FRIDAY OF THE SEVENTH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME, FEBRUARY 28, 2025

MASS READINGS:

Gospel

Mark 10:1-12

Jesus came into the district of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds gathered around him and, as was his custom, he again taught them. The Pharisees approached him and asked, ""Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?"" They were testing him. He said to them in reply, ""What did Moses command you?"" They replied, ""Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her."" But Jesus told them, ""Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment. 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 flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate."" In the house the disciples again questioned Jesus about this. He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

REFLECTION

 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 flesh. 

I need to hear in simple words, what I am to do and not do. Not that I follow all that I am told, but when dealing with ordinary life in this present day culture, different opinions and teachings, how to live our lives can be quite confusing and complicated. Unfortunately, we can make poor decisions based on what the human law says. Jesus is teaching and preaching to the crowds. His words are simple, emphatic and truthful, in spite of what people want to hear.

In the time of Jesus, divorce was accepted in the Jewish society and community. However, in the very beginning of creation, (Genesis) the union of a man and woman in marital love was the standard of marriage.

Willful blindness to the truth, can distort reality. But Jesus sets the record straight: no second guessing what He meant. "What God has joined together, no human being must separate."

God Bless You