Daily Gospel Reflection
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February 28, 2025
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.”
In June of 2024, I was part of a Notre Dame team that volunteered in Peru at Santisimo Sacramento, the incredible parish of our dear ND 1980 classmate, Father Joe Uhen. It was a fulfilling and absolutely jolting experience for me.
Father Joe has, over his 30+ years there, built a Catholic eco-system that empowers his 30,000 parishioners with childcare, education, job training, farming, medical care, hospice…. every aspect of life.
One of our tasks was to build what they would call a home consisting of dirt floors, grass walls, no plumbing, no electricity, and no footings for the bamboo posts. Perhaps one day, the family would acquire chickens or a pig from Fr. Joe’s farm, which would assist in their road to sustainability. Despite the shocking poverty, the recipient family was joyful and most grateful for this simple, humble structure. This experience and the entire week pushed me out of my comfort zone and complacency.
Today’s gospel jolted me as well. In the next few lines following today’s hard gospel, Jesus tells a man to sell what he has, give it to the poor, and then have treasure in heaven. What are we to make of these sorts of edicts from Jesus? Are the divorced and those with possessions excluded from eternal life?
As we see, Jesus jolts. He can make us uncomfortable. He can shock us out of our self-satisfaction and force us to come face to face with what keeps us from a relationship with God. He can lay bare the fact that our lives may need re-ordering.
I need these jolts, either through gospels like this or through our experiences like Fr. Joe’s, to reassess and work to remove the impediments that I’ve foolishly placed before God. Father, please guide us to place you first, above all else.
Prayer
Lord, you teach us to hold the covenant of marriage in the highest dignity. Bless all husbands and wives in their promises of love and fidelity to one another. Help all couples experiencing difficulties. Assist all members of your church to support and encourage one another in our vocations. Amen.
Saint of the Day
From 249-263, pestilence and disease ravaged the Roman empire. At its worst, plague killed 5,000 people in Rome in one day.
Alexandria, the great city in Egypt, was not safe from the crisis. The city had already suffered from famine, and desperate people turned to violence. On top of all of this, the plague struck—nearly every single family in the city suffered at least one death.
The city was in chaos—corpses lay in the streets and homes, unburied, and the smell of sickness and death was everywhere. All of this inspired fear in Alexandrians—as soon as anyone fell ill, they were abandoned by their family and closest friends.
Up to this point, Christians in Alexandria had suffered under Roman persecution, and they were forced to gather in secret to worship. Sometimes they came together at a hidden location, other times they all went to sea in a boat to be safe.
When the city fell apart from fear, sickness, and death, Christians stood tall—they disregarded the danger from the persecution, and from their own exposure to the plague, and cared for the suffering. They tended sick and dying people, carrying the dead on their own shoulders for a proper burial.
The bishop of Alexandria, St. Dionysius, described their service:
"Many who had healed others became victims themselves. The best of our brethren have been taken from us in this manner: some were priests, others deacons and some laity of great worth."
Because these Christians willingly gave their life in the course of living their faith with heroic virtue, they are recognized as martyrs.
Martyrs of Alexandria, you gave your lives to care for your plague-stricken persecutors—pray for us!
Image Credit: Today's featured image, a detail depicting the Plague of Ashod, is in the public domain. Last accessed December 5, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.
