The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today resonate with the themes of faith and our fidelity to the love and effort required to live with a heart that is grateful and generous.
The Reading from the Prophet Ezekiel is A Parable of Infidelity.
* [16:4–5] In this chapter, Ezekiel represents Jerusalem and Samaria as unwanted, abandoned sisters whom the Lord rescues and cares for. Here the prophet depicts Jerusalem as a newborn female, abandoned and left to die, an accepted practice in antiquity for females, who were considered financial liabilities by their families. That the infant has no one, not even her mother, to tie off her umbilical cord, wash her clean, and wrap her in swaddling clothes emphasizes Jerusalem’s death-like isolation and accentuates the Lord’s gracious action in her behalf. The practice of rubbing the skin of newborns with salt is an attested Palestinian custom that survived into the twentieth century.
* [16:60] Everlasting covenant: Ezekiel foresees God renewing the covenant of Sinai in a new and spirit-empowered way that will not be fatally broken as in the present exile or force God to abandon Israel again; cf. 11:19–21; 36:25–27; 37:26–28. (Ezekiel, CHAPTER 16 | USCCB, n.d.)
The response from the Prophet Isaiah is a Song of Thanksgiving.
* [12:1–6] Israel’s thanksgiving to the Lord, expressed in language like that of the Psalms. (Isaiah, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB, n.d.)
In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus teaches about Marriage and Divorce.
* [19:3] Tested him: the verb is used of attempts of Jesus’ opponents to embarrass him by challenging him to do something they think impossible (Mt 16:1; Mk 8:11; Lk 11:16) or by having him say something that they can use against him (Mt 22:18, 35; Mk 10:2; 12:15). For any cause whatever: this is peculiar to Matthew and has been interpreted by some as meaning that Jesus was being asked to take sides in the dispute between the schools of Hillel and Shammai on the reasons for divorce, the latter holding a stricter position than the former. It is unlikely, however, that to ask Jesus’ opinion about the differing views of two Jewish schools, both highly respected, could be described as “testing” him, for the reason indicated above.
* [19:4–6] Matthew recasts his Marcan source, omitting Jesus’ question about Moses’ command (Mk 10:3) and having him recall at once two Genesis texts that show the will and purpose of the Creator in making human beings male and female (Gn 1:27), namely, that a man may be joined to his wife in marriage in the intimacy of one flesh (Gn 2:24). What God has thus joined must not be separated by any human being. (The NAB translation of the Hebrew bāśār of Gn 2:24 as “body” rather than “flesh” obscures the reference of Matthew to that text.)
* [19:9] Moses’ concession to human sinfulness (the hardness of your hearts, Mt 19:8) is repudiated by Jesus, and the original will of the Creator is reaffirmed against that concession. (Unless the marriage is unlawful): see note on Mt 5:31–32. There is some evidence suggesting that Jesus’ absolute prohibition of divorce was paralleled in the Qumran community (see 11QTemple 57:17–19; CD 4:12b–5:14). Matthew removes Mark’s setting of this verse as spoken to the disciples alone “in the house” (Mk 10:10) and also his extension of the divorce prohibition to the case of a woman’s divorcing her husband (Mk 10:12), probably because in Palestine, unlike the places where Roman and Greek law prevailed, the woman was not allowed to initiate the divorce.
* [19:11] [This] word: probably the disciples’ “it is better not to marry” (Mt 19:10). Jesus agrees but says that celibacy is not for all but only for those to whom that is granted by God.
* [19:12] Incapable of marriage: literally, “eunuchs.” Three classes are mentioned, eunuchs from birth, eunuchs by castration, and those who have voluntarily renounced marriage (literally, “have made themselves eunuchs”) for the sake of the kingdom, i.e., to devote themselves entirely to its service. Some scholars take the last class to be those who have been divorced by their spouses and have refused to enter another marriage. But it is more likely that it is rather those who have chosen never to marry, since that suits better the optional nature of the decision: whoever can…ought to accept it. (Matthew, CHAPTER 19 | USCCB, n.d.)
Jane Stein petitions the Lord with the exhortation: “Teach me to recognize that mission and service is not only what I do, but how I love.”
Your word also speaks to my marriage, Lord, especially as I look toward the thirty-fourth anniversary of marriage with my husband this month. Thank you for the gift of this covenant, for the grace that has carried us through joy and struggle, and for the quiet fidelity that has sustained us over the years. In the Gospel, Jesus reminds us that what you have joined together is holy, and that truth gives me peace. Keep teaching us how to love with patience, forgiveness, tenderness, and endurance.
Lord, make my life a living yes to your covenant. Let me remember your goodness, praise you with joy, serve others with compassion, and cherish the sacred bond of marriage as a sign of your faithful love. Through the intercession of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, help me to live each day with a heart that is grateful, generous, and surrendered to you. Amen. (Stein, n.d.)
