Homily for the Week of October 7, 2012

27th Sunday Year B 2012 First Reading: Genesis 2:18–24 Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 128:1–2, 3, 4–5, 6 Second Reading: Hebrews 2:9–11 Gospel: Mark 10:2–16 [2–12] This weekend we are given a series of Bible readings about equality between sexes, and marriage. Given all the questions about marriage and the issues that surround marriage today, our passage from Mark can make everyone very uncomfortable. Most of you don't know that women in this country got the right to vote just about 100 years ago. At the time of Jesus, women were regarded as possessions, which meant that only a man could ask for divorce. There was also a debate going on among the Jews. Some followed the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy and the rabbi Shammai who interpreted God to allow divorce only in cases of adultery. On the other hand, the followers of Rabbi Hillel taught that a man could divorce his wife for any reason including loosing her youthful looks. Today's first reading as been used for thousand of years to justify treating women as inferior to men. But experts in ancient culture have shown that the basic point is that none of the animals was an equal partner to the man. He has dutifully named all the animals, but could not find a fully satisfying partnership. Consequently, God created the first woman, as he did the first man, with a unique act of creation. The stress is on the unique relationship between the first woman and the first man. The gospel is very difficult to understand and, for some, difficult to accept even today. Many families have suffered the agony of divorce, and today's Gospel could very well be another wound. Jesus is very clear about divorce, but the context must be noted. To whom is Jesus speaking? He is not speaking to those who are divorced. He is speaking to a group of Pharisees, a group of religious lawyers. In speaking to them Jesus uses the phrase hardness of your heart. In Greek that is a phrase which is known in medicine as cardiosclerosis, a possibly fatal physical condition. The people of Jesus’ day thought that the heart was the center of the will, which made decisions. Jesus is clearly saying that the Pharisees’ hearts were no longer able to listen and thus no longer able to make decisions regarding the teaching of Bible. Pharisees are lawyers who have challenged Jesus on legalistic grounds, and He responds in kind. They ask about the law. Jesus responds to the Pharisees’ legal question not with legal language, but with theological language. All that Jesus says about marriage is in the context of God’s intention for us, not in the context of law. Everything Jesus says is about what should exist in the Kingdom, not about what existed then — or now. Another context for our Gospel is to remember that while women could be charged with adultery, men could not. In the house with the disciples, Jesus makes clear that, in His mind, not only could women commit adultery, but men could as well. The creation story of man and woman does not create a hierarchy of men over women, it creates a partnership of equality, and in the debate over divorce, Jesus reminds His disciples of this. The most startling parts of Jesus’ statements about marriage is that His teaching does not exist in the Old Testament. It is new. Also, only husbands could ask for a divorce, yet Jesus says that His teaching applies to both husbands and wives. The question before Jesus was about much more than divorce. It was about exceptions to the rules and the law. Like the pharisees how often do we too read the rules, but we want to know the exceptions. Today's readings provide us with an opportunity to reflect on whether we are prepared to take risks in our relationships with others and trust each other. They also challenge us to look at our relationship with God and assess how much we are prepared to love God as opposed to simply believing in God or asking God for what we need. Obviously, because of various reasons, for some there is no way in which two persons are able to make such a lasting agreement. Too often a man and woman about to get married bring into the marriage a lot baggage. In most cases problems began years before the wedding day. Often these personal difficulties were hidden or covered over in the process of marriage preparation. In our times when the tools of communication such as cell phones and the internet are so readily available, it is a real tragedy that many preparing for marriage do not or are afraid to be honest in trusting with each other. The ability to trust one another is lacking at the time of marriage. Often, the marriage is only a public event that happened to take place in a Catholic church. While no bride and groom whose marriage I have witnessed as a priest planned to get divorced, many do. Sometimes divorce may be the best solution. However, parents who are divorced must not hate one another. Parents who are divorced can be gentle with each other and treat each other with love and respect. Children must never feel that they are the cause of the divorce. For those of you who are happily married take this day to reflect and to thank each other for the gift of each other. Let your wedding ring, which is round and has no beginning and no end, be a sign of God's love for you, and your love for each other. For those of you preparing for marriage, take time by yourself to consider what must be done so that you will give to your future partner the best person that could ever be expected, and change what needs to be changed before you are married. As you prepare for marriage remember that God must be a partner in that marriage. That means that both of you should have a relationship with God before getting married. For those of you who may be in a struggling marriage, plan to do something immediately by seeking assistance through others and through prayer alone and together to face the problems which you have. And for those of you whose marriage may have ended, be like the little children of the gospel who trusted Jesus, and then were embraced and blessed by him. Loving God or loving another completely is never easy. Neither is marriage easy. However, letting the love of God be a partner to the love of one another, can make marriage easier and last until death. Ultimately, there is very little that cannot be kept good, or made better by prayer. Believe in the spiritual guidance of: the family that prays together stays together. Let all of us promise ourselves that we make prayer the absolute necessity of our lives, especially family prayer.