3 October 2021
Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
The Pharisees must have been absolutely shaken: here they were, testing Jesus, confident that they would confound Him or, even better, trap Him in error or blasphemy. If Jesus says it is not lawful for a husband to divorce his wife, they can point to Moses who permitted divorce. If Jesus says it is lawful, then Jesus will have to admit to other traditions of the Law, perhaps even aspects they believed He would reject or not observe. Little did they know they had challenged to a duel the Word of God, Jesus, whose Truth is“…living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart…” (Hebrews 4:12). He cuts through their intentions and answers yes, and no, utterly defeating them.
He says “yes” in that Moses indeed permits divorce, and He says “no” in that this was not how God Almighty intended things. Rather, God intended marriage to be life-long, as if the two were one flesh and could not be torn apart for anything. What causes division between husband and wife? Hardness of heart, which Jesus came to heal in all of us. “Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate,” He then teaches them. Would that people today listen! Divorce wreaks havoc across the United States, devastating families, and wounding children well into adulthood; though Christ teaches us how to forgive, we live in a society that would rather us see a difficult marriage as an inconvenience to be tossed aside rather than a vocation to be wrestled with and fought for. G.K. Chesterton, after making a speaking tour of the United States, was amazed at the recent development in our country of the legalization of divorce on the grounds of “incompatible temperament”: what we know today as “irreconcilable differences.” He said “If we allow people to divorce for no reason, soon they will marry for no reason.” Irreconcilable? Certainly some broken marriages would be very difficult to reconcile: are they more difficult than the reconciliation that occurs between you and Christ in the confessional? Christ reconciles Himself to you and you to Himself in each confession, no matter what your sins are so long as you are contrite. Does He not, therefore, teach us to pray, saying, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us?” If we cannot forgive our own spouse for the sake of the marriage which we solemnly sword to uphold, how can we presume God’s forgiveness for ourselves?
Soften our hearts, O God, especially toward those we ought to love the very most.