Gospel: Mark 10:2-16
At that time, some Pharisees approached Jesus and asked him, to test him: “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” He replied to them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses permitted a man to write a certificate of divorce and send her away.” Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart 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, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate.” In the house, the disciples asked him again about this. He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if a woman divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.” They were bringing children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked those who brought them. When Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God. Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” And he took them in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.

Fruit: Value the greatness of the family.

Guidelines for reflection:
We are faced with a beautiful but also difficult Gospel to accept. We hear very often that society is in crisis, that the world is getting worse, that injustices between rich and poor countries are increasing, violence and terrorism are growing. It would seem that Rousseau was right: “Man is a wolf to man.” We must look at the family, the basic cell of society: let the family be what it is meant to be, to help society progress from its foundation.

1. The divine plan
Even in Jesus’ time, marital fidelity was something difficult. The Jews asked Jesus if it was lawful to leave their wife, or in today’s language, to divorce. Moses had permitted it. The Master takes the opportunity to show us God’s plan for man, expressed from creation: “Male and female he created them, and for this reason, a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” Marriage, marital love, is present in God’s creative plan. He made man and woman to form a family unit, a communion of life, of hopes, of dreams, of comfort in difficult times. God did not create us as islands, as solitary pilgrims in this valley of tears, but as beings open to others, who need each other. Man, as a creature, is made to love and be loved, especially within the context of a family.

2. “What God has joined, let no man separate”
“I will be faithful to you until death.” We hear this between a man and a woman promising eternal love. The engaged couple, when they marry, also promise this to each other. We want to be faithful, unconditionally faithful, but at the same time, a doubt appears on our horizon: Will I be able? The disciples once said to Jesus: “If such is the condition of man with his wife, it is not worth marrying.” We are aware of our weakness, of our good intentions unfulfilled. What to do? In the same Gospel, we find a very important light: “What God has joined…” It is God who, in each marriage, joins the husband and wife; therefore, He is also the one who guarantees the continuity of this union, as long as we cooperate. Difficulties will arise, perhaps even falls. But what matters most is to keep fighting, to keep building that fidelity, which is the work of three persons: the husband, the wife, and God. If I cooperate, I have done most of the work, because I have God’s fidelity assured.

3. A fidelity forged day by day
At a 25th wedding anniversary, the husband asked his wife: “Do you love me?” She, without irritation, replied: “I have been washing your clothes for 25 years, I have been cooking for 25 years, cleaning the house we live in for 25 years, giving you a kiss and welcoming you with a smile when you come home from work, I have been (a little less) washing, educating, caring for the children we brought into the world for 25 years… and you ask me if I love you?” Love in a family is not something abstract, generic, made of words alone; daily coexistence with our husband or wife, with our children or parents, is full of thousands of acts of love or indifference. Family life is a magnificent gymnasium of charity towards our neighbor, and at the same time, the best thermometer to measure our love for God and others.

Purpose: I will examine the love and affection with which I live my family life.