7th Week, Friday, Feb 25th

 7th Week, Friday, Feb 25th

James 5:9-12 / Mark 10:1-12

Use the prophets as models; Be patient!

 The New York Times ran a humorous story about a little boy on a bus. The youngster was bombarding his mother with scores of questions. Finally, the boy's mother lost her patience and shouted; “Will you please shut up!" The boy stared at his mother in disbelief for about a minute. Then he tugged his mother's sleeve and said, “Hey, Mommy, it's me, Danny. Remember?”

People, especially small children, have a way of getting on our nerves. It takes the patience of Job to deal with them day in and day out. But that's what a Christian is called to do, says James in today's reading.

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What effort are we making to improve our relationship with others, especially when it comes to patience? “A lot of the road to heaven has to be taken at thirty miles per hour.” Evelyn Underhill

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The purpose of complaints does not usually have a good intent to it. We resort to complaints when we are not pleased about a matter or about others. But as much as we think that by complaining, we point out the failures and negative side of others, we may not realize that complaining reveals much about ourselves. More often than not, it is because we are unable to do anything about situations or persons that we don't like that we have recourse to complaining. But the result is that nothing much changes, and even if there are changes, it will be only a temporary and outward change. Nothing has changed much internally if there is no realization within. 

The 1st reading urges us that instead of complaining against one another, we turn to look at the men of God and learn endurance and patience from them, so that we will understand the Lord's purpose and realize that the Lord is kind and compassionate.

 And in the gospel, as the Pharisees approached Jesus and asked that question about whether it is against the law for a man to divorce his wife, we turn our thoughts and reflections of married life and the marital relationship. As much as it is undeniable that spouses often complain about one another and there are many jokes about marriage, but spouses also need to learn endurance and patience.

 And not just spouses, but also all of us. We need to learn endurance and patience when we meet with frustrating situations and irritating people so that we will understand the Lord's purpose and realise that the Lord is kind and compassionate. So let us cease complaining and start learning the ways of the Lord, so that we can bring about a blessed change in situations and even in people.

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Friday of 7th Week in Ordinary Time 

Joined Together By God                                   

Introduction

James gives practical advice. We have to wait in patience for the coming of the Lord, and also be patient with one another. Then, we should be reliable people who stand by their given word.

To Christ, marriage is planned by God to be indissoluble. Infidelity in marriage and divorce are against the will of God, whose faithfulness is the model of fidelity in marriage. In this Eucharist, we pray for fidelity for our Christian couples and for all of us in our commitments for fidelity to God and our neighbor. 

Opening Prayer

You have created us, Lord our God, for friendship and for durable love, and you have shown us in Jesus, your Son, how to live for one another and for you. May we learn from him to remain faithful to one another, each one according to one’s calling in life. Let our love for one another be the language in which you speak to us and the sign that you are near to us through Jesus Christ, our Lord. 

Intentions

–          For the homes built on unselfish love, that through them, we may understand better all the depth of God’s love, we pray:

–          For homes that are broken and for partners who have failed each other, that people may show them understanding and that God may give them mercy, we pray:

–          For those who have renounced marriage for the sake of serving God in others, that they may never become loners, but that their hearts may be spacious and warm, we pray: 

Prayer over the Gifts

Our God and faithful Father, we have brought bread and wine before you and are gathered around the table of your Son to celebrate that we are, and want to be evermore, a covenant community with you and with one another. Accept our thanks and praise and let us experience here, that you are on the way with us whenever we are united with one another in serving and loving faithfulness, through Jesus Christ, our Lord. 

Prayer after Communion

Our God and Father, you have entrusted love to us not as a finished product but as an assignment for life. Let the love of your Son, which we have experienced here in this Eucharist invest our love with indestructible faithfulness, that it may weather all storms and keep growing in-depth, until you crown it with your joy that lasts, forever and ever. 

Blessing

We admire reliable, faithful love. We find a model for it in God’s love, as exemplified in Jesus. May our love also be strong and faithful, especially in marriage. May God bless you, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. 

Commentary 

Gender Bias

 “Is it right for a husband to divorce his wife?” The gender bias is inescapable. The question carries reference only to the “right” of men to divorce their wives. There is no corollary as to the legitimacy of a wife divorcing her husband. Not even such a possibility exists in their thoughts. Contrast this with the later response of Jesus to the disciples, in which he is inclusive of both genders in his rejection of divorce. He equates both men and women in his ruling of right and wrong—precisely because, as he responded to the Pharisees, God has made human beings male and female. Even when the explicit theme of the discourse is the question of divorce, let us not lose sight of the hidden assumptions and false priorities that underlie such questions. Had there been gender equivalence in their minds, perhaps the question of divorce would not have occurred at all!