Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest and Martyr
Lectionary: 417
Lectionary: 417
Joshua gathered
together all the tribes of Israel at Shechem,
summoning their elders, their leaders,
their judges and their officers.
When they stood in ranks before God, Joshua addressed all the people:
“Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel:
In times past your fathers, down to Terah,
father of Abraham and Nahor,
dwelt beyond the River and served other gods.
But I brought your father Abraham from the region beyond the River
and led him through the entire land of Canaan.
I made his descendants numerous, and gave him Isaac.
To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau.
To Esau I assigned the mountain region of Seir in which to settle,
while Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.
“Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and smote Egypt with the prodigies
which I wrought in her midst.
Afterward I led you out of Egypt, and when you reached the sea,
the Egyptians pursued your fathers to the Red Sea
with chariots and horsemen.
Because they cried out to the LORD,
he put darkness between your people and the Egyptians,
upon whom he brought the sea so that it engulfed them.
After you witnessed what I did to Egypt,
and dwelt a long time in the desert,
I brought you into the land of the Amorites
who lived east of the Jordan.
They fought against you, but I delivered them into your power.
You took possession of their land, and I destroyed them,
the two kings of the Amorites, before you.
Then Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab,
prepared to war against Israel.
He summoned Balaam, son of Beor, to curse you;
but I would not listen to Balaam.
On the contrary, he had to bless you, and I saved you from him.
Once you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho,
the men of Jericho fought against you,
but I delivered them also into your power.
And I sent the hornets ahead of you that drove them
(the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites,
Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites)
out of your way; it was not your sword or your bow.
“I gave you a land that you had not tilled
and cities that you had not built, to dwell in;
you have eaten of vineyards and olive groves
which you did not plant.”
summoning their elders, their leaders,
their judges and their officers.
When they stood in ranks before God, Joshua addressed all the people:
“Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel:
In times past your fathers, down to Terah,
father of Abraham and Nahor,
dwelt beyond the River and served other gods.
But I brought your father Abraham from the region beyond the River
and led him through the entire land of Canaan.
I made his descendants numerous, and gave him Isaac.
To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau.
To Esau I assigned the mountain region of Seir in which to settle,
while Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.
“Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and smote Egypt with the prodigies
which I wrought in her midst.
Afterward I led you out of Egypt, and when you reached the sea,
the Egyptians pursued your fathers to the Red Sea
with chariots and horsemen.
Because they cried out to the LORD,
he put darkness between your people and the Egyptians,
upon whom he brought the sea so that it engulfed them.
After you witnessed what I did to Egypt,
and dwelt a long time in the desert,
I brought you into the land of the Amorites
who lived east of the Jordan.
They fought against you, but I delivered them into your power.
You took possession of their land, and I destroyed them,
the two kings of the Amorites, before you.
Then Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab,
prepared to war against Israel.
He summoned Balaam, son of Beor, to curse you;
but I would not listen to Balaam.
On the contrary, he had to bless you, and I saved you from him.
Once you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho,
the men of Jericho fought against you,
but I delivered them also into your power.
And I sent the hornets ahead of you that drove them
(the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites,
Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites)
out of your way; it was not your sword or your bow.
“I gave you a land that you had not tilled
and cities that you had not built, to dwell in;
you have eaten of vineyards and olive groves
which you did not plant.”
Responsorial PsalmPS 136:1-3, 16-18, 21-22 AND 24
R. His mercy endures forever.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever;
Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his mercy endures forever;
Give thanks to the LORD of lords,
for his mercy endures forever.
R. His mercy endures forever.
Who led his people through the wilderness,
for his mercy endures forever;
Who smote great kings,
for his mercy endures forever;
And slew powerful kings,
for his mercy endures forever.
R. His mercy endures forever.
And made their land a heritage,
for his mercy endures forever;
The heritage of Israel his servant,
for his mercy endures forever;
And freed us from our foes,
for his mercy endures forever.
