should try to empathise with people in such a situation.
Most people enter into marriage with good will and with the
intention of having an enduring, lifelong relationship. It is a hope
sometimes not realised. At the same time, we also have in our society
today a pluralistic approach to the concept of marriage from merely seeing it
as two people living together ‘as long as it feels good’ to those who believe
in marriage as a permanent relationship ‘in good times and bad’—and everything
else in between.
We need to remember that the Church accepts that marriages
can break down and that, for various reasons, the couple may need to have their
separation made legal by a divorce settlement in court. What the Church
forbids is remarriage within the Church absent a formal tribunal annulment
declaration. Many Catholics do remarry in a civil ceremony and we need to
deal with such people with great sympathy and understanding if they express a
sincere desire to remain active members of the Christian community.
The ideal that Jesus proposes remains, but a changing
society may need a different approach to marriage where the emphasis is more on
the relationship and less on the legal contract. A truly pastoral Church
will help people live the Gospel in such a changing sociological
situation. As always, the solution will lie in answering the question: In
this situation, what is the loving thing to do as far as all are concerned?
Comments Off
https://livingspace.sacredspace.ie/o1076g/
Friday, February 28, 2025
Ordinary Time
Opening Prayer
Father, keep before us the wisdom and love You have revealed
in Your Son. Help us to be like Him in word and deed, for He lives and reigns
with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
Gospel Reading - Mark 10: 1-12
Jesus came into the district of Judea and across the Jordan.
Again, crowds gathered around him and as was his custom, he again taught them.
The Pharisees approached him and asked, "Is it lawful for a husband to
divorce his wife?" They were testing him. He said to them in reply,
"What did Moses
command you?" They replied, "Moses permitted a husband
to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her." But Jesus told them,
"Because of the hardness of your hearts
he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, God made
them male and female. 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, no human
being must separate." In the house the disciples again questioned Jesus
about this. He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another
commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries
another, she commits adultery."
Reflection
Yesterday’s Gospel indicated the advice given by Jesus on
the relationship between adults and children, between the great and the little
ones in society. Today’s Gospel advises us how the relationship between man and
woman should be, between wife and husband.
• Mark 10: 1-2: the question of the Pharisees:
“Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” The question is a malicious one.
It wants to put Jesus to the test. This is a sign that Jesus had a
different opinion, because if this was not so the Pharisees would not have
questioned Him on this matter. They do not ask if it is lawful for the wife to
divorce the husband. That was not allowed. This is a clear sign of the strong
dominion of men and the marginalization of women in the society of that time.
• Mark 10:
3-9 - The answer of Jesus: man cannot divorce his
wife. Instead of responding, Jesus asks: “What did Moses command you?” The Law permitted a man to draw up a
writ of dismissal in cases of divorce. This permission reveals the reigning
machismo of the time. Man could divorce his wife, but the woman did not have
the same right. Jesus explains that Moses acted that way because they were so
hardhearted, but that the intention of God was different when He created the
human being. Jesus goes back to the plan of the Creator and denies to man the
right to divorce his wife. He takes away the privilege of man regarding his
wife and asks for the maximum equality between the two.
• Mark 10: 10, 12 - Equality of man and woman.
At home the disciples asked Jesus something on this point. Jesus draws the
conclusions and reaffirms the equality of rights and duties between man and
woman. The Gospel of Matthew adds a comment of the disciples on this point.
They say: “If that is
how things are between
husband and wife, it is advisable not to marry” (Mt 19: 10). Jesus goes to the very depth of
the question and says that there are only three cases in which a person is
permitted not to get married: “Not
everyone can understand it but only those to whom it is granted. In fact there
are eunuchs born so from their mother’s womb; there are eunuchs made so by
human agency and there are eunuchs who have made themselves so for the sake of
the kingdom of Heaven. Let anyone accept this who can. (Mt 19:
11-12). The three cases are: “(a) impotence, (b) castration, and (c) for
the Kingdom. Not to get married only because man does not want to lose dominion
over woman, this is not permitted by the New
Law of Love! Matrimony as well as celibacy should be at the service of the
Kingdom and not at the service of egoistic or selfish interests. Neither one of these can be a reason to maintain man’s
dominion on woman. Jesus changed the relationship man-woman, wife-husband.
Personal Questions
• Equality in society
is always framed in terms of power. Yet, this last week we have read almost
every day about service, humility, and welcoming children. Jesus taught us to
serve, to be humble, to welcome and care for the children in order to reach the
Kingdom of God. It is not for the powerful. Who is closer to the Kingdom?
• In the life of my
family and of my community, do we focus on power, or on service and humility as
a basis for equality?
• Within community,
how important to equality is listening, obedience, and prayer (obsculta,
oboedientia, oratio) and what roles and purpose do each of these contribute to
equality?
Concluding Prayer
Yahweh is tenderness and pity, slow to anger and rich in
faithful love; His indignation does not last forever, nor His resentment remain
for all time. (Ps 103: 8-9)
Không có nhận xét nào:
Đăng nhận xét