GOD’S WORD FOR THE DAY (based on Catholic Liturgical Readings)
DATE: 12TH AUGUST 2016
FRIDAY OF THE 19TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIME
1ST READING: Ezekiel 16:1-15, 60, 63
PSALM: Isaiah 12:2-6
GOSPEL: Matthew 19:3-12
THEME: LET ANYONE ACCEPT THIS WHO CAN
There is a storm that is seeking to wreck marriage and family life and if we do not hold firm to our faith as Christians, we would easily be swept off our feet. Marriage, for a Christian, is not a mere union of two people. It is a vocation. In other words, it is a divine call and has its own unchanging ‘terms and conditions’.
Jesus, in our Gospel text for today, spells out some basic facts about marriage. He tells his audience, “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’?” (Mt. 19:4-5).
He also adds, “Now I say this to you: anyone who divorces his wife — I am not speaking of an illicit marriage — and marries another, is guilty of adultery” (Mt. 19:9).
The above teaching of Jesus on marriage is tough. Rightly so, his disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry” (Mt. 19:10). In response, Jesus said, “Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given…Let anyone accept this who can” (Mt. 19:11-12).
Marriage is a divine institution. I cannot change a divine institution to accommodate me; rather, I need to change to be accommodated by the divine institution.
Eternal Father, I surrender to your call for my life. I do not ask you to change your call to suit me. I ask you to change me to suit your call. Amen
Fr. Andrews Obeng, SVD
DIVINE WORD MISSIONARIES
BIBLICAL PASTORAL MINISTRY
(Ghana Province)