For 14 August 2026, Memorial of Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Priest, Martyr , based on Matthew 19:3-12, sent in from Rome, Italy.
(Photo by Lawrence Lew OP of a relic of hairs from the saint’s beard from the the Maximilian Kolbe centre in Lourdes)
Pharisees came up to Jesus and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” He said to them, “For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery.”
The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry.” But he said to them, “Not all men can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it.”
Scripture passage from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
About Aniedi Okure OP
Brother Aniedi Okure, O.P. is the General Promoter of Justice and Peace and the new Delegate to the United Nations for the friars of the Order of Preachers. Previously, Brother Aniedi served as the Executive Director of the Washington DC-based Africa Faith and Justice Network (AFJN), and as a Fellow at the Institute for Policy Research (IPR) at The Catholic University of America. His key involvement with AFJN has focused on advocacy for just African policies and the formation of civil society groups based on Catholic social teaching, contextual social analysis, techniques and the mobilisation of groups for concrete advocacy on issues that impact their communities.
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14 Aug 2026
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(Photo by Lawrence Lew OP of a relic of hairs from the saint’s beard from the the Maximilian Kolbe centre in Lourdes)
Pharisees came up to Jesus and tested him by asking, “Is it lawful to divorce one’s wife for any cause?” He answered, “Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female, and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man put asunder.” They said to him, “Why then did Moses command one to give a certificate of divorce, and to put her away?” He said to them, “For your hardness of heart Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. And I say to you: whoever divorces his wife, except for unchastity, and marries another, commits adultery.”
The disciples said to him, “If such is the case of a man with his wife, it is not expedient to marry.” But he said to them, “Not all men can receive this saying, but only those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who have been so from birth, and there are eunuchs who have been made eunuchs by men, and there are eunuchs who have made themselves eunuchs for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. He who is able to receive this, let him receive it.”
Scripture passage from the New Revised Standard Version Bible: Catholic Edition, copyright 1989, 1993, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
About Aniedi Okure OP
Brother Aniedi Okure, O.P. is the General Promoter of Justice and Peace and the new Delegate to the United Nations for the friars of the Order of Preachers. Previously, Brother Aniedi served as the Executive Director of the Washington DC-based Africa Faith and Justice Network (AFJN), and as a Fellow at the Institute for Policy Research (IPR) at The Catholic University of America. His key involvement with AFJN has focused on advocacy for just African policies and the formation of civil society groups based on Catholic social teaching, contextual social analysis, techniques and the mobilisation of groups for concrete advocacy on issues that impact their communities.