24 May 2024 – Friday of Week 7

24 May 2024 – Friday of Week 7

Day of Prayer for the Church in China

1st Reading: James 5:9-12

Take the prophets as your models in speaking the truth

Beloved, do not grumble against one another, so that you may not be judged. See, the Judge is sanding at the doors! As an example of suffering and patience, beloved, take the prophets who spoke in the name of the Lord. Indeed we call blessed those who showed endurance. You have heard of the endurance of Job, and you have seen the purpose of the Lord, how the Lord is compassionate and merciful.

Above all, my beloved, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “Yes” be yes and your “No” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.

Responsorial: Psalm 103

R./: The Lord is kind and merciful

Bless the Lord, O my soul;
and all my being, bless his holy name.
Bless the Lord, O my soul,
and forget not all his benefits. (R./)

He pardons all your iniquities,
he heals all your ills.
He redeems your life from destruction,
he crowns you with kindness and compassion. (R./)

Merciful and gracious is the Lord,
slow to anger and abounding in kindness.
He will not always chide,
nor does he keep his wrath forever. (R./)

For as the heavens are high above the earth,
so surpassing is his kindness toward those who fear him.
As far as the east is from the west,
so far has he put our transgressions from us. (R./)

Gospel: Mark 10:1-12

Jesus’ rejection of divorce and remarriage

Jesus left that place and went to the region of Judea and beyond the Jordan. And crowds again gathered around him; and, as was his custom, he again taught them.

Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ ‘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. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”

Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”

Marriage and perseverance

Our dearest friend, the “treasure… beyond price,” may eventually become one’s spouse, since moving through friendship to marriage features in most people’s life-plan. Hopefully the marriage will be happy, but all long-term relationships are sure to be tested, and when misunderstandings come our way, St. James advises us not to grumble at each other. Rather, we need to let biblical examples inspire us to bear hardships and practice patience. Patience and steadfastness are what enable friendship and marriage to survive the cloudy days and reach the sunshine on the other side.

Much can be lost by simply giving up, and abandoning a love that we have solemnly pledged. The Bible calls such a broken pledge by the blunt word, “adultery.” Jesus taught that faithful union is what God intended, when he made them male and female. “For this reason a person shall leave father and mother and the two shall become as one… let no human agency separate what God has joined.” Just as Sirach instructs us not to commit lightly or quickly to a friendship, so our Lord says not to disrupt what God has joined.

Lifelong commitment

As a statistical face, many marriages break down, as we know. Most of us will have some friends or even family members whose marriages have split up. Yet, we need to hold on to the ideal of marriage as still possible. Jesus saw marriage as a special love between a man and a woman, similar to God’s bond with his people. The early church compared marriage to Christ’s loving relationship with his church. The love of husband and wife is a vision to hold on to, even in our throwaway, start-again culture. It is a deep value, worthy of what is best and deepest in people.