Friday - August 18, 2017
Believe that others are better than you in the depths of their soul, although outwardly you may appear better than they.
-- Saint Augustine of Hippo
TODAY'S READINGS
August 18, 2017
Friday of the Nineteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Lectionary: 417
Reading 1JOS 24:1-13
Joshua gathered together all the tribes of Israel at Shechem,summoning their elders, their leaders,
their judges and their officers.
When they stood in ranks before God, Joshua addressed all the people:
"Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel:
In times past your fathers, down to Terah,
father of Abraham and Nahor,
dwelt beyond the River and served other gods.
But I brought your father Abraham from the region beyond the River
and led him through the entire land of Canaan.
I made his descendants numerous, and gave him Isaac.
To Isaac I gave Jacob and Esau.
To Esau I assigned the mountain region of Seir in which to settle,
while Jacob and his children went down to Egypt.
"Then I sent Moses and Aaron, and smote Egypt with the prodigies
which I wrought in her midst.
Afterward I led you out of Egypt, and when you reached the sea,
the Egyptians pursued your fathers to the Red Sea
with chariots and horsemen.
Because they cried out to the LORD,
he put darkness between your people and the Egyptians,
upon whom he brought the sea so that it engulfed them.
After you witnessed what I did to Egypt,
and dwelt a long time in the desert,
I brought you into the land of the Amorites
who lived east of the Jordan.
They fought against you, but I delivered them into your power.
You took possession of their land, and I destroyed them,
the two kings of the Amorites, before you.
Then Balak, son of Zippor, king of Moab,
prepared to war against Israel.
He summoned Balaam, son of Beor, to curse you;
but I would not listen to Balaam.
On the contrary, he had to bless you, and I saved you from him.
Once you crossed the Jordan and came to Jericho,
the men of Jericho fought against you,
but I delivered them also into your power.
And I sent the hornets ahead of you that drove them
(the Amorites, Perizzites, Canaanites,
Hittites, Girgashites, Hivites and Jebusites)
out of your way; 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."
Responsorial PsalmPS 136:1-3, 16-18, 21-22 AND 24
R. His mercy endures forever.Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good,
for his mercy endures forever;
Give thanks to the God of gods,
for his mercy endures forever;
Give thanks to the LORD of lords,
for his mercy endures forever.
R. His mercy endures forever.
Who led his people through the wilderness,
for his mercy endures forever;
Who smote great kings,
for his mercy endures forever;
And slew powerful kings,
for his mercy endures forever.
R. His mercy endures forever.
And made their land a heritage,
for his mercy endures forever;
The heritage of Israel his servant,
for his mercy endures forever;
And freed us from our foes,
for his mercy endures forever.
R. His mercy endures forever.
AlleluiaSEE 1 THES 2:13
R. Alleluia, alleluia.Receive the word of God, not as the word of men,
but, as it truly is, the word of God.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMT 19:3-12
Some Pharisees approached Jesus, and tested him, saying,"Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?"
He said in reply, "Have you not read that from the beginning
the Creator made them male and female and said,
For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother
and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh?
So they are no longer two, but one flesh.
Therefore, what God has joined together, man must not separate."
They said to him, "Then why did Moses command
that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss her?"
He said to them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts
Moses allowed you to divorce your wives,
but from the beginning it was not so.
I say to you, whoever divorces his wife
(unless the marriage is unlawful)
and marries another commits adultery."
His disciples said to him,
"If that is the case of a man with his wife,
it is better not to marry."
He answered, "Not all can accept this word,
but only those to whom that is granted.
Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so;
some, because they were made so by others;
some, because they have renounced marriage
for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven.
Whoever can accept this ought to accept it."
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A Marriage Made in Heaven
What's Jesus really saying in his tough stand against divorce? The Gospel reading for today can be hard to accept when a marriage is suffering from divisive troubles.
He also takes a tough stand on the value of celibacy when he refers to those who have "renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven" -- in other words, for the sake of abiding by the laws of God, the mission of Christ, and the morality of the Holy Spirit as explained in the Bible and Church teachings. This covers celibacy for the sake of consecrated religious life, the ministerial priesthood, and purity in same-sex attractions.
"Not everyone can grasp this teaching", Jesus said, and he explained why: We have to be given the understanding of it by the Holy Spirit. We should obey God even without understanding, but isn't it better to ask the Holy Spirit to help us understand? To hear the Spirit's voice, we have to be willing to humbly examine our own views and let go of whatever is not of God.
In his comments about divorce, Jesus says that unlawful marriages are not real marriages and therefore no adultery is committed when divorce and remarriage occurs. An example is when a spouse's conduct is abusive and there is no ability or intention to love as Jesus loves; this fatal flaw probably existed from the start, and therefore the marriage was never valid.
A holy marriage permanently unites one man and one woman -- physically, emotionally, and spiritually -- as a representation of Christ's love for his Bride. Who is Christ's Bride? All Christians, as one holy, apostolic Church. Marriage is a vocation, a calling to prove to the unbelieving and confused world that God's love and faithfulness are real.
A holy marriage is a testimony of God's salvation plan. The entire salvation story in the Bible is the story of marriage, from Adam and Eve's union and then the sin that damaged their unity with God, to the Israelites' repeated unfaithfulness and recommitments to Yahweh, to Jesus' unity with us and his sacrificial death to rescue us.
Human marriages go through the same struggles. Only by the grace of God, which is available to all who want it, can marriages survive the many temptations of division. This is why having a sacramental marriage is so very important. A sacrament is the active presence of Christ doing something supernatural in our lives.
A holy marriage exemplifies the Eucharist. God has gifted couples with a physical desire that binds their unity: "The two become one flesh." At every Catholic Mass, we the Bride of Christ become "one flesh" with Jesus in the Eucharist.
In each of our vocations, married or celibate, we are all called to become fully united to our Eternal Spouse and show the world what a loving union really means.
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God Bless You.....
The mother of Jesus promised St. Dominic that, “one day through the rosary & the scapular I shall save the world!”
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