It has been a wee bit busy the past several weeks. Here is the bulletin reflection for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
I once saw a bumper sticker on a car that I found delightful. It was a reflection on the “Adam’s rib” story in today’s first reading. The bumper sticker said, “GOD MADE MAN, THEN HAD A BETTER IDEA.” At first glance, when hearing the first reading and the Gospel, one might think the readings are about the permanence of marriage. However, there is more to these readings than that. These readings speak to the importance of mutuality and justice in marriage.
The first reading establishes that from the time of creation God intended the marriage relationship to be one of mutuality. We are told in the 1st chapter of Genesis that balance exists within God, for both male and female are equally made in God’s image. Adam could not exist in an isolated state. In order to live a balanced life, Adam needed Eve, who was different, but equally made in the image of God. One image of God does not dominate the other image of God. Rather, both male and female are mutual expressions of the one God.
In the Gospel, Jesus corrects the imbalance that had entered into human marriage. In the Jewish culture, and, many cultures of the time, males dominated females, especially in marriage. To have any level of support in order to live, women were utterly dependent on their husbands. As in all things of life of that time, women had no power or voice. Only husbands could divorce their wives. It was relatively easy for a Jewish husband to divorce his wife. She could be divorced for anything from burning the dinner to adultery. Divorce for the Jewish woman was as disastrous as death itself. Jesus’ proscription of divorce addressed the injustices and the absence of mutuality in the Jewish marriages of his time. Jesus exposes the Patriarchal prejudice of male dominating women as living in opposition to the oneness of God.
In Joan Chittester’s excellent book, “Heart of Flesh”, she states that God’s own image intends that both sexes live in an equal and mutual relationship. As a married clergyman, my greatest image and experience of God is my wife, Ruth. May I mutually be Ruth’s greatest image and experience of God. If both males and females see God’s image in one another, and honor God’s image, then, all sins, from sexual violence to divorce, will cease.
