Prejudices – Mark 10:2-16 Reflection
Jesus’s response to the Pharisees testing Him and the disciples is less about the law but rather about love. Unlike the law’s right or wrong, Christian love is measured in the dimension of a continuum. To dismiss our interactions with each other as if an on-and-off switch does not mimic God’s unconditional love. I cannot speak to the inner nature of divorce, as God has blessed me with the precious gift of unconditional love for my wife. Even so, we must watch my prejudices with those not as fortunate as we cannot judge. Instead, a good measure of Christ’s love inside should become visible, as being a friend is far more important in their lives.
Jesus and the Little Child by James Tissot (full-resolution image of painting).
More details are available on the Brooklyn Museum website.
Additional Ordinary Time Reflections
Mark 10:2-16 – Scripture*
He 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,[b] 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.”
Jesus Blesses Little Children
13 People were bringing little children to him in order that he might touch them; and the disciples spoke sternly to them. 14 But when Jesus saw this, he was indignant and said to them, “Let the little children come to me; do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of God belongs. 15 Truly I tell you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took them up in his arms, laid his hands on them, and blessed them.
Additional Thoughts
Thank you for meditating on this Gospel and reading this Lectio Divina on Mark 10:2-16 – Prejudices.
Additional Thoughts
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 your expressions 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. Amen.
Attributions
* This site has written permission to use the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) Bible for the passage of Mark 10.
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Primary Lectio Divina word or phrase: Prejudices
Page and discussion group on these Lectio Divina daily Gospel Readings.
Discussion group on St. John of the Cross.