August 16, 2013, Gospel

Matthew   19: 3-12

19:3 And the Pharisees approached him, testing him, and saying, “Is it lawful for a man to separate from his wife, no matter what the cause?”

19:4 And he said to them in response, “Have you not read that he who made man from the beginning, made them male and female?” And he said:

19:5 “For this reason, a man shall separate from father and mother, and he shall cling to his wife, and these two shall become one flesh.

19:6 And so, now they are not two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no man separate.”

19:7 They said to him, “Then why did Moses command him to give a bill of divorce, and to separate?”

19:8 He said to them: “Although Moses permitted you to separate from your wives, due to the hardness of your heart, it was not that way from the beginning.

19:9 And I say to you, that whoever will have separated from his wife, except because of fornication, and who will have married another, commits adultery, and whoever will have married her who has been separated, commits adultery.”

19:10 His disciples said to him, “If such is the case for a man with a wife, then it is not expedient to marry.”

19:11 And he said to them: “Not everyone is able to grasp this word, but only those to whom it has been given.

19:12 For there are chaste persons who were born so from their mother’s womb, and there are chaste persons who have been made so by men, and there are chaste persons who have made themselves chaste for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever is able to grasp this, let him grasp it.”