R. His mercy endures forever.
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever;
Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his mercy endures forever;
Give thanks to the LORD of lords,
for his mercy endures forever.
R. His mercy endures forever.
Who led his people through the wilderness,
for his mercy endures forever;
Who smote great kings,
for his mercy endures forever;
And slew powerful kings,
for his mercy endures forever.
R. His mercy endures forever.
And made their land a heritage,
for his mercy endures forever;
The heritage of Israel his servant,
for his mercy endures forever;
And freed us from our foes,
for his mercy endures forever.
R. His mercy endures forever.
AlleluiaSEE 1 THESS 2:13
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Receive the word of God, not as the word of men,
but, as it truly is, the word of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Receive the word of God, not as the word of men,
but, as it truly is, the word of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMT 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.”
“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.”
Meditation: "What God has joined
together"
What is God's intention for our state in life,
whether married or single?
Jesus deals with the issue of divorce by taking his hearers back to the beginning of creation and to God's plan for the human race. In Genesis 2:23-24 we see God's intention and ideal that two people who marry should become so indissolubly one that they are one flesh. That ideal is found in the unbreakable union of Adam and Eve. They were created for each other and for no one else. They are the pattern and symbol for all who were to come. Jesus explains that Moses permitted divorce as a concession in view of a lost ideal. Jesus sets the high ideal of the married state before those who are willing to accept his commands.
Jesus deals with the issue of divorce by taking his hearers back to the beginning of creation and to God's plan for the human race. In Genesis 2:23-24 we see God's intention and ideal that two people who marry should become so indissolubly one that they are one flesh. That ideal is found in the unbreakable union of Adam and Eve. They were created for each other and for no one else. They are the pattern and symbol for all who were to come. Jesus explains that Moses permitted divorce as a concession in view of a lost ideal. Jesus sets the high ideal of the married state before those who are willing to accept his commands.
Whether married or single - be consecrated for
the Lord
Jesus, likewise sets the high ideal for those who freely renounce marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Both marriage and the single life are calls from God to live a consecrated life, that is to live as married couples or as singles who belong not to themselves but to God. Our lives are not our own, but they belong to God. He gives strength, joy, and blessing to those who seek to follow his way of holiness in their state of life. Do you seek the Lord Jesus and his grace for your state of life?
Jesus, likewise sets the high ideal for those who freely renounce marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Both marriage and the single life are calls from God to live a consecrated life, that is to live as married couples or as singles who belong not to themselves but to God. Our lives are not our own, but they belong to God. He gives strength, joy, and blessing to those who seek to follow his way of holiness in their state of life. Do you seek the Lord Jesus and his grace for your state of life?
"Lord Jesus Christ, your call to holiness
extends to all in every state of life. Sanctify our lives - as married couples
and as singles - that we may live as men and women who are consecrated to you.
Make us leaven in a society that disdains life-long marriage fidelity,
chastity, and living single for the Lord."
FRIDAY, AUGUST 14, MATTHEW 19:3-12
(Joshua 24:1-13; Psalm 136)
KEY VERSE: "So they are no longer two, but one flesh" (v 6).
TO KNOW: The Pharisees deliberately tried to involve Jesus in controversy in order to entrap him. At one point they questioned him about his thoughts on the grounds for divorce. In effect, the Pharisees asked Jesus whether he favored the strict view of the school of Shammai, which held that a man could divorce his wife if he found "some indecency in her" (Deut 24:1). Shammai made it clear that "indecency" meant fornication, and a wife could be put away for no other cause. Or did Jesus favor the laxer view of the school of Hillel that divorce could be obtained on the most trivial of grounds. Jesus said, although Moses permitted divorce in certain instances, this was not God's original purpose when man and woman were joined into "one body" (Gn 2:24). What God united, no one should divide. The disciples were astonished by Jesus' strict interpretation of the law, and they asked if it was better to remain celibate. Jesus replied that not everyone had been given this special "gift from God" (1 Cor 7:7). While some embraced celibacy "for the sake of the kingdom" (v 12), each person should serve God by following his or her unique call.
