Spiritual Bonds – Reflection on Matthew 19:3-12
As a teenager, I wondered for a few years if I should join a religious order and be singularly bound to God. The inner beauty of a woman, heart fluttering embraces, and the possibility of having a child manifested inside to cause my personal choice to become apparent. My call was to commit to a ministry inclusive of a spouse’s physical touch. Being of one flesh with another instead of Catholic celibacy did not reduce the influence of God, who significantly participates in my marriage. God never gave up on my teenage thoughts because I recognized decades later the original perception was not that far off when I achieved a graduate degree in Pastoral Ministry in my fifties. I honor, appreciate, and understand why many Christians and other faiths have a place for marriage in various leadership and Minster roles. Perhaps you can embrace the sacredness of celibacy or faith-based marriage celebrations in prayer for a moment. The world needs whatever you can do, as worldliness seems to be downplaying the appreciation of the commitment to these unique spiritual bonds.
The Pharisees Question Jesus by James Tissot (full resolution painting)
More details are available on the Brooklyn Museum website.
Additional Ordinary Time Reflections
Matthew 19:3-12 – Scripture*
3 Some Pharisees came to him, and to test him they asked, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?” 4 He answered, “Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning ‘made them male and female,’ 5 and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? 6 So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.” 7 They said to him, “Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?” 8 He said to them, “It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. 9 And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery.”
Additional Thoughts
Thank you for meditating on this Gospel and reading this Lectio Divina on Lectio Divina Matthew 19:3-12 Reflection – Unique Spiritual Bonds.
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Prayer for young families:
Lord, let the young families of our communities get to know your joy, peace, comfort, and love despite the world’s distractions.
Attributions
This site has written permission to use the New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSVCE) Bible Matthew 19 Bible passage.
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