Trong bài đọc Tin Mừng, những người Pha-ri-sêu cố gài bẫy Chúa Giê-su, khi hỏi Chúa về hôn nhân và ly dị. Chúa Giêsu thừa nhận luật Môi-sen cho phép ly dị vì lý do trái tim bướng bỉnh của họ. Đồng thời, Chúa cũng khẳng định là việc kết hôn giữa người nam và người nữ đã có sẵn trong kế hoạch của Thiên Chúa: "người nam phải rời xa cha mẹ mnh và kết hợp với vợ mình, và cả hai sẽ trở nên một thân thể? Vì vậy, họ không còn là hai nhưng một thân thể, không ai tách rời những gì Thiên Chúa đã kết hợp. "
Hôn nhân là một thể chế rất quan trọng trong Giáo hội và trong xã hội dân sự. Gia đình là cốt lõi của Giáo hội và của xã hội. Việc nuôi dưỡng và giáo dục con cái đúng cách là chìa khóa cho sự phát triển xà hội và làm cho xã hội của chíng ta được thịnh vượng. trong các xã hội hoện nay, Ly hôn được cho phép ở hầu hết các quốc gia. Nhưng Giáo hội Công giáo không cho phép ly dị.
Trong cuộc họp bất thường vừa qua của các giám mục ở Rome được đặt trọng tâm vào vấn đề gia đình. Các giám mục đã nhận thấy được những khó khăn và nhiều vấn đề thất bại của nhiều cuộc hôn nhân, Giáo hội đã cố gắng cải thiện các thủ tục và những quy trình trong việc xét xử và tuyên án huỷ bỏ các cuộn hôn nhân bất hợp pháp. Đức Giáo Hoàng Phanxicô đã nói nhiều về sự quan tâm của ngài khuyên nhủ các cặp vợ chồng nên biết tôn trọng nhau đúng mức, và chúng ta cũng cần nên tôn trọng và tìm hiểu thêm về những cặp vợ chồng mà có hôn nhân đỗ vỡ, hay những người đã tái hôn.
Chúng ta hãy cầu nguyện cho những người đã thất bại, hay đã bị đỗ vỡ hôn nhân vì bất cứ một lý do gì.
Trong bài Tin Mừng chúng ta nghe câu chuyện người Pharisêu tìm cách để cài bẫy Chúa Giêsu bằng câu hỏi là một người đã có vợ có được phép ly dị vợ của mình không?. Đó là một cái bẫy để bắt tội Chúa Giêsu. Nhưng với Chúa Giêsu, Ngài luôn bảo vệ những giao ước và những điều cam kết của hôn nhân như đã được dự tính trước, và chính Ngài đã giải thích là việc ông Môisen cho phép họ ly hôn chỉ vì những “người Do Thái này đã cứng lòng". Lời dạy của Chúa Giêsu hôm nay rất thẳng thắn và đơn giản là hôn nhân là một sự cam kết lâu dài và một giao ước vĩnh viễn “vì sự gì Thiên Chúa đã liên kết thì loài người không được phân chia. (Mt 19:6).
The Gospel reading from Matthew is the story of the Pharisees’ attempt to trap Jesus by asking if a man can divorce his wife. Jesus defends the commitment of marriage as originally intended and explains that divorce was allowed in the time of Moses only because of the “hardness of the hearts” of the Jewish people at the time. Jesus is very straightforward in his expectation that marriage is a permanent commitment.
As God told the Israelites, “…it was not your sword or your bow. I gave you a land that you had not tilled and cities that you had not built, to dwell in; you have eaten of vineyards and olive groves which you did not plant.” For any of us who have been married for a long time, it is totally evident that we have not accomplished that long-term commitment on our own but with God’s grace.
Lord, remain in us and may Your love bring to perfection the love You have put in us.
He answered, “Not all can accept this word, but only those to whom that is granted.” Mt. 19:11
This was Jesus’ response to a lengthy discussion about the indissolubility of marriage. One of the reasons that “Not all can accept this word…” is because marriage, and every other vocation, requires wholehearted sacrifice and selflessness. When this is not present, and when the selfless living that is required of us turns to selfishness, then every conflict becomes a heavy burden. A burden that is unbearable without grace.
What is love? What form of love is required in marriage and every other vocation? What love is required of parents and grandparents? The answer is the same to all of these questions. We must love with complete selflessness and in a sacrificial way. Love, in its truest form, always looks to the good of the other and never focuses upon oneself.