TO LOVE: Do I live my vocation a sign of Christ's commitment to his Church?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, help me to be faithful to my call.
(Joshua 24:1-13; Psalm 136)
KEY VERSE: "So they are no longer two, but one flesh" (v 6).
TO KNOW: The Pharisees deliberately tried to involve Jesus in controversy in order to entrap him. At one point they questioned him about his thoughts on the grounds for divorce. In effect, the Pharisees asked Jesus whether he favored the strict view of the school of Shammai, which held that a man could divorce his wife if he found "some indecency in her" (Deut 24:1). Shammai made it clear that "indecency" meant fornication, and a wife could be put away for no other cause. Or did Jesus favor the laxer view of the school of Hillel that divorce could be obtained on the most trivial of grounds. Jesus said, although Moses permitted divorce in certain instances, this was not God's original purpose when man and woman were joined into "one body" (Gn 2:24). What God united, no one should divide. The disciples were astonished by Jesus' strict interpretation of the law, and they asked if it was better to remain celibate. Jesus replied that not everyone had been given this special "gift from God" (1 Cor 7:7). While some embraced celibacy "for the sake of the kingdom" (v 12), each person should serve God by following his or her unique call.
TO LOVE: Do I live my vocation a sign of Christ's commitment to his Church?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, help me to be faithful to my call.
Memorial of Maximilian Kolbe, priest and
martyr
Maximilian Kolbe was ordained in 1918 in Rome. He returned to Poland to teach history in the Crakow seminary. He founded a new monastery of Niepokalanow. By 1939 the monastery housed a religious community of nearly 800 men, the largest in the world in its day, and was completely self-sufficient including medical facilities. During World War II, Maximilian Kolbe and his brothers housed 3,000 Polish refugees, two-thirds of whom were Jewish. Their publications included materials considered anti-Nazi, and was shut down, the congregation suppressed, and the brothers dispersed. Maximilian was imprisoned in Warsaw, Poland, and on 28 May 1941 he was transferred to Auschwitz and branded as prisoner 16670. He was assigned to a special work group staffed by priests and supervised by especially abusive guards. His calm dedication to the faith brought him the worst jobs available, and more beatings than anyone else. In July 1941 there was an escape from the camp, and ten men were to be slaughtered in retribution for each escaped prisoner. Francis Gajowniczek, a married man with young children was one of the ten chosen to die. Maximilian volunteered to take his place, and died as he had always wished - in service of Jesus Christ.
Maximilian Kolbe was ordained in 1918 in Rome. He returned to Poland to teach history in the Crakow seminary. He founded a new monastery of Niepokalanow. By 1939 the monastery housed a religious community of nearly 800 men, the largest in the world in its day, and was completely self-sufficient including medical facilities. During World War II, Maximilian Kolbe and his brothers housed 3,000 Polish refugees, two-thirds of whom were Jewish. Their publications included materials considered anti-Nazi, and was shut down, the congregation suppressed, and the brothers dispersed. Maximilian was imprisoned in Warsaw, Poland, and on 28 May 1941 he was transferred to Auschwitz and branded as prisoner 16670. He was assigned to a special work group staffed by priests and supervised by especially abusive guards. His calm dedication to the faith brought him the worst jobs available, and more beatings than anyone else. In July 1941 there was an escape from the camp, and ten men were to be slaughtered in retribution for each escaped prisoner. Francis Gajowniczek, a married man with young children was one of the ten chosen to die. Maximilian volunteered to take his place, and died as he had always wished - in service of Jesus Christ.
Friday 14 August 2015
FRI 14TH.
St Maximilian Kolbe. DAY OF PENANCE.
Joshua
24:1-13. His love is everlasting—Ps
135(136):1-3, 16-18, 21-22, 24. Matthew 19:3-12.
