One Flesh – Reflection on Mark 10:1-12
My belief is that Jesus’s response to the Pharisees and the crowd is about how love precedes the law. From a spiritual viewpoint, Christian love is multi-dimensional, unlike some rules that do not consider the heart’s movement. To dismiss each other and turn away as if there is only a single definition of love that uses an on-and-off switch does not mimic God’s unconditional love. Even in those relationships that include deep anguish, both parties should attempt Christ-like love. To love like Christ is especially true for children born from coupled love. Children should feel their parents still form a Christian “one flesh” (and mind), even if they become apart in other forms of love.
The Pharisees Question Jesus by James Tissot (full resolution image of painting).
More details are available on the Brooklyn Museum website.
Additional Ordinary Time Reflections
Mark 10:1-12 – Scripture
Teaching about Divorce
1He 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. 2 Some Pharisees came, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife?” 3 He answered them, “What did Moses command you?” 4 They said, “Moses allowed a man to write a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her.” 5 But Jesus said to them, “Because of your hardness of heart he wrote this commandment for you. 6 But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.’ 7 ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, 8 and the two shall become one flesh.’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 9 Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.”
10 Then in the house the disciples asked him again about this matter. 11 He said to them, “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; 12 and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
Additional Thoughts
Thank you for meditating on this Gospel and reading this Lectio Divina on Mark 10:1-12 Reflection – One Flesh.
Would you like to contribute related thoughts to these Lectio reflections on the Gospel readings? Since Lectio is not the only contemplative prayer style, others might appreciate various forms of expression in this ministry. Do you see God’s grandeur everywhere and unconditionally enjoy sharing the love of Christ that you have inside? Are you willing to be anonymous in what you would share? If so, email me.
Prayer for young families:
Lord, let the young families of our communities experience your joy, peace, comfort, and love despite worldly distractions.
Would you like to contribute related thoughts to these Lectio reflections on the Gospel readings? Since Lectio is not the only contemplative prayer style, others might appreciate various forms of expression in this ministry. Do you see God’s grandeur everywhere and unconditionally enjoy sharing the love of Christ that you have inside? Are you willing to be anonymous in what you would share? If so, email me.
Attributions
*This site has permission to use the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) Bible Mark 10 passage.
The Immersive Prayer website follows the guidelines for image web use at the Brooklyn Museum and the Jewish Museum websites.
Primary Lectio Divina word or phrase: One Flesh
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