Only grace can enable us to live a life based on true love. Our fallen human nature tends to “navel gaze,” meaning, we tend to go through life thinking about ourselves—“What will make my life better? How will this affect me? This person has hurt me. I don’t want to do this or that, etc.” It is very difficult in life to turn our eyes from ourselves to the love of others. This is why Jesus said that this form of love can only be embraced by “those to whom that is granted.” And those to whom this depth of love is granted are those who are open to God’s transforming grace in their lives.
One reason that it is very difficult to love in a completely selfless way is because it requires us to live by grace. Our feeble human minds cannot arrive at the high calling of charity by itself. It is only by grace that we will understand that selfless living is not only best for those whom we are called to love, but it is also best for us. And in the context of married life, parenting, other vocations and every other situation in life, if our love is always focused upon the good of the other, and if our lives imitate the total sacrifice of Christ, then we will see God do great things through us. As He does, we will also see God do great things in us. The bottom line is that we only become who we were made to be when we live like Christ. And He lived a life that was unconditionally sacrificial and selfless.
Reflect, today, upon the high calling of love that you have been given. Can you accept this teaching of our Lord? Has an understanding of the nature of true love been granted to you by grace? And if so, are you doing all you can to live a life of selfless sacrificial love in union with Christ Jesus? As you examine your life and your relationships, especially with those closest to you, consider how well you act as Christ to them. Consider whether you forgive, turn the other cheek, seek mercy, compassion, understanding, gentleness and every other virtue and fruit of the Holy Spirit. Where you are lacking and find selfishness, do not hesitate to beg our Lord to grant you the grace to not only understand your high calling of love, but to also embrace it in your actions to the fullest degree. Then, and only then, will you be able to live the vocation to which you have been called.
My loving Lord, Your love is beyond all comprehension. It is a love that can only be understood by the gift of Your grace. Please do grant me the grace I need to not only understand and to receive Your love in my life but to also offer Your love to all. May my life become an ongoing instrument of the perfection of love that You lived. Jesus, I trust in You.
Opening Prayer: Lord, I come before you as your child in this moment of prayer. Grant me simplicity and great love, the heart of a child, to receive the word you wish to speak to me today and to act on it.
Jesus and the Children: This scene can be painted as a very pious one—little eager faces upturned and listening to Jesus’s words, his hands extended in teaching. Perhaps it was that way. Or perhaps it was as most of us know children to be, especially a gaggle of them—laughing, energetic, eager, utterly receptive, and sensitive to even those things that are unsaid, the love and goodness of Jesus’s very being. Children have a way of grasping what even adults cannot express with simplicity. It is no wonder Jesus loved to be with them. Perhaps his heart rested when he was with them in a particular way.
In today’s Gospel Jesus teaches about the sanctity and permanence of marriage. Now we begin to see why the love of a husband and wife is a sacrament of God’s love. The Father and the Son; while remaining distinct give themselves utterly to each other, and this mutual giving is the Holy Spirit.
So when two people come together in love and form one flesh, they mimic the love between the Father and the Son. And when their love gives rise to a child, this mimics sacramentally the spiration of the Holy Spirit. Father, mother, and children are evocative of the divine Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.
And this is why Jesus speaks so forcefully about marriage, and why his Church, at its best, has echoed him up and down the centuries. It is because marriage is such a sacred sign that the Church has sought so assiduously to protect it.
I know that the Church gets a bad rap for surrounding marriage and sexuality with so many rules. I realize that libertarians through the ages have fought against the supposed uptight moralism of the Church. But human beings always surround precious things with laws, restrictions, and prohibitions.
REFLECTION
In the Gospel reading the Pharisees, in efforts to trap Jesus, question him about marriage and divorce. In his reply, Jesus acknowledges Mosaic law which allowed divorce (due to their "stubborn hearts"). At the same time he affirms what the union of man and wife had been in God's plan: "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."
Marriage is a very important institution in the Church and in civil society. The family is at the core of the Church and of civil society. The proper rearing and education of children are key to society's growth and prosperity.
Divorce is now allowed in most countries. The Catholic Church does not allow divorce.
The last extraordinary meeting of bishops in Rome focused on the family. Recognizing the difficulties and problems of many failed marriages, the Church has tried to improve its procedures and processes for marriage annulments. Pope Francis has spoken much about proper care, respect and understanding of couples whose marriages have failed, who have separated or obtained civil divorce or have re-married.
Let us pray for so many whose marriages have failed for whatever reason.
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