God's Guidance

Feb 28: Friday of the Seventh Week in Ordinary Time

Today’s readings are a bit harsh. The ideals presented are hard to live up to. But it’s not like we weren’t warned that would be the case.

Coincidentally, Fr. Mike just posted a video relating to the difficulty of today’s Gospel.

Reading 1

Sir 6:5-17

A kind mouth multiplies friends and appeases enemies, and gracious lips prompt friendly greetings.

Let your acquaintances be many, but one in a thousand your confidant. When you gain a friend, first test him, and be not too ready to trust him. For one sort is a friend when it suits him, but he will not be with you in time of distress. Another is a friend who becomes an enemy, and tells of the quarrel to your shame. Another is a friend, a boon companion, who will not be with you when sorrow comes. When things go well, he is your other self, and lords it over your servants; But if you are brought low, he turns against you and avoids meeting you.

Keep away from your enemies; be on your guard with your friends.

A faithful friend is a sturdy shelter; he who finds one finds a treasure. A faithful friend is beyond price, no sum can balance his worth. A faithful friend is a life-saving remedy, such as he who fears God finds; For he who fears God behaves accordingly, and his friend will be like himself.

Ben Sira presents us with reflections on real friendship—it’s more than just getting along with someone and having common interests. It means really standing by each other, when it’s easy and when it’s hard.

We should be kind to everyone, but that doesn’t mean we should trust everyone. Only true friends can be relied on.

Responsorial Psalm

Ps 119:12, 16, 18, 27, 34, 35

R. (35a) Guide me, Lord, in the way of your commands.
Blessed are you, O LORD;
teach me your statutes.
R. Guide me, Lord, in the way of your commands.
In your statutes I will delight;
I will not forget your words.
R. Guide me, Lord, in the way of your commands.
Open my eyes, that I may consider
the wonders of your law.
R. Guide me, Lord, in the way of your commands.
Make me understand the way of your precepts,
and I will meditate on your wondrous deeds.
R. Guide me, Lord, in the way of your commands.
Give me discernment, that I may observe your law
and keep it with all my heart.
R. Guide me, Lord, in the way of your commands.
Lead me in the path of your commands,
for in it I delight.
R. Guide me, Lord, in the way of your commands.

Ancient Hebrew had nine different words for “instruction,” which our Bible translates variously as “law,” “commands,” etc. The point of this Psalm is that God guides or instructs us in many different ways, with many different means. The onus is still onus to follow these instructions.

Alleluia

See Jn 17:17b, 17a

R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Your word, O Lord, is truth;
consecrate us in the truth.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.

We aren't in a position to judge absolute Truth; God is. That's where our trust should lie.

Gospel

Mk 10:1-12

Jesus came into the district of Judea and across the Jordan. Again crowds gathered around him and, as was his custom, he again taught them.

The Pharisees approached him and asked, "Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?" They were testing him.

He said to them in reply, "What did Moses command you?"

They replied, "Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce and dismiss her."

But Jesus told them, "Because of the hardness of your hearts he wrote you this commandment. But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh. So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate."

In the house the disciples again questioned Jesus about this. He said to them, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery."

This can be a hard passage to hear. Our minds often go to the unjust cases—an abusive husband, a faithless wife, things of that sort. But most divorces aren't for such understandable reasons; they're for the convenience of one or both of the spouses.¹

Regardless, Jesus wants to hold us to a higher standard than the letter of the law. He wants us to follow the law of Love. Is divorce done for love? Or simply a matter of temporary convenience?

Of course, it’s not for us to judge someone else’s marriage; that’s between them and God. Likewise, when we have trouble in our own marriages, Jesus challenges us to not harden our hearts, but instead open them to God’s plan.

1. In Jesus' time, that usually meant the husband; today, most "no fault" divorces are filed by the wife.