27th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Collect

Almighty ever-living God, who in the abundance of your kindness surpass the merits and the desires of those who entreat you, pour out your mercy upon us to pardon what conscience dreads and to give what prayer does not dare to ask. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Lectio Divina

Inspired by the Holy Spirit, in his Gospel St Mark focuses on being a disciple of Jesus in a time of persecution, presenting also a number of challenges for those who followed the Lord Jesus. This is what we find in this Sunday’s readings in which the principal theme is about marriage in God’s plan.

In the First Reading we find that, from the beginning, God wanted married couples to be united in a bond that cannot be undone. This has always been His plan for marriage. All other creatures can never satisfy the human heart as much as another person can. In this linguistically beautiful passage, the author demonstrates how much God the Creator desires what is best for man, through the joy that makes him whole, by revealing the happiness and greatness

In the Second Reading, we hear how God desires that we, as his children, arrive at our glory. This was his plan from the beginning. But man wanted to follow his own will, and therefore we experienced separation from God and its consequences. For this reason, He sent his Only begotten Son in order that we be saved through his sufferings. Salvation from sin touches every area of our lives including our relationships with others, and especially within marriage.

The Gospel follows on from the topic in the first reading about God’s plan for marriage. The Gospel begins by describing the circumstances in which Jesus speaks about marriage without making any compromises. Jesus is being tested by the religious leaders of his time. This testing takes place regularly. Their intention was to see if Jesus’ teaching corresponds with their traditions. Probably they also wanted to decrease Jesus’ popularity amongst the people. Without hesitation Jesus declares unequivocally that his Father’s plan was and always will be that a man and a woman are united by God and so cannot be separated. This plan is difficult. This is made manifest especially when the disciples themselves ask Jesus how this can be. It is here that Jesus, who came to save us, tells us that in marriage there is God’s blessing, but through divorce people can easily fall into adultery. A disciple of Jesus cannot behave and reason according to the inclinations of the world or of the society we live in. The disciple shapes his lifestyle according to God’s plan which does not deprive us of his Grace.

As a disciple of Jesus in the twenty first century, am I worried that many of the Gospel values are being challenged by the society that I live in? Am I concerned that I will encounter people who do not follow Jesus’ teachings on marriage? Am I firmly convinced of Jesus’ teaching on marriage when I come across broken marriages, divorced individuals, persons of different sexual orientations in civil marriages? How do I look upon couples who are preparing for marriage? The second reading places a ray of hope on this topic.

Prayer

Father, thank you for your providence. You have made us man and woman, and, when through sin we shattered every relationship, you did not leave us orphans. Thank you for sending your Son Jesus who took upon himself all our sins, wounds, and pains, and destroyed the grip they had on us, through his death. Father, I pray through the power of the Precious Blood of Jesus for every woman and man, married or single, that your plan for us—a plan for good and not harm—comes to pass in our lives. Help us, Father, that through your Spirit we may repent and turn to you again to live life in the way you intended it. Thank you. Amen.