Rev. Fr.
Emmanuel Emenike Onyia.
DEALING
WITH THE ISSUES OF DIVORCE IN FAMILY LIFE
The
fragile nature of our society today has placed in the minds of the youths a
distorted image of what marriage and family life entails and truly represent in
the society. This is because many young people today find themselves in a
condition of radical instability and look for people to help them answer the
fundamental questions of life. Today there are different notion and
understanding of marriage especially among the youths. Marriage is seen as a
business which anybody can engage or disengage at anytime.
Marriage
among the youths of today is a thing of choice and contract which is suitable
only when it serves their personal interest. Commitment, sacrifice and
partnerships of a whole life are far from their understanding of what marriage
truly represent. The fact remains that Marriage is the basis of every human
family and indeed the basic cell of every community.
Little
wonder in our Gospel passage today when the Pharisees engaged Jesus on the
notion of divorce in marriage and it’s controversy. Jesus refer them to the
fundamental principle of marriage when he said, Have you not read that the
creator from the beginning made them male and female and that he said: This is
why a man must leave father and mother, and cling to his wife, and the two
become one body? They are no longer two, therefore, but one body. So then, what
God has united, man must not divide.’
So, addressing
the issue of divorce, Jesus said ‘It was because you were so unteachable that
why Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but it was not like this from the
beginning. Now I say this to you: the man who divorces his wife, except for
unchastity, marries another, is guilty of adultery. And he who marries a
divorced wife commits adultery.
Here Jesus emphasized on the real intention of
God about marriage and celibacy, that they are two forms of life that help us
to value human sexuality as gift from God. He ruled out divorce by placing men
and women on the same level; no longer could a man opt to divorce his wife,
except for extreme unchastity. Today there are lots of problems in family due
to lack of understanding of what marriage truly means.
It is
quite interesting to realize that social, economic and political factors were
major determinants that shapes the youths present understand of marriage, as we
see the youths giving importance to changing trends in marriage such as: single
parent, inter-caste marriage, living in relationship or cohabitation, lesbian,
gay, bisexual, transgender marriages, etc. Hence, marriage for them is more of
a social phenomenon than spiritual union and physical companionship.
Little
wonder Joshua in our first reading today reminded the people of Israel and all
of us how faithful God has been to us and the need of us to be faithful with
him, when in the reading, he gathered
all the tribes of Israel together at Shechem and they presented themselves
before God.
This
is because we have abandoned and divorced God, by trusting on our own power and
ability which he has given us. Yet God still remembers the covenant he made
with us, he is not ashamed to identify with us. All he wants is for us to come
back to him now that we are still alive for he is a merciful and faithful
husband who loves us as his bride.
Dear
friends, today we are called to embrace the will of God and his teaching
concerning family life and the issue of divorce. We should not let the trending
ideas of disordered personalities in our world mislead us. Rather, we should value
and respect the sanctity marriage.
LET US
PRAY: Lord God, we have always failed to listen and follow you teaching, as a
result, there are lots of problems in
our families due to lack of understanding of what marriage truly means.
As we listen to your teaching today, help us to value our vocation whether
marriage or celibate life and to constantly struggle to fix the problems in our
families, we ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen. God bless you.
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