October 3: Union, a Sunday Scriptures blog

“The Pharisees approached Jesus and asked, ‘Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?’” They wanted to see if Jesus would support the permission for divorce that Deut 24:1-4 gave them, or would he find a way around it? Indeed, Jesus gave an unequivocal “no” to divorce, citing the older Scripture of Genesis 2:18-24, our first reading today. In his response, Jesus holds up the man and woman of Genesis who become “one flesh,” a oneness which comes of living in unity and harmony. It’s interesting that we don’t hear of divorce in the epistles, the preaching of the early Church. What we do hear is Paul citing the example of Jesus’ sacrificial love as the way spouses are to love each other. So it’s the failure of that kind of self-giving, that faithful love Christ showed, his willingness to endure pain in order to love unconditionally, that the first Christians focused on, not divorce itself. Thus it is that kind of love which our Church holds out to all of us as the ideal for all relationships, no matter what our state in life or sexual orientation. And when we fail in that kind of love and wreck our relationships, we are met with the mercy and forgiveness we need to try again to love.

— Blog entry by Sister Mary Garascia

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