Memory of Jesus crucified

Reading of the Word of God

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

This is the Gospel of the poor,
liberation for the imprisoned,
sight for the blind,
freedom for the oppressed.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Matthew 19,3-12

Some Pharisees approached him, and to put him to the test they said, 'Is it against the Law for a man to divorce his wife on any pretext whatever?' He answered, 'Have you not read that the Creator from the beginning made them male and female and that he said: This is why a man leaves his father and mother and becomes attached to his wife, and the two become one flesh? They are no longer two, therefore, but one flesh. So then, what God has united, human beings must not divide.' They said to him, 'Then why did Moses command that a writ of dismissal should be given in cases of divorce?' He said to them, 'It was because you were so hard-hearted, that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but it was not like this from the beginning. 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.' The disciples said to him, 'If that is how things are between husband and wife, it is advisable not to marry.' But he replied, 'It is not everyone who can accept what I have said, but only those to whom it is granted. There are eunuchs born so from their mother's womb, there are eunuchs made so by human agency and there are eunuchs who have made themselves so for the sake of the kingdom of Heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.'

 

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

The Son of Man came to serve,
whoever wants to be great
should become servant of all.

Alleluia, alleluia, alleluia

Jesus' has begun his mission in Jerusalem, where he will stay until the end of his days. A great crowd is following him, and, as always, he continues to teach and heal the sick people who are brought before him. His work, which had already encountered obstacles in Galilee, now finds even stronger opposition. The spirit of evil does not stop its determined opposition to the Gospel. The Pharisees become its tools and ask him a question about "divorcing" a wife: whether it is lawful to divorce her for "any cause," as some claimed. There was considerable debate on this topic at that time. Nonetheless, Jesus does not respond to the question directly but prefers to recall God's original desire for the union between men and women: the family should be based on indissoluble love. And if later Moses permitted divorce, he did so because of the human and spiritual coarseness of the people of his time. Not only does Jesus not accept the interpretation of their rabbis, but he condemns the practice of divorce that the Pharisees practiced on a more or less large scale. Jesus reinforces the primacy of love in human relationships, including between a man and a woman when they unite in marriage. Their love cannot be dissolved. Also at the time, this unbreakable bond seemed like a heavy burden. It seems even heavier today in a cultural climate where any prospect of stability seems impossible. But Jesus continues and addresses the concept of self-control chosen for the kingdom of heaven: there are those who make themselves eunuchs "for the sake of the kingdom of heaven." The choice not to marry in order to dedicate oneself totally to God does not discredit marriage, but it doubtlessly emphasizes the radical nature of the choice for God. That means that some people choose to demonstrate through their very existence that God alone is enough. It is a choice that is connected to one of the spiritual dimensions of the Church: it is not bound to anyone else; Jesus alone is enough for it. In this sense, being celibate for the Lord has an extraordinary value, not because it demonstrates a capacity for sacrifice, but because it demonstrates a radical choice for the Lord.