From Pastor's Desk
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From Pastor's Desk
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Pharisees who wanted to test him. They asked Jesus to pass a judgement on the Mosaic Law. “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” Moses had permitted divorce because of the hardness of heart of the chosen people. The condition of a woman was at the time ignominious. She could be put aside by her husband for virtually any reason. Moses requires the husband to give the wife a certificate of reputation (‘a bill of divorce’) so that she might be free to marry again. The Prophets spoke out against divorce when they came to the Promised Land.
Jesus took this opportunity to affirm the indissolubility of marriage, as God originally intended at Creation. He quotes the words of Genesis which we find in today’s first reading. “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.’ So they are no longer two but one. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” When Jesus elevated matrimony to the dignity of a sacrament, He was doing something completely unprecedented. Christ elevated the natural reality of Christian marriage to an extent that the spouses receive divine life through the sacrament. It is what sustains their work of mutual perfection. This is what has to inspire their children from the moment of Baptism. Those who marry begin a new life in the company of the Lord. God himself has called man and wife to follow this path of holiness. For a Christian marriage is not just a social institution, much less a mere remedy for human weakness. It is a real supernatural calling. A great sacrament, in Christ and in the Church, says St. Paul (Ephesians 5:32). May the Lord bless marriages, and all couples who are in difficulty. In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Fr. Paschal Chester, svd Comments are closed.
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