‘Let
anyone accept this who can.’
Jesus is put to the test by this group of Pharisees. They want to
accuse him and trap him with their questions on marriage and the law. Jesus
insists that marriage was created to be permanent. He calls it the creating
will of God that unites a man and a woman in marriage. This seems to contradict
their reference to Moses allowing divorce, but Jesus was quick to reply that
Moses had to adapt the law because of people’s hard‐heartedness
and unwillingness to accept God’s law. While Jesus says there should be no divorce, we know it is
a reality today and divorced persons are accepted. They know that the kingdom
of God is not closed to them.
Perhaps
all we can do is ask God to help us accept the teachings of Jesus with
simplicity and humility without adapting it to our own selfish desires.
MINUTE MEDITATIONS
|
Atmosphere of Love
|
Parents are the ones who must create a family atmosphere animated
by love and respect for God and man, in which the well-rounded personal and
social education of children is fostered. Hence the family is the first school
of the social virtues that every society needs.
Friday,
August 14, 2015
St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe
(1894-1941)
St. Maximilian Mary Kolbe
(1894-1941)
“I don’t know what’s going to become of you!” How many parents
have said that? Maximilian Mary Kolbe’s reaction was, “I prayed very hard to
Our Lady to tell me what would happen to me. She appeared, holding in her hands
two crowns, one white, one red. She asked if I would like to have them—one was
for purity, the other for martyrdom. I said, ‘I choose both.’ She smiled and
disappeared.” After that he was not the same.
He
entered the minor seminary of the Conventual Franciscans in Lvív (then Poland,
now Ukraine), near his birthplace, and at 16 became a novice. Though he later
achieved doctorates in philosophy and theology, he was deeply interested in
science, even drawing plans for rocket ships.
Ordained
at 24, he saw religious indifference as the deadliest poison of the day. His
mission was to combat it. He had already founded the Militia of the Immaculata,
whose aim was to fight evil with the witness of the good life, prayer, work and
suffering. He dreamed of and then founded Knight of the Immaculata, a
religious magazine under Mary’s protection to preach the Good News to all
nations. For the work of publication he established a “City of the
Immaculata”—Niepokalanow—which housed 700 of his Franciscan brothers. He later
founded one in Nagasaki, Japan. Both the Militia and the magazine ultimately
reached the one-million mark in members and subscribers. His love of God was
daily filtered through devotion to Mary.
In 1939
the Nazi panzers overran Poland with deadly speed. Niepokalanow was severely
bombed. Kolbe and his friars were arrested, then released in less than three
months, on the feast of the Immaculate Conception.
In 1941
he was arrested again. The Nazis’ purpose was to liquidate the select ones, the
leaders. The end came quickly, in Auschwitz three months later, after terrible
beatings and humiliations.
A
prisoner had escaped. The commandant announced that 10 men would die. He relished
walking along the ranks. “This one. That one.” As they were being marched away
to the starvation bunkers, Number 16670 dared to step from the line. “I would
like to take that man’s place. He has a wife and children.” “Who are you?” “A
priest.” No name, no mention of fame. Silence. The commandant, dumbfounded,
perhaps with a fleeting thought of history, kicked Sergeant Francis Gajowniczek
out of line and ordered Father Kolbe to go with the nine. In the “block of
death” they were ordered to strip naked, and their slow starvation began in
darkness. But there was no screaming—the prisoners sang. By the eve of the
Assumption four were left alive. The jailer came to finish Kolbe off as he sat
in a corner praying. He lifted his fleshless arm to receive the bite of the
hypodermic needle. It was filled with carbolic acid. They burned his body with
all the others. He was beatified in 1971 and canonized in 1982.
Comment:
Father Kolbe’s death was not a sudden, last-minute act of heroism. His whole life had been a preparation. His holiness was a limitless, passionate desire to convert the whole world to God. And his beloved Immaculata was his inspiration.
