One of the things humans fear the most is feeling alone. Feeling lonely is not a pleasant experience because it often means you don’t feel loved, and for us humans, love is the most important thing. A person who doesn’t feel loved finds it very difficult to make sense of life because love is at the heart of human existence. It is no wonder that in the Book of Genesis, which speaks of the beginning of human existence, we find that God Himself says: "It is not good for man to be alone. I will make him a helper suitable for him." God, in His infinite wisdom, knows that the person created in His image has the most essential need to feel loved. If we come from Love, it is obvious that love is the most essential thing for us.
God’s response to this fundamental human need was marriage and family. “Then the Lord God formed the rib that He had taken from the man into a woman and brought her to the man.” With these beautifully crafted words, the inspired sacred writer wants to tell us that man and woman are not only created for each other but are also of the same dignity. When one considers that these words were written not only in a culture but in a world where equality between man and woman did not exist, one cannot help but feel that the hand of God is in this sacred book. “Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and be united with his wife, and they will become one flesh.” The most common, though not the only, way through which a person feels loved is through marriage and family.
In today’s Gospel, the Pharisees approach Jesus and, as usual, in an attempt to trap Him, ask Him whether a man can divorce his wife. Jesus, knowing that if He said no, they would bring up the fact that Moses allowed divorce under certain conditions, asks them what Moses said or rather what their law stated. What does this mean? Moses did not say that it is good for a man to divorce his wife, but rather, that it is not right to divorce without giving a written notice: what used to happen in such a patriarchal society was that if a man divorced his wife and she then entered into another relationship, the first husband could still accuse her of adultery under the law, the punishment for which was stoning. Moses demanded a written divorce to prevent this abuse.
Jesus is very clear in His response: "Because of the hardness of your hearts, Moses wrote you this command. But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female... Therefore, they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.” In God’s eyes, marriage means that a man gives himself to the woman, and the woman gives herself to the man, so it makes no sense to ask for what has been given back. In this time when many young people are afraid of the commitment of marriage, it is important to say that marriage, according to God’s heart, is a very important calling, and it can only succeed if God is at the heart of the marriage. In today's second reading, we also heard that Jesus saved us through suffering or the cross: He shows us that true love must be willing to suffer for the one loved. Those who enter married life and are not willing to suffer for the one they love cannot expect any relationship to succeed.
We ask ourselves: in this time when the law in Malta permits divorce, what is my view on marriage?
Lord Jesus, today we lift up before You all married couples so that You may help them believe in the sanctity of the calling You have given them, and so that they may always keep You at the centre of their relationship and family. Amen.
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