October 4, 2015: Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

(Photo: Sister Patty Wallace who serves as the children’s outreach librarian in Indianapolis.)

The Pharisees approached Jesus 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.”
And people were bringing children to him that he might touch them, but the disciples rebuked them.
When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them,
“Let the children come to Me; do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these.
Amen, I say to you, whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.”
Then Jesus embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them. (Mark 10: 2-16)

Reflection

The Pharisees – who were they? They were members of a Jewish sect that strove to live as faithful Jews by following the law of Moses with utmost care. But they come with ulterior motives.
To what commandment does this Gospel relate?
What was God’s intention for the marital bond?
How does it make you feel to know that God embraced and loved children?

Action

You are important to God.
On the day of your Baptism, God blessed you with God’s own life.
God continues to bless you each day.

Try to bless others by praying for them and by asking God to care for them and to protect them.