Father Kolbe’s death was not a sudden, last-minute act of heroism. His whole life had been a preparation. His holiness was a limitless, passionate desire to convert the whole world to God. And his beloved Immaculata was his inspiration.
Quote:
“Courage, my sons. Don’t you see that we are leaving on a mission? They pay our fare in the bargain. What a piece of good luck! The thing to do now is to pray well in order to win as many souls as possible. Let us, then, tell the Blessed Virgin that we are content, and that she can do with us anything she wishes” (Maximilian Mary Kolbe, when first arrested).
“Courage, my sons. Don’t you see that we are leaving on a mission? They pay our fare in the bargain. What a piece of good luck! The thing to do now is to pray well in order to win as many souls as possible. Let us, then, tell the Blessed Virgin that we are content, and that she can do with us anything she wishes” (Maximilian Mary Kolbe, when first arrested).
Patron Saint of:
Addicts
Drug addiction
Addicts
Drug addiction
LECTIO: MATTHEW
19,3-12
Lectio:
Friday, August 14, 2015
Ordinary Time
1) Opening prayer
Almighty and ever-living God,
your Spirit made us your children,
confident to call you Father.
Increase your Spirit within us
and bring us to our promised inheritance.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
1) Opening prayer
Almighty and ever-living God,
your Spirit made us your children,
confident to call you Father.
Increase your Spirit within us
and bring us to our promised inheritance.
We ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel Reading - Matthew 19,3-12
Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and to put him to the test they said, 'Is it against the Law for a man to divorce his wife on any pretext whatever?'
He answered, 'Have you not read that the Creator from the beginning made them male and female and that he said: This is why a man leaves his father and mother and becomes attached to his wife, and the two become one flesh? They are no longer two, therefore, but one flesh. So then, what God has united, human beings must not divide.'
They said to him, 'Then why did Moses command that a writ of dismissal should be given in cases of divorce?'
He said to them, 'It was because you were so hard-hearted, that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but it was not like this from the beginning. Now I say this to you: anyone who divorces his wife -- I am not speaking of an illicit marriage -- and marries another, is guilty of adultery.'
The disciples said to him, 'If that is how things are between husband and wife, it is advisable not to marry.'
But he replied, 'It is not everyone who can accept what I have said, but only those to whom it is granted. 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.'
Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and to put him to the test they said, 'Is it against the Law for a man to divorce his wife on any pretext whatever?'
He answered, 'Have you not read that the Creator from the beginning made them male and female and that he said: This is why a man leaves his father and mother and becomes attached to his wife, and the two become one flesh? They are no longer two, therefore, but one flesh. So then, what God has united, human beings must not divide.'
They said to him, 'Then why did Moses command that a writ of dismissal should be given in cases of divorce?'
He said to them, 'It was because you were so hard-hearted, that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but it was not like this from the beginning. Now I say this to you: anyone who divorces his wife -- I am not speaking of an illicit marriage -- and marries another, is guilty of adultery.'
The disciples said to him, 'If that is how things are between husband and wife, it is advisable not to marry.'
But he replied, 'It is not everyone who can accept what I have said, but only those to whom it is granted. 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.'
3) Reflection
• Context. Up to chapter 18 Matthew has shown how the discourses of Jesus have marked the different phases of the progressive constitution and formation of the community of disciples around their Master. Now in chapter 19, 1 this small group withdraws from the territory of Galilee and arrives in the territories of Judaea. The call of Jesus that involves his disciples advances more until the decisive choice: the acceptance or rejection of the person of Jesus. Such a phase takes place along the road that leads to Jerusalem (chapters 19-20), and finally with the arrival in the city and to the Temple (chapters 21-23). All the encounters that Jesus experiences in the course of these chapters take place along this journey from Galilee to Jerusalem.
