Today’s readings for mass are about marriage, marital problems, temptations and divorce. What powerful readings we have for mass today and how difficult it is for so many of us to live by these words. The first reading from Corinthians expresses this sentiment perfectly when it says “but we have this treasure in clay jars”. God created us from the dirt and we are an imperfect people. The human race fell from God’s grace when Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the forbidden fruit and we have struggled with temptation and sin ever since then.
However, we should not despair of ever reaching sanctity. It is possible to handle temptations, marital problems and the worst things that can happen in a marriage through God’s grace. The first reading today says that “this extraordinary power belongs to God and does not come from us”. That pretty much says it right there.
The reading from Corinthians says “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken, struck down, but not destroyed. “This may sound a bit negative but all marriages from time to time go through periods of negativity and the readings today have some excellent suggestions for us to think about.
The first reading goes on to say “I believed, and so I spoke”. The secret to staying married for life probably lies in these words. We made a promise, a vow to our spouses on our wedding day. This vow should not be undertaken lightly but once it is made we should honor our word even when problems in our marriage can seem insurmountable at times.
The psalm today says “I kept my faith even when I said “I am greatly afflicted”. And “I will pay my vows to the Lord in the presence of all his people. “These verses actually apply to all married people and the clergy and religious as well. Did we mean what we said when we made this vow before God? However, as we all know and the Catholic faith teaches, sometimes a vow is made and it was not valid for some legitimate reason at the time it was undertaken. In these cases the church may grant an annulment or release a member of clergy or the religious from their vows.
What Jesus does in today’s gospel is pretty awesome though. He addresses the sinful behavior that may cause a divorce to begin with and that also jeopardizes a person’s eternal salvation. He nips that inclination right in the bud, when he said that anyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart. What a shame our priests do not give homilies about the behaviors that lead people to seek a divorce to begin with. How many marriages could be saved if the sinful behaviors that are negatively affecting marriages, was addressed in the weekly homilies? Adultery, drug and alcohol addiction, physical, verbal or sexual abuse, pornography, etc.? Rather than have homilies about theology, some practical guidance for everyday living would be most helpful. To simply tell married couples to forgive each other and stay married without addressing the serious sins involved, is like putting a band aid on a broken arm. However, there are many good priests that do attempt to address the problems many of us face though, in their homilies and programs in the parish.
The last thing Jesus spoke of in today’s Gospel is one of the hardest scripture verses there are to live by for many modern Catholics. Jesus said “anyone who divorces his wife, except on the ground of unchastity, causes her to commit adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery”. He couldn’t have said it any clearer than this. Many Catholics blame the church’s teachings on divorce as being out of sync with modern society, but it wasn’t the church who stated Christ’s views. Jesus is the one who told us that divorce and remarriage is adultery and the church just reminds us of his teaching.
That being said, the first reading for mass today acknowledged the struggles that many of us sometimes go through, but it also gives us encouragement and hope. We are “always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies”. Receiving the Eucharist at mass and frequenting the sacrament of confession strengthens us to not give in to the temptations that threaten our marriages.We put to death our inclinations and our sins, and receive the grace from the Lord that we need, to make him visible in our lives by honoring the vows we made to one another in his presence.
