Question Title | Posted By | Question Date |
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Marriage | Thomas | Monday, April 19, 2010 |
Question: Dear Brother, I strongly feel that my colleague is not doing the right thing and that he is guilty in destroying a marriage. Am I right in thinking that if he takes part in this sin, his family can be affected because he was a witness to seeing a family destroyed. If I am right, what biblical verses can I show him? I do not know how to tell my colleague to not to encourage this marriage destruction and not to be a mere spectator in seeing this marriage destroyed. Can you give me biblical verses to back this up. Why I ask for biblical verses is because my colleague uses biblical verses to connect to everything in his life (especially when it comes to his prosperity) |
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Question Answered by Bro. Ignatius Mary, OLSM
Dear Thomas: I cannot really answer your question because you give no details as to what is breaking-up the marriage. Divorce, however, is prohibited by the Bible: (Matthew 19:9) "And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery." We must keep in mind that when Jesus said this ("except for unchastity", or some translations say "adultery"), Jesus was not saying that in a valid marriage adultery is grounds for divorce. In the previous verse (v. 8) Jesus says: "For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so." From a valid sacramental marriage divorce is prohibited and impossible. Rather Jesus was talking about invalid marriages. The Greek word used here appears to refer to marriages which were not legally marriages (e.g., incestuous or marriage with a Gentile). The exception phrase does not appear the parallel verse in Luke 16:18: "Every one who divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery, and he who marries a woman divorced from her husband commits adultery." The other passage that comes to mind is about husband and wives are to treat each other:
I was divorced thirty-one years ago. I later received an annulment from the Church. But, as to the break-up of the marriage, I tried to convince my wife to remain in the marriage, despite the fact that she committed adultery twice. She decided to leave. I could not chain her to the house. The point is that all we can do is to appeal for reconciliation, but we cannot force a spouse to cooperate. Sometime we have to let go. God Bless, Footer Notes: This forum is for general questions on the faith. See specific Topic Forums below: Spiritual Warfare, demons, the occult go to our Spiritul Warfare Q&S Forum. Liturgy Questions go to our Liturgy and Liturgical Law Q&A Forum Liturgy of the Hours (Divine Office) Questions go to our Divine Office Q&A Forum Defenfing the Faith Questions go to our Defending the Faith Q&A Forum Church History Questions go to our Church History Q&A Forum
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