27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Our year-long journey through the gospel of Mark (with occasional stops in the gospel of John) finds us now facing a topic that has been debated and agonized over even long before the beginnings of Christianity – the question of divorce. This topic raises another concern connected with divorce: the gravity of lifelong commitments not limited to marriage. Commitments shape who we are. Hovering over this conversation are the stories of the creation of the first man and woman as recorded in the Book of Genesis.
The questions posed by the Pharisees and Jesus’s response are presumed in the short space available here. What, therefore, might be a way through the quagmire surrounding divorce? One given is God’s intention and plan for the union of a man and woman in marriage, which is that it should be a life-long commitment. It may be presumed that this would also be the hope and desire of those intending to wed.
Another given is that Christian life is lived amid a broken world. It was into this broken world that Jesus came, revealing God’s love for all his children, especially those “who labor and are burdened” by the trials and tribulations of daily life. In many areas of our lives, we fail to live up to the gospels’ standards and seek God’s mercy and forgiveness. “Let anyone without sin be the first to throw a stone.” The ideals surrounding marriage are hoped for but often not achieved. However regrettable the recourse to divorce may be, the Christian community is called to be an oasis of healing, mercy, and love in the desert of brokenness and gloom.
Let Us Pray:
Lord, open our hearts to all who need our love today.