Divorce means stubbornness of hearts!

August 12, Friday, 19th Week in Ordinary Time / St Frances de Chantal
Ezekiel 16:59-63 and Matthew 19:3-12

When God unites he sustains the union with his blessings and graces.

When divorce has become an option to many, what should be the best action that Christians should employ against the threat of divorce to family? I believe this concern is not only for Catholics but for all who value and give importance to the family.

The first reading (Ezekiel 16:59-63) gives us a clue. The prophet Ezekiel talked about a covenant. God said, “I will deal with you according to what you have done, you who despised your oath, breaking a covenant.” This refers to God’s covenant with His people – “You will be my people and I will be your God.” Because of breaking the covenant, the Israelites suffered all sorts of pains, sorrows, difficulties and all forms of trouble.

In other words, their stubbornness of hearts, forgetting and abandoning God in their lives, brought punishment upon themselves. It is a reality that evil beset us when we forget God. Forgetting God means despising God and breaking His covenant of love with us.

This is what Jesus is trying to point out in the gospel today. Marriage is a covenant of love between the couple and God. This covenant forges that union fortified by their oneness of hearts through God’s love. For marriage to last until death, the couple has to remain one with God. When the couple separates themselves from God then they become alienated to one another, seeing only their weaknesses leading to divorce. See how stubbornness of hearts open the gates to broken relationships!

How important then to remain open and obedient to God. When our hearts are aligned to God’s heart, we protect our relationships, marriages and families from being broken. Amen.