Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time
(Sirach 6:5-17; Mark 10:1-12)
In a recent issue of First
Things editor R.R. Reno comments on the nature of marriage as holding
together two people of enormous differences.
In most cases at least a man and a woman are raised with different
visions of life handed down by their parents.
They also respond emotionally to situations in different ways because of
their distinct hormonal compositions. Physical
difference may pique some curiosity, but after a while there is less to share
than among people of the same sex. And
yet the couple because of the sheer power of sexuality can form a loving union to
nurture a family. To support marital relationships,
Jesus upholds a necessary injunction in today’s gospel.
Jesus is forced to comment on the perennially troublesome
question of divorce. Moses seems to make
allowances for it, but the issue is the proper interpretation of Moses. Should divorce be allowed for any pretext
like the currently popular complaint of incompatibility? Or should divorce be limited only in the case
of an extreme irregularity like, for example, someone attempting marriage
without the capacity for sexual intimacy?
Jesus knows that married couples need a strict law to support their
efforts to overcome all the differences in a marital relationship.
Traditional marriage is under assault from those who
would dissolve it for any difficulty and, more recently, those who consider its
purpose only to provide cover for sexual intimacy whatever the gender of the
partners. The condition of future
generations is at stake, but the populace seems bent on ignoring Jesus along
with the wisdom of the ages.
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