In the Western world today, somewhere between one-third and one-half of marriages end in divorce. It’s a statistic that we hear wheeled out as a sign of the collapse of family values in our society. However, the reverse statistic is also true: somewhere between one- half and two-thirds of marriages are lasting ones. In the last 30-40 years, divorce has transformed from being a shameful scandal to an accepted, even commonplace, fact of life. It would be uncommon not to know someone affected by divorce. Despite those who argue that divorce is too ‘easy’, it is an emotional and difficult decision for couples to reach and has rippling impacts on children, extended families and friends.
When the Pharisees in the gospel asked Jesus about the law regarding divorce, they really weren’t interested in divorce; they wanted to check Jesus’ orthodoxy – how he stood in relation to traditional teaching. Rather than respond to them directly, Jesus asks them first of all to name the teaching to which they refer. He then explains that Moses only ever wrote the instruction because the people were so unwilling to listen to God’s way.
For the second time in the last few weeks, the gospel shows Jesus welcoming children and praising their attitude as the way to the kingdom of God. Children of the time had no status and were regarded as literally the property of their father. When Jesus laid his hands on the children and gave them his blessing, this was the action of a father
‘claiming’ the child as their own. To welcome the kingdom like a little child is to enter into living the kingdom of God without any to recognise our complete
let go of our ideas of who is important and who is not; to allow ourselves to be ‘claimed’ by Jesus.
© Greg Sunter
Read more from here Parish Bulletin_06.10.2024
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