27th Sunday of Year B October 4, 2009
Equal Partnership
The theme of marriage dominates the liturgy today. Jesus and the Pharisees debate
what the Law of Moses means when it allowed a man to dismiss his wife “on account
of something indecent”. That had come to mean anything from infidelity to being a
bad cook. In clear opposition to such an interpretation, Jesus cites the original law
founded upon nature as described in today's first reading from Genesis. There, we
read, "a man leaves his father and mother, and the two become one flesh".
The Gospel, therefore, upholds the sanctity of marriage, along with the God-given
dignity of women. But as we read further, it also affirms the rights of children, who
were in Jesus' time regarded as their father's property.
The focus on marriage in these readings clarifies what it means to be a human person.
Each one exists within a wide world of relationships - to God and to others, be it as
spouses in marriage, or as parents and children in families, in all kinds of friendship
and collaboration - and, as we stress today, all this in relation to the integrity of nature.
In early biblical terms, we human beings are formed from the earth and receive the life-
giving breath of God. In the words of the original Hebrew, the human being becomes a
living nephesh - a term that is often translated as "soul". However, it originally meant
"throat", which not only signified human desire, thirst and hunger, but also that which
distinguished humans from animals - the ability to speak, communicate and, hence,
enter into relationships.
Humans, both male and female alike, in Jewish and Christian thinking are literally
"living voices", made in the image of God. God's word brought forth all creation.
Made in the image of this God, we too must care for all creation.
To stifle the voice of any person or group is to dehumanise them. To ignore the cries
of the marginalised, muzzle the pleas of the refugee, or to suppress the voices of
women and children is to deny them their birthright as images of God.
The story of the Man and Woman in the Garden is the pivotal chapter in a series of
stories in Genesis (1-11) explaining how, when relationships break down, everything
goes awry. Humans try to be "like gods" (Gn 3:5), men dominate women (Gn 3: 16),
humans misuse and destroy the earth (Gn 6:5). As a result, we have societies that are
beset by crime, immorality, and man-made disasters.
Today, Jesus challenges the view that marriage is an unequal partnership in which
women and children can be treated as mere chattels of their husbands and fathers.
With his perfect understanding of the sacred scriptures, Jesus saw that the original
wisdom of Genesis was more important than later legal arrangements of Deuteronomy.
By recalling the Genesis' story of the Man and Woman in the Garden, Jesus
demonstrates the sinfulness of attitudes that seek to dehumanise the powerless, the
voiceless and the marginalised in our society.
Ian Elmer
© Redemptorists 2009
**********************************************
Equal Partnership
The theme of marriage dominates the liturgy today. Jesus and the Pharisees debate
what the Law of Moses means when it allowed a man to dismiss his wife “on account
of something indecent”. That had come to mean anything from infidelity to being a
bad cook. In clear opposition to such an interpretation, Jesus cites the original law
founded upon nature as described in today's first reading from Genesis. There, we
read, "a man leaves his father and mother, and the two become one flesh".
The Gospel, therefore, upholds the sanctity of marriage, along with the God-given
dignity of women. But as we read further, it also affirms the rights of children, who
were in Jesus' time regarded as their father's property.
The focus on marriage in these readings clarifies what it means to be a human person.
Each one exists within a wide world of relationships - to God and to others, be it as
spouses in marriage, or as parents and children in families, in all kinds of friendship
and collaboration - and, as we stress today, all this in relation to the integrity of nature.
In early biblical terms, we human beings are formed from the earth and receive the life-
giving breath of God. In the words of the original Hebrew, the human being becomes a
living nephesh - a term that is often translated as "soul". However, it originally meant
"throat", which not only signified human desire, thirst and hunger, but also that which
distinguished humans from animals - the ability to speak, communicate and, hence,
enter into relationships.
Humans, both male and female alike, in Jewish and Christian thinking are literally
"living voices", made in the image of God. God's word brought forth all creation.
Made in the image of this God, we too must care for all creation.
To stifle the voice of any person or group is to dehumanise them. To ignore the cries
of the marginalised, muzzle the pleas of the refugee, or to suppress the voices of
women and children is to deny them their birthright as images of God.
The story of the Man and Woman in the Garden is the pivotal chapter in a series of
stories in Genesis (1-11) explaining how, when relationships break down, everything
goes awry. Humans try to be "like gods" (Gn 3:5), men dominate women (Gn 3: 16),
humans misuse and destroy the earth (Gn 6:5). As a result, we have societies that are
beset by crime, immorality, and man-made disasters.
Today, Jesus challenges the view that marriage is an unequal partnership in which
women and children can be treated as mere chattels of their husbands and fathers.
With his perfect understanding of the sacred scriptures, Jesus saw that the original
wisdom of Genesis was more important than later legal arrangements of Deuteronomy.
By recalling the Genesis' story of the Man and Woman in the Garden, Jesus
demonstrates the sinfulness of attitudes that seek to dehumanise the powerless, the
voiceless and the marginalised in our society.
Ian Elmer
© Redemptorists 2009
**********************************************
