First Reading

Reading from the prophecy of Ezekiel

Ezekiel 16, 1-15. 60. 63

The Lord spoke to me and said: «Son of man, make known to Jerusalem her sins. Say to her on my behalf: ‘The land in which you were born is the land of Canaan. Your father was an Amorite and your mother a Hittite. On the day you were born, your navel cord was not cut, nor were you washed, nor rubbed with salt, nor wrapped in swaddling clothes. No one had compassion on you to perform any of these services for you, and you were thrown out into the open field, for you were loathsome on the day you were born. I passed by you and saw you struggling in your blood, and I said to you, when you were covered in blood: Live and grow like the grass of the field.

You grew up, you developed, and you became a woman. You reached puberty, your breasts were formed, and your hair grew. But you were naked and covered with shame. I passed by you again and saw that you were at the age for love. I spread my cloak over you and covered you with it; I made a covenant with you by oath, says the Lord, and you became mine. I washed the blood that covered you and anointed you with oil. I clothed you with embroidered garments, fine sandals, a linen band on your head, and a silk mantle. I adorned you with jewels: bracelets and necklaces; I put a ring on you, earrings, and a splendid diadem on your head; you wore gold and silver jewelry and garments of linen, silk, and embroidery. You ate fine wheat, honey, and oil. You became more and more beautiful, as lovely as a queen. The fame of your beauty spread among the nations, for I, says the Lord, filled you with charm.

Then you became proud of your beauty, you used your fame to prostitute yourself, and you gave yourself to everyone who passed by. But I will remember the covenant I made with you when you were young, and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, so that you may remember your past, be ashamed, and never again open your mouth to boast, when I forgive you all that you have done’ «. This is what the Lord Almighty says.

Gospel

Reading from the holy gospel according to Saint Matthew

Matthew 19, 3-12

At that time, some Pharisees came to Jesus and asked him, to trap him: «Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?»

Jesus answered them: «Have you not read that the Creator, from the beginning, made them male and female, and said: ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh?’ So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, let no one separate.»

But they replied: «Then why did Moses command that a man give his wife a certificate of divorce when he divorces her?»

Jesus answered them: «Because of your hardness of heart, Moses permitted you to divorce your wives; but it was not so from the beginning. And I tell you that whoever divorces his wife, except in the case of unlawful union, and marries another, commits adultery; and whoever marries a divorced woman also commits adultery.»

Then his disciples said to him: «If this is the situation of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.» But Jesus said to them: «Not everyone can accept this teaching, but only those to whom it has been granted. For there are men who, from birth, are incapable of marriage; others have been made so by men, and there are others who have renounced marriage for the sake of the Kingdom of heaven. Let the one who can accept it, accept it.»