Unity in Marriage

Today’s Gospel Text:  And Pharisees came up to him and tested him by asking, "Is it lawful to divorce one's wife for any cause?" 4 He answered, "Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, 5 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'? 6 So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder." 7 They said to him, "Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?" 8 He said to them, "For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery."

10 The disciples said to him, "If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry." 11 But he said to them, "Not all men can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. 12 For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it." Matt 19:3-12

Reflection: The many complications faced in married life is sometimes difficult to fully comprehend.

Living one’s vocation to marriage is sometimes an uphill task.

When it comes to the difficulties faced by husband and wife we do not know in which direction the balance is tilted, who faces more of the brunt.

But in all probability it should be the weaker sex who must be facing the most as corruption hits the powerful more than the weaker.  So the male as head of the family and on account of the power he wields may tend to corrupt it.

Similarly, the woman too may carry her own seductive power or her subtle domination over her husband to corrupt a situation and bring ruin to the institution of marriage.

There are sometimes irreconcilable differences between husband and wife, when those who once affirmed that they can’t do without each other now wow that they can very well do without each other.

The bitterness and the souring of the relationship has already reached its zenith and there seem to be no way out, other than a divorce.

In this great conflict between the spouses, the message of Jesus speaks to us loud and clear:

"Have you not read that he who made them from 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'? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder." (vss. 4-6)

Too difficult to practice in situations when there are severe irreconcilable differences and any move that goes against the will of God amounts to a failure not just on the part of the couples and their family but also of the whole church, even if it be legitimized, sometimes, in the garb of annulments.

If there is one primary assertion that I would make is this: Do the couple believe, before they come to get married and in their course of their married life, that it is God who has put them together and let no man put them asunder?

The matter doesn’t end there but it could be the beginning of a decision to live with the living God as the center of one’s married life, seeking to please him rather than pleasing themselves.

Prayer: Lord bless all those couples united in matrimony that they may realize that their unity comes from you and they have no right to seek division.

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