Friday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
MARRIAGE: FAITHFUL LOVE
Introduction
Joshua’s address to the people inculcates two points: first, God is the God of the history of his people and the people are what they are and where they are by the grace of a God who took pity on them and loved them; second, the promised land they now live in is God-given and belongs to God. Cannot the same be said of us, God’s people today? Are not the land we live in and the earth we “possess” a trust of God? Is even the Church not something we do not possess, but only provisional for a people on the march in hope to their true promised land?
God reveals some qualities of his own love in the love of husband and wife. It is a love that reveals, in which a person discloses himself to another person as intimately as possible. It is a love that accepts the other person as he or she is and is willing to share everything together. It is a love that sacrifices all self-interests for the partner. It is a faithful love. It is also a love that is creative, that brings out the best in the other person. Is this not an image of God’s love and, conversely, is God’s Trinitarian love and his love for us not the model of all human love?
Opening Prayer
God, your name is love;
everyone who loves knows you
and anyone who fails to love
can never have known you.
Keep us from separating what you have united:
husbands and wives, parents and their children,
your Son and his Church, friends in their joys and sorrows.
Let all live in your creative, lasting love,
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Reading 1: Jos 24:1-13
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.”
Responsorial Psalm: Ps 136:1-3, 16-18, 21-22 and 24
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.
Alleluia: See 1 Thes 2:13
Receive the word of God, not as the word of men,
but, as it truly is, the word of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Gospel: Mt 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.”
Intentions
– For the homes built on unselfish love, that through them, we may understand better all the depth of God’s love, we pray:
– For homes that are broken and for partners who have failed each other, that people may show them understanding and that God may give them mercy, we pray:
– For those who have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of God, that they may never become loners but that their hearts may be spacious and warm, open to all people and to all needs, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
God our Father,
around this table with bread and wine,
we celebrate our community
and remember Jesus’ love.
Let your Son accompany us
wherever we share the same food
and walk side by side toward the future
in faithfulness and trust.
Make us keepers of one another’s happiness
through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
Prayer after Communion
Faithful God of the covenant,
you have entrusted love to us
not as a finished product
but as an assignment for life.
Let the love of Jesus invest our love,
with indestructible fidelity and generosity,
that it may weather all storms
and keep growing in depth
until you crown it with your joy for ever.
Blessing
What God has joined together, let no one separate. Husband and wife are one, and they have promised to be one in sickness and health, in good days and in bad days. May God keep them united and may he bless you all, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
Reflection:
Aug 18
Matthew 19:3-12
Transformation is God’s grace
Since the beginning of God’s creation, marriage has been regarded as a union between a man and a woman willed by God. Both husband and wife are responsible for making their marriage work and remaining in each other’s household until death separates them.
Today’s Gospel also reminds us to take time to pray for a partner whom we will spend the rest of our lives with (since the decision is irreversible once you are married). Marriage life is full of ups and downs, but both parties need to work out their problems and differences.
In his teaching, Jesus focused on God’s plan for man and woman, knowing that hisopponents had twisted intentions. He was aware that they were seeking to carve exceptions to God’s will. Jesus did not feel the need to pamper the crowd or offer an easier way out when challenged. His focus was on what God intended. Even today he challenges everyone to respond.
As Christians, we are obligated to follow God’s commandments against infidelity and to protect our marriages as best as we can. In marriage, the husband and wife must always cherish and appreciate the life of the other as well as the reverence for life.
Our society has become a throw-away one, with separations rampant. If something doesn’t work, we discard it. In the past, people learned to repair and use things. Nowadays, it is easier and cheaper to replace an item than to repair it. This may also be true of our personal relationships. When a marriage does not work, the couple may decide to divorce rather than try to repair it. When a friendship is “on the rocks”, we may decide to end it. It may be easier for me to end a relationship if an individual has hurt me rather than suffer through the pain of trying to repair the relationship.
In Amoris Laetitia (On the Joy of Love), Pope Francis addresses this demanding text. He argues that Christians must always show compassion to those who cannot meet Jesus’ ideal for marriage. “Integration is the key to their pastoral care, a care which would allow them not only to realise that they belong to the Church as the body of Christ, but also to know that they can have a joyful and fruitful experience in it” (n. 299).
When we encounter God’s grace through Christ, we are transformed. We need to believe in that grace and to communicate it to others, since it enables us to love others “as he loved us.” It is what brings vitality and freshness to our Christian lives and makes us able to offer something new and hopeful to the world around us.