Indissolubility of Marriage

Friday February 24, 20177th Week in Ordinary Time
1st Reading: Sir 6:5-17 Gospel: Mk 10:1–12

Jesus went to the province of Judea, beyond the Jordan River. Once more crowds gathered around him and once more he taught them, as he always did. Some (Pharisees came and) put him to the test with this question, “Is it right for a husband to divorce his wife?” He replied, “What law did Moses give you?” They answered, “Moses allowed us to write a certificate of dismissal in order to divorce.”

Then Jesus said to them, “Moses wrote this law for you, because you are stubborn. But in the beginning of creation God made them male and female, and because of this, man has 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. Therefore let no one separate what God has joined.”When they were indoors at home, the disciples again asked him about this and he told them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against his wife, and the woman who divorces her husband and marries another also commits adultery.”

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the Assimilated Life Experience)

The question raised by the Pharisees in today’s Gospel reading brought to a collision Jesus’ uncompromising stand about marriage and the prevailing practice of divorce by the Jews. The stand of the Jews was sanctioned by no less than the Book of Deuteronomy written by Moses. In resolving the issue Jesus went back to Genesis where it is written that God created human beings male and female “and because of this, man has to leave father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one body” (see Genesis 1:27; 2:24). God’s intention that the two shall become only one body rules out divorce which Moses apparently allowed in Deuteronomy 24:1-4.

But did Moses really favor divorce? No. Deuteronomy is not about the legality of marriage but about the proper procedure that husbands intending to procure divorce must follow. The steps include the presentation to the wife of a written notice of divorce before driving her away. The passage then is procedural, not a substantial affirmation of the legality or morality of divorce. Jesus explained that Deuteronomy 24:1-4 was a concession by Moses to human weakness. What Moses conceded to, Jesus revoked in order to restore marriage back to the track of God’s holy will.

Marriage is for a lifetime and only death can separate married couples. Owing to the indissolubility of marriage those planning to contract one must come to the altar prepared. To those who are prepared, God’s grace is never wanting. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM.

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