Friday August 16,2024

Matthew 19:3-13

Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and to test him 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 must leave father and mother, and cling to his wife, and the two become one body? They are no longer two, therefore, but one body. So then, what God has united, man must not divide.’

How does this passage read to us in our times. It is this: DO NOT USE PEOPLE! During the time of our Lord, there was no such thing as women rights or human rights. The question of slaves does not even come up if you think about it. St Paul simply asked slaves to obey their masters. So we have come a mighty long way as a society. I think our Lord says everyone has intrinsic value and cannot be, should not be discarded willingly.

Let us hold in prayer all those who have been devastated by divorce and we pray too for those in difficult relationships.