Tag Archive for ‘divorce’
Helping Children Make Sense of Unanswered Prayer
A child hears her parents arguing loudly. One threatens divorce. The other begins to cry. Before sleeping that night, the child prays asking God to keep her mother and father together. A month later they separate. A single mother of two early school children is financially strapped. She is concerned about being downsized from her […]
Friday 18 August
Joshua 24:1-13; Psalm 136; Matthew 19:3-12 It’s not a man’s world! In the tradition of Moses, divorce was the prerogative of the husband. He could dismiss a wife on any pretext whatever. In answering the Pharisees’ question, Jesus seeks to strengthen the principle that marriage is a partnership; that the wife is a person, not […]
Friday 10 June
1 Kings 19: 9, 11-16; Ps. 27; Matthew 5:27-32 Love and justice Elijah finds God in the gentle breeze. God is found in the detail not just in the general scheme of things. Each person is sacred to God, not just people in general. In the gospel, Jesus makes it clear: we are judged by […]
Friday 20 May
James 5:9-12, Ps 103, Mark 10:1-12 Divorce The Pharisees question Jesus. He gives a directive on divorce. It was not a law. Elsewhere he implies flexibility for fractured marriages. Almost 50% of NZ families are affected by divorce. Yes, marriage is a permanent sacrament of love and yes, love can die. I work with married […]
The Question of Divorce and Remarriage
Why Not Dispensation? Part I On Monday 23 February 2015 the Old Testament reading for the day included: Moses told [all the Lord had told him] to the Israelites; but they would not listen to Moses, because of their broken spirit and their cruel slavery. Then the Lord spoke to Moses, “Go and tell Pharaoh […]
Friday 28 February
James 5:9-12; Ps 103; Mark 10:1-12 Sanctity of marriage History tells us that divorce was available in Jesus’ day with little cause. Jesus was insisting that the loose sexual morality of the day must be mended. Can you see the parallel today? Some might say that sexual morality has never been looser, family values more […]
Do you feel as I do? – the “Me Society”
I wonder how many of you feel as I do these days – a stranger in our own society, an alien in my own land? We grew up in a society which was generally governed by Christian values. We were a united community, concerned for each other. Self-sacrifice was upheld as a virtue. Human life […]
Friday 17 August
Canticle Isaiah p.170; Ezekiel 16:1-15,59-63; Matthew 19:3-12 Individuality Once again they try to trap Jesus, this time with leading questions on divorce. Jesus responds in a way that makes each one of us a unique person. “Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so, some….” Could we think about the concept that every […]
Encourage Marriage!
In the August edition of the Messenger we published an article by Bob Renshaw on the effect of the media on personal relationships. One of our readers wishes to disagree in part, and propose alternatives. While I agree with Bob Renshaw that the normalisation of casual relationships can only cripple families and is particularly harmful […]
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