DAILY GRACE
August 14, 2020, Friday of the 19th Week of Ordinary Time
Scripture: Matthew 19: 3-12
Some Pharisees came to him, and to test him they asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?’ He answered, ‘Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning “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, let no one separate.’
They said to him, ‘Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?’ He said to them, ‘It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but at the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery.’
His disciples said to him, ‘If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.’ But he said to them, ‘Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.’
The Word of the Lord. Thanks be to God.
Meditation
“‘‘ . . . there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven . . . ”
In the film Spiderman, superhuman Peter Parker falls in love with his friend Mary Jane. In an emotionally charged scene, he tells her that despite his love, he must follow his special calling. Then he walks away, leaving Mary Jane in tears. In some way, Parker’s choice reflects an understanding of marriage and celibacy, the subject of today’s Gospel. But Jesus brings us to a deeper level. When the Pharisees’ question him about divorce, he goes back to the beginning, to Genesis, to the primeval garden. He tells them from the beginning man and woman were meant to be joined in the “one flesh” union of marriage. Divorce was not part of that picture, and Jesus’ statement against divorce shocks the apostles. If that’s the case, they object, it’s better not to marry! Jesus then shocks them even more by issuing a call to renounce marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. To their Jewish ears, this is unthinkable.
Marriage and celibacy in reality are two sides of the same coin. They are actually the same vocation, the love expressed in a gift of self to another. In the case of marriage, the love of the spouses binds them together in a gift of self that is meant to last for life. Their gift is a total gift. In the case of celibacy, the love of a person binds him or her to God in a gift of self that also is meant to last for life and is a gift shared with others. Both marriage and celibacy are ways of pouring ourselves out in love for the sake of the beloved. Jesus points out that those who renounce marriage do so “for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven.” Celibacy anticipates the resurrection —- the heavenly marriage —- and is a sign of the future life in the kingdom of God (see Matt. 22:30).
Prayer
Lord, help me make a sincere gift of myself to you and the people you have put in my life. I pray that married couples may grow in love, and those who are consecrated to celibacy for the sake of the kingdom may always witness to the joy that comes from your love.
Contemplation
Love is my vocation.