HUSBAND AND WIFE ARE ONE

Thursday Week19 in Ordinary Time - Saint Maximillian Kolbe, Priest, Martyr

‘Is it against the Law for a man to divorce his wife on any pretext whatever?’

First Reading Ezekiel 16:1-15,60,63 

I clothed you with my own splendour but you made yourself a prostitute

The word of the Lord was addressed to me as follows, ‘Son of man, confront Jerusalem with her filthy crimes. Say, “The Lord says this: By origin and birth you belong to the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. At birth, the very day you were born, there was no one to cut your navel-string, or wash you in cleansing water, or rub you with salt, or wrap you in napkins. No one leaned kindly over you to do anything like that for you. You were exposed in the open fields; you were as unloved as that on the day you were born.

‘“I saw you struggling in your blood as I was passing, and I said to you as you lay in your blood: Live, and grow like the grass of the fields. You developed, you grew, you reached marriageable age. Your breasts and your hair both grew, but you were quite naked. Then I saw you as I was passing. Your time had come, the time for love. I spread part of my cloak over you and covered your nakedness; I bound myself by oath, I made a covenant with you – it is the Lord who speaks – and you became mine. I bathed you in water, I washed the blood off you, I anointed you with oil. I gave you embroidered dresses, fine leather shoes, a linen headband and a cloak of silk. I loaded you with jewels, gave you bracelets for your wrists and a necklace for your throat. I gave you nose-ring and earrings; I put a beautiful diadem on your head. You were loaded with gold and silver, and dressed in fine linen and embroidered silks. Your food was the finest flour, honey and oil. You grew more and more beautiful; and you rose to be queen. The fame of your beauty spread through the nations, since it was perfect, because I had clothed you with my own splendour – it is the Lord who speaks.

‘“You have become infatuated with your own beauty; you have used your fame to make yourself a prostitute; you have offered your services to all comers. But I will remember the covenant that I made with you when you were a girl, and I will conclude a covenant with you that shall last for ever. And so remember and be covered with shame, and in your confusion be reduced to silence, when I have pardoned you for all that you have done – it is the Lord who speaks.”

Responsorial Psalm: Your anger has passed, O Lord, and you give me comfort.

Gospel Matthew 19:3-12 'What God has united, man must not divide'

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.’

They said to him, ‘Then why did Moses command that a writ of dismissal should be given in cases of divorce?’ ‘It was because you were so unteachable’ he said ‘that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but it was not like this from the beginning. Now I say this to you: the man who divorces his wife – I am not speaking of fornication – and marries another, is guilty of adultery.’

The disciples said to him, ‘If that is how things are between husband and wife, it is not advisable to marry.’ But he replied, ‘It is not everyone who can accept what I have said, but only those to whom it is granted. There are eunuchs born that way from their mother’s womb, there are eunuchs made so by men and there are eunuchs who have made themselves that way for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.’

My Father, you are my God, you are my salvation. Lord, I trust you.  I shall not fear. You are my strength, my song. I delight in your saving grace.  You are my salvation. My God I cannot do without you. You are my life. Father, may your kingdom come.

I pray for all couples. I pray for separated couples. I pray for those contemplating separation. I pray for families all over the world. May the Holy Family of Nazareth, Jesus, Mary, and Joseph intercede for us all. Jesus, I trust in you. Virgin Mary, pray for us. Saint Joseph, pray for us. Saint Maximilian Kolbe, pray for us. My Angel Guardian, pray for me.

Let us pray the Holy Rosary: Hail Mary full of grace.

AELF: ILS NE SONT PLUS DEUX, MAIS UN SEUL

vendredi, 19ème Semaine du Temps Ordinaire - S. Maximilien Kolbe, prêtre et martyr

«Est-il permis de renvoyer sa femme pour n'importe quel motif?».

Évangile Matthieu 19,3-12 «Ce que Dieu a uni, que l'homme ne le sépare pas!»

Des pharisiens s'approchèrent de lui pour le mettre à l'épreuve; ils lui demandèrent: «Est-il permis de renvoyer sa femme pour n'importe quel motif?». Il répondit: «N'avez-vous pas lu l'Écriture? Au commencement, le Créateur les fit homme et femme, et il leur dit: ‘Voilà pourquoi l'homme quittera son père et sa mère, il s'attachera à sa femme, et tous deux ne feront plus qu'un’. A cause de cela, ils ne sont plus deux, mais un seul. Donc, ce que Dieu a uni, que l'homme ne le sépare pas!».

Les pharisiens lui répliquent: «Pourquoi donc Moïse a-t-il prescrit la remise d'un acte de divorce avant la séparation?». Jésus leur répond: «C'est en raison de votre endurcissement que Moïse vous a concédé de renvoyer vos femmes. Mais au commencement, il n'en était pas ainsi. Or je vous le dis: si quelqu'un renvoie sa femme -sauf en cas d'union illégitime- pour en épouser une autre, il est adultère».

Ses disciples lui disent: «Si telle est la situation de l'homme par rapport à sa femme, il n'y a pas intérêt à se marier». Il leur répondit: «Ce n'est pas tout le monde qui peut comprendre cette parole, mais ceux à qui Dieu l'a révélée. Il y a des gens qui ne se marient pas car, de naissance, ils en sont incapables; il y en a qui ne peuvent pas se marier car ils ont été mutilés par les hommes; il y en a qui ont choisi de ne pas se marier à cause du Royaume des cieux. Celui qui peut comprendre, qu'il comprenne!».

Mon Père, tu es mon Dieu, tu es mon salut. Seigneur, j'ai confiance en toi. Je n’ai plus de crainte. Tu es ma force, mon chant. Je trouve ma joie en toi. Tu es mon salut. Mon Dieu, tu es ma vie.

Je prie pour tous les couples. Je prie pour les couples séparés. Je prie pour ceux qui envisagent la séparation. Je prie pour les familles du monde entier. Que la Sainte Famille de Nazareth - Jésus, Marie et Joseph, intercède pour nous. Jésus, j'ai confiance en toi. Vierge Marie, prie pour nous. Saint Joseph, prie pour nous. Saint Maximilien Kolbe, prie pour nous. Mon Ange gardien, prie pour moi.

Prions le saint Rosaire : Je vous salue, Marie, pleine de grâce.