Anna as my partner in ministry. It was a wonderful week, but I had to stretch because she doesn't do things the way I do them. And I was not in control as much as when I do a mission or retreat alone. It was not easy, but it was very right. Marriage is not easy either.
Divorce sometimes seems like a good option in times of stress.
But divorce goes against the ideal Jesus presents. Still, the issue in the Gospel is not really divorce, it is the ideal of marriage. I'm not going to talk about divorce much today, except to say that the early Church and the Church of today honors the ideal of Jesus by reaching out to people who are divorced, rather than excluding them. Jesus presents the ideal, but the mercy of God can heal anyone who falls short of the Gospel ideal, and who of us has not needed that mercy. I would like to reflect on the first reading today, since Jesus quotes it.