Politicians all say they are going to create jobs and work for peace and protect the environment. How specifically they plan to do that is not always clear. It seems the Pharisees were trying to nail Jesus to a specific program when they confronted him about marriage law. All this talk about love is great, but what does it look like in the concrete of messy marriages, they want to know. Jesus holds onto the ideal of marriage as God intended it, as a reflection of divine love and fidelity for God’s people. But Jesus knew “not all can accept this word.” Pope Francis is seeking to find a way of holding onto the divine ideal of marriage while at the same time assuring mercy in the real situations of life.