Don Schwager quotes “Don't separate what God has joined together,” by John Chrysostom (347-407 AD).
"Then he showed that it is a fearful thing to tamper with this law. When establishing this law, he did not say, 'Therefore, do not sever or separate' but 'What God has joined together, let man not separate.' If you quote Moses, I will quote the God of Moses, and with him I am always strong. For God from the beginning made them male and female. This law is very old, even if it appears human beings have recently discovered it. It is firmly fixed. And God did not simply bring the woman to her husband but ordered her also to leave her father and mother. And he not only ordered the man to go to the woman but also to cling to her, showing by his way of speaking that they could not be separated. And not even with this was God satisfied, but he sought also for another greater union: 'for the two shall be one flesh.'" (excerpt from THE GOSPEL OF MATTHEW, HOMILY 62.1) (Schwager, n.d.)
Friar Jude Winkler comments that the passage from Ezekiel is a parable about Israel like a young woman left to die yet God cared for her as she grows and she became a harlot prostituted with other gods. God will remember the Covenant even though she forgot it through the Hebrew concepts of “hesed and emet”; Covenant love and fidelity. Even if we are not. God is faithful. Jesus says not to divorce and we were created as one flesh from the beginning. Males and females are presented as one entity in the Creation narrative not complete without the other. Friar Jude notes in Jesus Jewish community that if you divorce the marriage is unlawful. The concept of adultery in Greek, “pornia”, was marriage between people too close in relationship. Otherwise, divorce was not permitted.
The Word Among Us Meditation on Matthew 19:3-12 urges us to know that whatever led to the breakup…
You are still a loved, treasured child of God. Jesus is standing before you with open arms, ready to forgive what needs forgiveness and to heal what needs healing. No matter what has happened and no matter who is at fault, his heart remains open to you.
We all experience hardness of heart in one way or another. We all commit sins and hurt the people around us. But Jesus is stronger than any sin we could ever commit. His love is greater than any resentment or wound we are bearing. It’s also greater than any wound we have caused. He is our merciful and patient Redeemer.
“Lord, bring healing to everyone who has been hurt by divorce.” (Meditation on Matthew 19:3-12, n.d.)
Father Richard Rohr, OFM, considers Franciscan mysticism an invitation to love the divine presence in the world, in ourselves, and in all creation:
All being can correctly and rightly be spoken of with “one voice” (univocity), as Franciscan theologian John Duns Scotus (1266–1308) would later put it. “What I am, you also are, and so is the world.” Creation is one giant symphony of mutual sympathy, or, as Augustine loved to say, “And thus the end will be the one Christ, loving himself.” [2]
To arrive at this mystical vision, I must know that I am, at least in part, the very thing I am seeking. In fact, that is what makes me seek it! God cannot be found “out there” until God is first found “in here,” within ourselves. Then we can almost naturally see God in others and in all creation too. What we seek is what we are. The search for God and the search for our true self are finally the same search. Francis’s all-night prayer, “Who are you, O God, and who am I?” is one the most honest prayers we can offer.
A heart transformed by this realization of oneness knows that only love “in here” can spot and enjoy love “out there.” Thus, all mystics are positive people—or they are not mystics. Their spiritual work is precisely that of recognizing and then handing over all their inner negativity and fear to God. The great paradox here is that such a victory is a total gift from God, and yet we must also want it very much (see Philippians 2:12–13).
The central practice in Franciscan mysticism, therefore, is that we must remain in love, which is why it is a commandment as such (John 15:9) and, in fact, the commandment of Jesus. Only when we are eager to love can we see love and goodness in the world around us. We must ourselves remain in peace and then we will see and find peace over there. Remain in beauty, and we will honor beauty everywhere. [3] (Rohr, n.d.)
We invoke the Spirit to remind us to “Remain in Love” as we journey daily in practice of the ancient concepts of “hesed and emet”.
References
Ezekiel, CHAPTER 16 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 14, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/ezekiel/16?
Isaiah, CHAPTER 12 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved August 14, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/isaiah/12?
Matthew, CHAPTER 19 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Bible Readings, Audio and Video Every Morning | USCCB. Retrieved August 14, 2026, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/matthew/19?3
Meditation on Matthew 19:3-12. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved August 14, 2026, from https://wau.org/meditations/2026/08/14/1645383/
Rohr, R. (n.d.). Remaining in Love. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved August 14, 2026, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/remaining-in-love/
Schwager, D. (n.d.). What God Has Joined Together. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 14, 2026, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/
Stein, J. (n.d.). Daily Reflection August 14, 2026 | Creighton Online Ministries. Creighton Online Ministries. Retrieved August 14, 2026, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-august-14-2026
No comments:
Post a Comment