Friday of the Tenth Week in Ordinary Time
”Everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery”
Today Jesus speaks clearly to us about indissoluble love, the fruit of chaste love. As Pope Francis stated, “The holiness and indissolubility of Christian matrimony, often disintegrating under tremendous pressure from the secular world, must be deepened by clear doctrine and supported by the witness of committed married couples.” Unfortunately, today, this can be a controversial subject, because it seems that practicing chastity and the virtue of holy purity in the middle of this world is considered outdated, or could even take away our freedom.
Our "eyes" also speak about what’s in our hearts. The gaze of spouses, for example, must be an expression of a chaste and pure love that lasts forever. "Everyone who looks at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart" (Mt 5:28).
This purity of heart is expressed by treating our bodies with dignity: Saint Paul says "Your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit" (1Cor 6:19). Today's Gospel must lead us to understand the sacredness of marriage. It is not about understanding the Gospel in a literal way, since losing an eye or a hand does not exempt us from sinning —and is generally considered a bad thing to have happen to someone. Rather, the words of Jesus refer to the sacrifices we must make in order to remain faithful to the project of fidelity to God; and in respecting the sanctity of marriage as a true sacrament, by living according to the purpose for which it was established.
Jesus wants to restore the divine law to its full strength, and says: “Whoever divorces his wife ... causes her to commit adultery” (Mt 5:32). With these words he shows the extent to which each one is responsible for the holiness of his or her spouse: We are called to be "one" in holy marriage. It is true that marriage is often not an easy thing: living with holiness implies the cross. As Benedict XVI would say: “Love does not leave us indifferent.”