A Source of Blessing for Everyone
Pope Francis invites us to use our judgement when faced with situations that fall short of what the Lord demands of us (AL 6). In these situations, where the spirit of mercy ought to be present, firstly we need to examine our consciences to ensure that each of us lives a life according to the Lord’s will; then we need to do our utmost to find the means and ways, in the human domain as well as that of grace, to align our life and lifestyle with God’s thinking. It is not a question of adapting God’s will to our will, but of doing what the Virgin Mary did, when she replied to the angel, “Let it be done unto me according to your word.” (Lk 1:38)
When the scribes and the Pharisees asked Jesus as to whether divorce was allowed according to the law of Moses, Jesus referred to the “beginning,” “Then God said, ‘Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness.’” (Gn 1, 26-27) Jesus replied the following to the scribes and Pharisees, “Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (Mt 19:6)
Referring to St John Paul II’s teachings of the theology of the body, Pope Francis in Amoris laetitia also talks about the “primordial divine plan clearly spoken of by Christ himself” for couples. (AL 9; Mt 19:4; GN 2:24) The divine dream for couples and the family is that “they may become a communion of persons in the image of the union of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit.” (AL 9) And this divine dream comes true in Christ and the Church and in all couples and families who live from his Spirit, and in his image and likeness. Couples and families who live according to the thinking and will of God—“Thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord.” (Ps 128:4; AL 15)—uphold and support the world and are a source of blessing for everyone.
José Jacinto Ferreira de Farias, scj
