FRIDAY (24 May) – What God Has Joined Together

Mabuhay at Mabuting Balita!

Month of Our Lady
Friday of the Seventh Week of Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 345


First Reading: JAMES 5:9-12
PSALMS 103:1-2, 3-4, 8-9, 11-12:  The Lord is kind and merciful.
Gospel: MARK 10:1-12
Jesus came into the district of Judea and across the Jordan.
Again crowds gathered around him and, as was his custom,
he again taught them.
The Pharisees approached him and asked,
“Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?”
They were testing him.
He said to them in reply, “What did Moses command you?”
They replied,
“Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce
and dismiss her.”
But Jesus told them,
“Because of the hardness of your hearts
he wrote you this commandment.
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,
no human being must separate.”
In the house the disciples again questioned Jesus about this.
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.” https://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/052424.cfm  https://bible.usccb.org/podcasts/audio/daily-mass-reading-podcast-may-24-2024                 

Reflection:
What is God’s intention for our state in life, whether married or single? Jesus deals with the issue of divorce by taking his hearers back to the beginning of creation and to God’s plan for the human race. In Genesis 2:23-24 we see God’s intention and ideal that two people who marry should become so indissolubly one that they are one flesh. That ideal is found in the unbreakable union of Adam and Eve. They were created for each other and for no one else. They are the pattern and symbol for all who were to come.

We belong to God and not to ourselves
Jesus explains that Moses permitted divorce as a concession in view of a lost ideal. Jesus sets the high ideal of the married state before those who are willing to accept his commands. Jesus, likewise sets the high ideal for those who freely renounce marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 19:11-12). Both marriage and celibacy are calls from God to live a consecrated life, that is to live as married couples or as singles who belong not to themselves but to God. Our lives are not our own – they belong to God (1 Corinthians 6:19b,20; Romans 14:7-8).

The Lord Jesus through the gift of the Holy Spirit gives the grace and the power to those who seek to follow his way of holiness in their state of life. His grace and power bring freedom, discipline, and strength to live a life of love, joy, and holiness. Do you seek the Lord and his grace (his strength and power) in your state of life?

Lord Jesus Christ, your call to holiness extends to all in every state of life. Sanctify our lives – as married couples and as singles – that we may live as men and women who are consecrated to you. Make us leaven in a society that disdains lifelong marriage fidelity, chastity, and living single for the Lord.
https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/?ds_year=2024&date=may24

Saint of the Day:  Saint David I of Scotland (~1080-1153)
David, the youngest son of Scotland’s virtuous queen, (Saint) Margaret, succeeded his brother to the Scottish throne in 1124. David’s friend, (Saint) Aelred, abbot of the English monastery of Rievaulx, was later to recount David’s religious devotion and his generosity to the poor. From his riches he also endowed the founding of several dioceses and many monasteries. David was to express profound remorse for an ill-conceived and ill-fated invasion of England he had ordered on behalf of his niece. He also suffered the sorrow of the premature death of his only son. On Friday, May 22, 1153, as David was nearing death, he received the anointing of the sick and Viaticum, after which he devoted himself to reciting the Psalms with those at his bedside. The next day, the king told those urging him to take a rest from his devotions, “Let me rather think about the things of God, so that my spirit may set out strengthened on its journey from exile to home. When I stand before God’s tremendous judgment seat, you will not be able to answer for me or defend me.” He thus continued with his prayers. David died at dawn on Sunday, May 24. https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=5790

More Saints of the Days
St. Afra
Sts. Donatian & Rogatian
St. Jessica
St. Joanna
St. John del Prado
Bl. Louis Moreau
St. Manaen
St. Meletius
St. Nicetas of Pereaslav
St. Patrick of Bayeux
St. Robustian
St. Vincent of Lerins
St. Vincent of Porto
St. Zoellus

Let me be the change I want to be. Even if I am not the light, I can be the spark. (Lasallian Prayer)

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