Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B
Posté par diaconos le 29 septembre 2021
The Church does not prohibit the separation of spouses for serious reasons, provided that there is no remarriage; « simple » separation does not therefore prevent access to the sacraments. Adultery as such does not even prevent access to the sacraments, but only remarriage, which is considered to be a lasting installation in adultery1 For the Catholic Church, the sacrament of marriage is indissoluble.
If the spouses separate, any civil remarriage is considered gravely sinful. Separated spouses are considered, during the lifetime of the first spouse, to be unfit for any further legitimate married life. The principle of the indissolubility of marriage is based on the New Testament, in particular Matthew 5:31-32, Matthew 19:1-9, Mark 10:2-12, Luke 16:18 and 1 Corinthians 7, 11. These texts prohibit repudiation and remarriage.
The Gospel of Matthew, in two places (5, 3-22 and 19, 9), mentions a reason for prohibiting marriage taken into account by the Catholic Church, namely that illegitimate union while ilotex gives « fornication » of which a spouse would be guilty if the marriage were recognised as valid. There are other cases in which the union is not valid (illegitimate), in which case the Church may also pronounce a declaration of nullity of the marriage, through the ruling of an ecclesiastical court.
The marriage is therefore not dissolved, but is considered never to have existed. It is then possible to renew the consent in church. However, the mere fact that the marriage has failed is not sufficient to obtain this declaration. The most common reasons for declaring a marriage null and void are lack of discernment or a situation of duress at the time of the marriage.
A marriage that has not been consummated (i.e. that has not given rise to sexual relations) is also considered null and void. Every year, approximately 55,000 requests for a declaration of annulment are presented to the ecclesiastical courts (approximately 500 in France). They result in a declaration of nullity in more than 90% of cases. It should be noted that the Catholic Church also considers civil marriages between two non-baptised persons or between a non-baptised person and a baptised person to be indissoluble, with two exceptions.
A marriage between two unbaptised persons can be dissolved by a bishop if one spouse accepts baptism and the other refuses (this is the « Pauline privilege », based on 1 Corinthians 7, 11); a marriage between a baptised spouse and an unbaptised spouse can be dissolved by the Pope (this is the « Petrine privilege ») if the unbaptised spouse endangers the faith of the baptised spouse, who wishes to have a baptised spouse. And the dissolution of such a marriage can be carried out at the sole request of one of the spouses, even against the will of the other.
The Church does not prohibit the separation of spouses for serious reasons, provided that there is no remarriage ; « simple » separation does not therefore prevent access to the sacraments. Adultery as such does not even prevent access to the sacraments, but only remarriage, which is considered to be a lasting installation in adultery1 For the Catholic Church, the sacrament of marriage is indissoluble.
If the spouses separate, any civil remarriage is considered gravely sinful. Separated spouses are considered, during the lifetime of the first spouse, to be unfit for any further legitimate married life. The principle of the indissolubility of marriage is based on the New Testament, in particular Matthew 5, 31-32, Matthew 19 1-9, Mark 10, 2-12, Luke 16, 18 and 1 Corinthians 7, 11. These texts prohibit repudiation and remarriage. The Gospel of Matthew, in two places (5, 3-22 and 19, 9), mentions a reason for prohibiting marriage
What God has joined together, let no man put asunder !
« Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife? (Mr 10, 2) What was the temptation to which the Pharisees wanted to subject Jesus? Their general question must have been answered in the affirmative, since divorce was permitted by law in certain circumstances, and Jesus Himself had permitted it in the case of adultery.
They were aware of Jesus’ statements against divorce and hoped to put him at odds with the law of Moses and their own tradition. « Moses permitted the writing of a letter of divorce and repudiation » (Mk 10, 4). According to Matthew, Jesus rejects divorce, recalling the primitive design of God, who created a man and a woman to become one in an indissoluble union; and it is the opponents who invoke the law of Moses as an objection to the principle established by Jesus, since this law authorises divorce.
According to Mark, on the contrary, it was Jesus who first appealed to the law ; and since this law seemed favourable to the Pharisees, Jesus explained the reason, the hardness of the heart; then he explained the destination of man and woman in the plan of creation. The substance of the teaching remained the same, but these discrepancies in the accounts of Matthew and Mark show how independent they were of each other.
Jesus quoted verbatim « he made them male and female » from Genesis 1, 27, the account of the creation of man and woman, which marked God’s intention in their union, and then the word of Adam (Genesis 2, 24), which he appropriated and sanctioned by his authority. He adds, as a conclusion: « Thus it is no longer two who can be separated, but one flesh, one being » (Mt 19, 4-6).
From the Gospel according to Mark
02 Some Pharisees came up to him, and to test him, they asked him, « Is it lawful for a husband to send his wife away? « 03 Jesus answered them, « What did Moses command you? 04 They answered him, « Moses allowed you to send away your wife on condition that you draw up a deed of repudiation. 05 Jesus answered, « Because of the hardness of your hearts, he made this rule for you.
06 But at the beginning of creation God made them male and female. 07 Therefore a man shall leave his father and mother,08 and shall cleave to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two, but one flesh. 09 Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate. 10 When the disciples returned home, they asked him about this again. 11 He said to them, « Whoever sends away his wife and marries another woman commits adultery with her.
12 If a woman who has sent away her husband marries another, she becomes an adulteress. 13 Some people presented children to Jesus to lay hands on them; but the disciples hurriedly turned them away. 14 When Jesus saw this, he became angry and said to them, « Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to their kind. 15 « Verily, I say unto you, Whosoever does not receive the kingdom of God as a little child shall not enter it. 16 He kissed them, blessed them, and laid his hands on them ». (Mk 10:2-16)
This statement is still part of the speech to the Pharisees. The Gospel of Matthew also mentions a question that the disciples asked Jesus (without indicating that he was at home), but this question concerned the advisability of marriage (Matthew 19, 10-12).
In Mark the thought is very different. It presupposed a reciprocity and equality between the two spouses which did not exist among the Jews either in law or morals and which was only found in Greece and Rome. Some interpreters conclude that he adapted the discourse reported by Jesus to these foreign customs, or that Jesus wanted to establish in advance a rule for his Church.
But even if a woman driving away her husband was unheard of among Jews, was it not possible that Jesus was alluding to what had just happened in Herod’s household ? The equality of woman and man before the law and before God certainly emerges from the Gospel, but in a way that was completely unknown in antiquity. « Matthew, Mark and Luke record this instructive and moving story, but all three have no apparent connection with what precedes and follows. That he could touch them may indicate in these pious parents the thought that, if only this man of God would touch their children, a blessing would result for them.
In order to receive the Gospel that introduces us to it and the life from above that is its essence, we must have recovered, by divine grace, the characteristics that distinguish the little child: the feeling of its weakness, of its absolute dependence, humility, candour. The child has no prejudices and therefore receives with simplicity of heart what is presented to him as truth.
Jesus’ tenderness for the small and weak explains why he was indignant against his disciples who wanted to keep them away from him. Jesus blessed them by laying his hands on them. This gesture was not a vain and empty symbol, but the means by which Jesus communicated the blessing. The divine blessing remained on these children.
Deacon Michel Houyoux
Links to other Christian websites
◊ ◊ Father Hanly : click here to read the paper → Homily for 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year B
◊ Aaugustinian friends click here to read the paper →Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time Year B
♥ What God Has Joined Together, Let Not Man Separate,
Publié dans Catéchèse, Dieu, La messe du dimanche, Page jeunesse, Religion, Temps ordinaire | Pas de Commentaire »