Daily Gospel Reflection
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February 25, 2022
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.”
Christian marriage in the Bible is described as a life-long covenantal commitment before God.
It sounds hard.
I have heard many married couples say as much, including my parents. I remember a priest once asked my parents how they had worked so well together for so long. My mother immediately exclaimed, “It’s God’s grace!” Indeed, only grace can enable two completely different people to continue to love within the sacrament of marriage.
Of course, every relationship has its ups and downs. When I was younger and didn’t understand much about love and sacrifice, I used to judge the weaknesses in my parents’ marriage and often think how I would do things differently when I was married. Now, I understand the tremendous effort they put into loving, understanding, and helping each other through their respective strengths and weaknesses throughout their lives.
One of my most vivid memories is that my family would gather to say a few simple prayers every night—something that my parents made sure to do from the start of their marriage. And just like Father Patrick Peyton C.S.C. says often, “The family that prays together, stays together.”
As I look back, I can boldly say that the secret to their 30+ years of marriage is that they made loving Jesus and, by extension, each other, the center of all they did.
May all couples on the path to marriage, newlyweds, the middle-aged, and the seniors, grow closer to Jesus, who will guide your love through to the end.
Prayer
Lord, we pray for all affected by the violence in Ukraine. Watch over the people who are most vulnerable, and may those in power recognize their great responsibility always to work for peace and justice. For those who have already lost their lives, bring them swiftly to eternal life, and may all people of goodwill join in prayer for an end to these hostilities.
Saint of the Day
Even though she lived in the eighth century, St. Walburga’s legacy continues to have a physically healing presence today in two ways: the community of Benedictine nuns that she established in Europe were one of the main branches of sisters who came to serve in America, and her relics emit a kind of oil that pilgrims seek as an aid to healing.
She was an Englishwoman, the daughter of St. Richard the Pilgrim, and sister to St. Willibald and St. Winebald. She was educated at a monastery in England, and that is where she professed her religious vows.
St. Boniface, the great “Apostle of Germany,” was uncle to these holy siblings, and when he left England to evangelize the German people, he took St. Walburga’s brothers with him. Later, he wanted to establish convents in Germany and asked missionary nuns from England to join him there. Walburga was among those who left her home to preach the good news on the continent. She studied medicine and brought those skills to the people she served.
She was also well-educated and literate, and wrote of her brothers’ lives and experiences on pilgrimage to the Holy Land with their father, Richard. Because of this, she is known as the first female author of either Germany or England.
Her brother, Winebald, founded double monasteries—one for monks and another for nuns—and asked her to lead the convent. When he died some years later, she was appointed abbess of both houses by her other brother, Willibald, who had been appointed bishop of that region.
Walburga died on this date in 779. Her relics rest in the reliquary chapel in the Basilica.
The main body of her relics rest on a rock in a church in Bavaria, and a kind of oil flows from an opening in the rock under her relics. It is an aromatic watery fluid, and even today people have experienced cures through its use and the intercession of St. Walburga. The oil flows for a period of time between Oct. 12 through Feb. 25—two landmark days in the saint’s life.
St. Walburga, you were the nun who left her homeland to bring healing and learning to others—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Walburga is in the public domain. Last accessed December 6, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.
