August 18, 2017 Friday, 19th Week in Ordinary TimeFirst reading: Joshua 24.1-13
Gospel: Mt 19:3–12
Some Pharisees approached Jesus. They wanted to test him and asked, “Is a man allowed to divorce his wife for any reason he wants?” Jesus replied, “Have you not read that in the beginning the Creator made them male and female, and he said: Man has now to leave father and mother, and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one body? So they are no longer two but one body; let no one separate what God has joined.”
They asked him, “Then, why did Moses command us to write a bill of dismissal in order to divorce?” Jesus replied, “Moses knew your stubborn heart, so he allowed you to divorce your wives, but it was not so in the beginning. Therefore I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, unless it be for concubinage, and marries another, commits adultery.”
The disciples said, “If that is the condition of a married man, it is better not to marry.” Jesus said to them, “Not everybody can accept what you have just said, but only those who have received this gift. Some are born incapable of marriage. Some have been made that way by others. But there are some who have given up the possibility of marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who can accept it, accept it.”
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)
A case reached the Supreme Court involving a couple that agreed to enter into marriage for the purpose of giving legitimate status to a child in the womb of the woman. But a few weeks after they got married the child died before birth. One of them filed a case in court for the declaration of nullity of marriage, citing as ground the death of the child. They entered marriage to give legitimate status to the child. Petitioner argued that since the child died, there is no more reason for them to maintain conjugal life. The court denied the petition, declaring that marriage cannot be made subject to the private agreements of the contracting parties. Marriage cannot be made genuine for the benefit of the child but a mere show for the convenience of the contracting parties. The contrary would be to dichotomize the incidents of marriage.
There are many other cases we can cite that reflect the State’s bias in favor of marriage. The reason is because the state considers marriage as “an inviolable social institution, the foundation of the family” (Sec. 2, Art. 15, 1987 Constitution). Now, if the State is determined to protect marriage because it is the foundation of family, all the more reason we Christians protect it because it is the seedbed of life, a mirror of the relationship between Christ and his Church. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM
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