St. Maximillan Mary Kolbe, priest & martyr 

＊＊＊ 1st Reading ＊＊＊

Ezekiel 16:1-15, 60, 63*

 The word of Yahweh came to me in these terms,  

“Son of man, make known to Jerusalem its sins.  You say on my behalf: Your beginning was in Canaan; there you were born. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite.   

On the day you were born your cord was not cut, you were not bathed in water to make you clean, you were not rubbed with salt nor were you wrapped in cloth.   There was no one to look with pity on you (……)

 But I passed by and saw you immersed in your blood. I said to you in the midst of your blood, “Live!”   I made you grow like a plant of the field. (…….)  

 But you relied on your beauty; you trusted in your fame and you began to give yourself to every passerby like a pros­titute.  But I will remember my covenant with you in the days of your youth and make in your favor an eternal covenant.  

So that you may remember, be ashamed and never open your mouth again because of your humiliation, when I have pardoned you for all you have done,” word of Yahweh.

 

Is 12:2-3, 4bcd, 5-6

You have turned from your anger.

 

＊＊＊＊ Gospel ＊＊＊＊

Matthew 19:3-12

 Some Pharisees approached him. They wanted to test him and asked, “Is a man allowed to divorce his wife for any reason he wants?” 

 Jesus replied, “Have you not read that in the beginning the Creator made them male and female, and he said: Man has now to leave father and mother, and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one body? So they are no longer two but one body; let no one separate what God has joined.”

 They asked him, “Then, why did Moses command us to write a bill of dismissal in order to divorce?” Jesus replied, “Moses knew your stubborn heart, so he allowed you to divorce your wives, but it was not so in the beginning. Therefore I say to you: who­ever divorces his wife, unless it be for concubinage, and marries another, commits adultery.”

The disciples said, “If that is the condition of a married man, it is better not to marry.” Jesus said to them, “Not everybody can accept what you have just said, but only those who have received this gift. There are eunuchs born so from their mother’s womb.

Some have been made that way by others. But there are some who have given up the possibility of marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let the one who can accept it, accept it.”

 

Gospel Reflection：

Christian marriage is not a union of just two parties. It is a couple’s union with a third party – God. A couple can decide to live together or unite themselves without others’ involvement. No need of priest, sponsors, or a community making the union public.

And, of course, they can disband the union anytime as it is executed just between themselves. There is no third party to consider. Even their children may not matter when the bond is no longer bearable.

But, Christian marriage is a tri-partite marriage. The third party, however, is not another man or another woman destroying the bond. The third party, God Himself, is the reason why they are married in the first place. without God’s love bonding them, marriage is only about until when they last for each other. Christian marriage lasts for God.