• The encounter with the Pharisees. Passing through Trans-Jordanian (19, 1) the first encounter is with the Pharisees and the theme of the discussion of Jesus with them becomes a reason for reflection for the group of the disciples. The question of the Pharisees concerns divorce and places Jesus in difficulty, particularly, the more solid and stable reality for every Jewish community. The intervention of the Pharisees wants to accuse Jesus because of his teaching. It is a question of a true process: Matthew considers it as “testing him”, “a way of tempting him”. The question is really a crucial one: “Is it against the Law for a man to divorce his wife on any pretext whatsoever?” (19, 3). The awkward malicious attempt of the Pharisees to interpret the text of DT 24, 1 to place Jesus in difficulty does not escape the attention of the reader: “Suppose a man has taken a wife and consummated the marriage, but she has not pleased him and he has found some impropriety of which to accuse her, he has, therefore, made out a writ of divorce for her and handed it to her and then dismissed her from his house”. This text had given place, throughout the centuries, to innumerable discussions: to admit divorce for any reason whatsoever; to request a minimum of bad behaviour, a true adultery.
• It is God who unites. Jesus responds to the Pharisees having recourse to Gn 1, 17: 2, 24, which presents the question about the primary will of God, the Creator. The love that unites man to woman, comes from God and because of its origin, it unifies and cannot be separated. If Jesus quotes Gn 2, 24: “This is why a man leaves his father and mother and becomes attached to his wife and they become one flesh” (19, 5), it is because he wants to underline a particular and absolute principle: it is the creating will of God that unites man and woman. When a man and a woman unite together in marriage, it is God who unites them; the term “coniugi” - couple – comes from the verb joined together, to unite, that is to say, that the joining together of the two partners sexually is the effect of the creative word of God. The response of Jesus to the Pharisees reaches its summit: marriage is indissoluble from its original constitution. Jesus continues this time drawing from Ml 2, 13-16: to repudiate the wife is to break the covenant with God and according to the prophets this covenant has to be lived, above all, by the spouses in their conjugal union (Ho 1-3; Is 1, 21-26; Jr 2, 2; 3, 1.6-12; Ez 16; 23; Is 54, 6-10; 60-62). The response of Jesus appears as a contradiction to the Law of Moses which grants the possibility to grant a writ of divorce. To motivate his response Jesus reminds the Pharisees: if Moses gave this possibility it is because you were so hardhearted (v. 8), more concrete, because of your indocility to the Word of God. The Law of Gn 1, 26; 2, 24 had never been modified, but Moses was obliged to adapt it to an attitude of indocility. The first marriage was not annulled by adultery. To contemporary man and particularly, to the ecclesial community the word of Jesus clearly says that there should be no divorces; and, just the same, we see that there are; in pastoral life the divorced persons are accepted, to whom the possibility of entering into the Kingdom is always open. The reaction of the disciples is immediate: “If that is how things are between husband and wife, it is advisable not to marry” (v. 10). The response of Jesus continues to sustain the indissolubility of matrimony, impossible for the human mentality but possible for God. The eunuch of whom Jesus speaks is not the one who is unable to generate but the one, who separated from his wife, continues to live in continence, he remains faithful to the first conjugal bond: he is an eunuch as regards all other women.
• Context. Up to chapter 18 Matthew has shown how the discourses of Jesus have marked the different phases of the progressive constitution and formation of the community of disciples around their Master. Now in chapter 19, 1 this small group withdraws from the territory of Galilee and arrives in the territories of Judaea. The call of Jesus that involves his disciples advances more until the decisive choice: the acceptance or rejection of the person of Jesus. Such a phase takes place along the road that leads to Jerusalem (chapters 19-20), and finally with the arrival in the city and to the Temple (chapters 21-23). All the encounters that Jesus experiences in the course of these chapters take place along this journey from Galilee to Jerusalem.
