Gospel according to Matthew 19:3-12
“Therefore, let no man separate what God has joined together.” Today, Jesus leads us back to the origin of love, into the very heart of God. Before our fragilities, our wounds, and our fears, there is a wonderful plan: we were created to love and to become a gift. Jesus helps us understand that the true enemy of love is hardness of heart. A hardened heart stops listening, forgiving, waiting, and seeing the good in the other. A heart inhabited by God, instead, always remains capable of beginning again—not because it does not suffer, but because it allows the Lord to enter precisely into its wounds. To love according to Jesus does not mean living without difficulties; it means being able to say every day: “Lord, teach me to love again.” When feelings waver, the choice to protect and cherish remains; when misunderstandings come, the possibility of forgiveness remains; when our strength runs out, the space for grace begins. And this Word does not concern only spouses. Every vocation is a call to love: some give their lives in marriage, and others consecrate them entirely to the Kingdom of Heaven. Different paths, but one destination: God. Deep down, our whole life is a pilgrimage toward Paradise. People God places beside us are not entrusted to us so that we may possess them, but so that we may love them, cherish them, and help one another reach Him. This makes every love lived in God something immensely precious. Lord Jesus, make our hearts like Yours. Remove every hardness from us and teach us faithfulness, forgiveness, patience, and tenderness. Grant that, through the way we love, others may encounter You. And when the day comes when our journey on earth comes to an end, grant that we may all find ourselves together in You, in the joy of Paradise, where every tear will be wiped away and we will finally understand that every gesture of love given on earth was already preparing us for eternity. Because everything passes, Lord, but love lived in You does not die: it becomes eternal.
– Rosanna Dora De Lucia
