MARRIAGE presupposes mutual love, knowledge, and acceptance on the part of the partners. No one should enter the married state without these.
Unfortunately, not every couple who says “I do” on wedding day keeps those words forever. Divorce goes against what the two have promised that they would stick it out for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer, till death do them part. Christ, the Spouse of the Church, remains faithful even if some of the members of the Church are not. Where would we be if Christ abandoned us because of our infidelity?
Difficulties and struggles are expected in marriage, but if the original love is there, with God’s grace and with the willingness to sacrifice and humble oneself, marriage can last. It can grow even stronger if the couple anchor their relationship on the Rock who is Christ, together with their children. This is God’s loving plan for married couples.
Is your present marriage rocked by some “storm”? Have you tried every means to weather it, especially through heart-to-heart dialogue?
Gospel: Mk 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, 8and 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 him 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.”
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SOURCE: “365 Days with the Lord,” ST PAULS, 7708 St. Paul Rd., SAV, Makati City (Phils.); Tel.: 895-9701; Fax 895-7328; E-mail: publish[email protected]; Website: http://www.stpauls.ph.
