Gospel (Mt 19,3-12) - At that time, some Pharisees approached Jesus to test him and asked him: "Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any reason?". He replied: “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 cleave to his wife, and the two will become one flesh'? Thus they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, let not man divide what God has joined together." They asked him: "Why then did Moses order to give her the certificate of divorce and to repudiate her?". He replied to them: «Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives; at the beginning, however, it wasn't like that. But I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except in the case of an illegitimate union, and marries another, commits adultery." His disciples said to him: "If this is the situation of a man with respect to a woman, it is not worth getting married." He replied to them: «Not everyone understands this word, but only those to whom it has been granted. For there are eunuchs who were born like this from their mother's womb, and there are others who were made such by men, and there are still others who were made such for the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can understand, understand."

The commentary on the Gospel by Monsignor Vincenzo Paglia

The Pharisees ask Jesus a much debated question in their schools. He concerned the interpretation of the passage in Deuteronomy (24.1), in which the Law considered the possibility of divorce. Jesus does not want to enter directly into the question and prefers to recall the original will of God regarding the union between man and woman: the family must be based on indissoluble love. Jesus does not accept the interpretations of their rabbis, but he also condemns the practice of divorce that the Pharisees followed on a more or less large scale. And he takes up the teaching of Moses. It is true that he later allowed the divorce from the initial command. But he did it because of the hardness of the human heart. Jesus reiterates the primacy of love in human relationships and therefore also between man and woman who join together in marriage. Irrevocability already seemed like a heavy burden then. Today this appears even more so in a cultural climate where any prospect of stability seems impossible. Pope Francis, without muffling the ideal of marriage, asked us not to abandon anyone and to understand with mercy the fragilities we encounter. But this is possible within the horizon of the primacy of the Gospel of love that welcomes everyone, that accompanies everyone and that helps everyone so that we grow in love for the Lord and for his kingdom. And it is at this point that Jesus reiterates the primacy of the kingdom of heaven in the life of the disciples, of all the disciples. And the ideal of the kingdom is so high that there are some who do not marry "for the kingdom of heaven". Celibacy for the kingdom has an extraordinary value not because it shows the ability to sacrifice oneself, but because it manifests the radical choice for the Lord. It is also saying with life: only God is enough.