Thursday, April 12, 2018
2nd Week of Easter
1st Reading:
Acts 5:27-33
Gospel: John 3:31-36
The one who comes from above is above all; the one who is from the earth belongs to the earth, and speaks as one from the earth. The one who comes from heaven is above all. He testifies to what he has seen and heard, but no one accepts his testimony. Whoever has accepted it has certified that God is truthful. For the one whom God has sent speaks the words of God, for God[ gives the Spirit without limit. The Father loves the Son and has placed everything in his hands. Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them.
D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE
(Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life Experience)
Today’s Gospel distinguishes the language of those who belong to earth from those who come from heaven. While earthly people use the language of earth that tends to belittle the role of God, those belonging to heaven acknowledge the truthfulness of God in their language. The polarization is manifest today in the raging issue about divorce that divides people into conservatives and pragmatics.
Those who consider themselves pragmatics only understand the earthly language of quick-fix relationship management anchored on practicality. Their hearts are not open to the truth that marriage is ordained by God and that what God has joined no man should put asunder. Bereft of wisdom they fail to see that since God is the author of marriage, he will never leave the marriage wanting of heavenly support if only spouses are open to grace.
Admittedly, there really are marriages that couldn’t prosper any longer. Anti-divorce camps are not oblivious to this reality. But there are already remedies to hopeless marriages. Irreconcilable couples can opt for legal separation, or declaration of nullity of marriage where grounds are available. To introduce divorce is to strip the family of all forms of protection.
Those who belong to heaven and speak the language of heaven still believe in the values of sacrifice, love and martyrdom within the marital relationship. Don’t talk about marital relationships in these terms to the worldly because they will be scandalized. Believe it or not, a lady even confronted me shortly after I officiated a wedding where the reading was about the exhortation to wives to be submissive to their husbands. The lady took me to task for having chosen that kind of epistle for the wedding ceremony.
The language of those who belong to earth and those who belong to heaven are different because both camps differ in their appreciation of the role and importance of God. – (Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., D.M.
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