Friday 12 August 2022

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Today is Friday the 12th August, in the 19th week of Ordinary Time.

Eliza King sings, ‘I Shall Not Want’. As you enter into prayer today, can you begin by remembering that God is working to care for your needs today…

I shall not want, I shall not want

For where He leads me to lie

There’s always green pastures, blue sky

And where He leads me to rest

The water’s quiet there

The whole world is quiet there

I shall not want, I shall not want

For when the valley is deep

And death is like a shadow taunting me

There is no need to fear

For the shepherd is no strangеr here

He will lеad me to the clear

And He restores my soul

And His kindness keeps me close

In the chaos and the noise

You’re the still, small voice

I shall not want, I shall not want

For He invites me to know

The abundance of His table

And I am seated in view

Of every valley that we’ve walked through

And He restores my soul

And awakens buried hope

In the chaos and the noise

You’re the still, small voice

You fill my cup till it overflows

I want for nothing, I want for nothing

All through my life, every season shows

Goodness and mercy follow behind me

The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want

The Lord is my shepherd I shall not want

Up on His shoulders, He carries me home

Carries me home

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Matthew.

Matthew 19:3-12

Some Pharisees came to him, and to test him they asked, ‘Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause?’ He answered, ‘Have you not read that the one who made them at the beginning “made them male and female”, and said, “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, let no one separate.’ They said to him, ‘Why then did Moses command us to give a certificate of dismissal and to divorce her?’ He said to them, ‘It was because you were so hard-hearted that Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but at the beginning it was not so. And I say to you, whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another commits adultery.’

His disciples said to him, ‘If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.’ But he said to them, ‘Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by others, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Let anyone accept this who can.’

Jesus’ expression ‘eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom’ must have shocked his disciples, most of whom would have been married. The Jewish law forbade mutilation and looked on this particular one with horror. For Jesus, marriage and discipleship are both about faithfulness and self-gift. Where do you see these values present in your life?

The Gospels often show Jesus speaking about the cost of discipleship. Both marriage and the consecrated life are expressions of costly love. How does this teaching of Jesus touch into your own life choices? Perhaps it brings a deeper sense of call or commitment? What feelings emerge in you as you reflect on it?

Jesus’ words shock his hearers in different ways. As we listen to the reading a second time, what strikes and stays with you?

Jesus also speaks of the power of love. What do you want to say to him in response?

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.