1. In The Little Prince, Antoine de Saint-Exupèry has the fox say, “you become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed.” God allowed Adam, one of us, to give each creature its name. This is, in a way, a taming process. Do we feel responsible for the planet and all the life on it? Are there areas in our environment where we are not acting responsibly? Discuss what you can do in your home or place of work to make changes for the better.

2. Are there cultures that don’t value women the same as men? What would you say to a person who thinks the superiority of men over women is divinely revealed in this text? What will you do if the women and men in your work place were not treated as equals?

Second Reading
Hebrews 2:9-11

1. In the initial line of the First Reading, the Lord says, “It is not good for the man to be alone.” Contrast this with the following line from the Second Reading: “He for a little while was made lower than the angels.” What ideas do you get from this contrast?

2. Jesus consecrated himself to his Father and us along with him. He called us sisters and brothers. How does this create reverence toward our present-day brothers and sisters? Do you treat the bag lady with the same respect that you treat the CEO?

Gospel
Mark 10:2-16

1. After being tested and questioned on the topic of divorce by the Pharisees and his disciples, do you think Jesus was ready for a pleasant distraction? (“He embraced them and blessed them, placing his hands on them.”) How did he handle his disciples’ rebuking the people for bringing their children to him? Is there something that makes you “indignant”? What?

2. In this Gospel, the Pharisees and the disciples question Jesus about divorce. He answers, “whoever divorces his wife commits adultery.” But he also reminds them about Moses permitting “husbands to write bill of divorce … ” What might these two ideas say to the Church today?

The Gospel passage speaks to us of “the truths that Jesus gives us, which are full truths, given by God, the Father. … It also shows us “the way,” that is, “the way in which Jesus acts before sinners: with forgiveness, leaving the door open.” …

Jesus, “recalling Moses, tells us that there is hardness of heart, there is sin.” But you can do something: forgiveness, understanding, accompaniment, integration, the discernment of these cases. …

We must walk with these two things that Jesus teaches us: truth and understanding. ... And this cannot be resolved like a mathematical equation, but “with flesh itself: that is to say, as a Christian I help that person, I help those marriages that are facing difficulty, that are wounded, on their path to approaching God.”

Pope Francis, God is not an equation.
May 20, 2016