• The encounter with the Pharisees. Passing through Trans-Jordanian (19, 1) the first encounter is with the Pharisees and the theme of the discussion of Jesus with them becomes a reason for reflection for the group of the disciples. The question of the Pharisees concerns divorce and places Jesus in difficulty, particularly, the more solid and stable reality for every Jewish community. The intervention of the Pharisees wants to accuse Jesus because of his teaching. It is a question of a true process: Matthew considers it as “testing him”, “a way of tempting him”. The question is really a crucial one: “Is it against the Law for a man to divorce his wife on any pretext whatsoever?” (19, 3). The awkward malicious attempt of the Pharisees to interpret the text of DT 24, 1 to place Jesus in difficulty does not escape the attention of the reader: “Suppose a man has taken a wife and consummated the marriage, but she has not pleased him and he has found some impropriety of which to accuse her, he has, therefore, made out a writ of divorce for her and handed it to her and then dismissed her from his house”. This text had given place, throughout the centuries, to innumerable discussions: to admit divorce for any reason whatsoever; to request a minimum of bad behaviour, a true adultery.
• It is God who unites. Jesus responds to the Pharisees having recourse to Gn 1, 17: 2, 24, which presents the question about the primary will of God, the Creator. The love that unites man to woman, comes from God and because of its origin, it unifies and cannot be separated. If Jesus quotes Gn 2, 24: “This is why a man leaves his father and mother and becomes attached to his wife and they become one flesh” (19, 5), it is because he wants to underline a particular and absolute principle: it is the creating will of God that unites man and woman. When a man and a woman unite together in marriage, it is God who unites them; the term “coniugi” - couple – comes from the verb joined together, to unite, that is to say, that the joining together of the two partners sexually is the effect of the creative word of God. The response of Jesus to the Pharisees reaches its summit: marriage is indissoluble from its original constitution. Jesus continues this time drawing from Ml 2, 13-16: to repudiate the wife is to break the covenant with God and according to the prophets this covenant has to be lived, above all, by the spouses in their conjugal union (Ho 1-3; Is 1, 21-26; Jr 2, 2; 3, 1.6-12; Ez 16; 23; Is 54, 6-10; 60-62). The response of Jesus appears as a contradiction to the Law of Moses which grants the possibility to grant a writ of divorce. To motivate his response Jesus reminds the Pharisees: if Moses gave this possibility it is because you were so hardhearted (v. 8), more concrete, because of your indocility to the Word of God. The Law of Gn 1, 26; 2, 24 had never been modified, but Moses was obliged to adapt it to an attitude of indocility. The first marriage was not annulled by adultery. To contemporary man and particularly, to the ecclesial community the word of Jesus clearly says that there should be no divorces; and, just the same, we see that there are; in pastoral life the divorced persons are accepted, to whom the possibility of entering into the Kingdom is always open. The reaction of the disciples is immediate: “If that is how things are between husband and wife, it is advisable not to marry” (v. 10). The response of Jesus continues to sustain the indissolubility of matrimony, impossible for the human mentality but possible for God. The eunuch of whom Jesus speaks is not the one who is unable to generate but the one, who separated from his wife, continues to live in continence, he remains faithful to the first conjugal bond: he is an eunuch as regards all other women.
4) Personal questions
• As regards marriage do we know how to accept the teaching of Jesus with simplicity, without adapting it to our own legitimate choices to be comfortable?
• The evangelical passage has reminded us that the design of the Father on man and on woman is a wonderful project of love. Are you aware that love has an essential law: it implies the total and full gift of one’s own person to the other?
• As regards marriage do we know how to accept the teaching of Jesus with simplicity, without adapting it to our own legitimate choices to be comfortable?
• The evangelical passage has reminded us that the design of the Father on man and on woman is a wonderful project of love. Are you aware that love has an essential law: it implies the total and full gift of one’s own person to the other?
5) Concluding Prayer
God, create in me a clean heart,
renew within me a resolute spirit,
do not thrust me away from your presence,
do not take away from me your spirit of holiness. (Ps 51,10-11)
God, create in me a clean heart,
renew within me a resolute spirit,
do not thrust me away from your presence,
do not take away from me your spirit of holiness. (Ps 51,10-11)
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