Shikrot Mpwi - Sunday Synopsis with Fr. Justine J. Dyikuk
27th Sunday of
the Year, B – October 7, 2018.
Readings: Genesis 2:18-24;
Ps 127:1-5;
Hebrews
2:9-11; Gospel – Mark 10:2-16.
Theme: Christian Marriage:
The Joy Of No Divorce!
Introduction
Beloved in the Lord,
the focus of our liturgy this Sunday is on the beauty of Christian marriage.
Our readings take us to the original plan of God for man to enjoy a permanent
relationship in marriage which is open to offspring for the perpetuation of the
human race. What is more, our reflection titled “Christian Marriage: The Joy Of No Divorce”
argues in favour of equality of man and women before God, redirects our
attention to God’s manual for Christian marriage as laid out by Christ in the
gospel wherein he said, “what God has joined together, man must not divide.” We
shall scan through the readings, examine the properties and ends of marriage as
well as the functions of marriage and the family plus marriage killers
and the dangers of divorce.
Background
& Summary of the Readings
Today’s first reading (Genesis 2:18-24) presents God as
a scientist who tests hypotheses to see what works best. Better put, it
presents the Garden of Eden as a laboratory where God is a scientist who
embarks on some randomized trials. To understand these hypotheses or randomized
trials, it is important to highlight the first and second experiments:
1st
Experiment: In the first experiment, from the first account of creation (Gen. 1:1-31
& Gen. 2:3) creation takes six days and man and women were made after all
pants and animals were created. God created all the beasts, birds of the air
and the living creatures of the field and brought them for man to name.
However, he could not find a fitting helper or partner for the man amidst all
the other creatures. He knew that humans are social creatures who thrive in
close and intimate relationships with others. God's first experimental was an
attempt to resolve the deficit of community. As such, he resolved that man
needed a helper since none of the animals could make up for the loneliness of
the man.
2nd
Experiment: In the second account of creation (Gen. 2:4-17) which took only one
day, man is created first followed by plants and animals and woman being the
last to be created. God is painted as an anesthesiologist who causes the man to
fall asleep after which, he acts like a surgeon by removing one of the man’s ribs
to enclose it with flesh. Like a potter, builder, sculpture or architect, he
“moulds” a woman and like a matchmaker, presents her to the man who exclaimed romantically
and poetically: “This at last is bone of
my bones, and flesh of my flesh! This is to be called woman, for this was taken
from man.”
Notice that the woman
is not given a personal name but simply called “isha” woman in Hebrew which
means, taken from man as distinct from “ish” man. This means that God wanted to
differentiate the woman from the man which sets the tune for differences in
roles. The “helper” that God creates for the man does not insinuate that the
woman is inferior to the man - it means mutuality and equality. It points to
the fact that the woman is the one who would alleviate the isolation and
aloneness of the man by a physical and spiritual bonding or unbreakable
connection.
An important take-away
from the reading is that we told that the two become one flesh although they
are not yet "fruitful" – this implies that sexual intimacy is valued
in and of itself, and not merely a means to reproduction. This is why scripture
scholars opine that while today’s first reading begins with loneliness, it ends
with intimate companionship. They contend that it is God who facilitates the
companionship by acting various roles to enable that change.
The climax of second
experiment is that the man who was lonely and yearning for companionship now finds
a fitting partner. This sets the ball rolling for the intimacy of the marriage
bond where two become one flesh. They are naked but not ashamed, open to one
another yet vulnerable, passionate and yet trusting.
In the second reading
from the Letter to the Hebrews (Heb. 2:9-11),
God calls us his brothers. It particularly notes that Christ endured his
passion so as to bring us into the perfection of his sons and daughters in glory.
The text reveals our union in Christ by stating that “the one who sanctifies
and the one who are sanctified, are of the same stock.” This is much like a
marriage relationship which requires covenantal love and fidelity.
In the gospel text (Mark 10:2-16), some Pharisees who
stood on the side of the law put Jesus to the test by asking his opinion
concerning divorce. In responding to them, Jesus turns the discussion into the
original plan of marriage in God’s plan. He also showed them how they
manipulated the scripture and interpretative tradition to question their claim.
After all, the Old Testament also condemned divorce (Malachi 2:13-16 & Genesis 2:24).
Jesus was “against those who initiate
divorce as a means to get something else, sacrificing a spouse to satisfy one’s
desires or ambitions.” He
also wanted to expose the Pharisee’s who didn’t mention issuing a certificate
of divorce to the woman which was necessary to quail rumours and give her
opportunity to remarry. In a culture where a woman was seen as the property of
her father and husband, Jesus wanted to emphasize the equality between husband
and wife in the marriage relationship. By insisting that a man could commit
adultery against a woman and not her father, Jesus wanted to teach that
adultery is not a violation of the property of another man but a violation
against sexual and emotional accountability to a partner in a marriage relationship.
By welcoming children
and blessing them, Jesus wanted to teach that every Christian marriage full be
open to the possibility of having children. Since women and children had little
or no rights in the New Testament times, Jesus wanted to protect the
institution of marriage by discouraging divorce which makes children and women,
young and vulnerable adults.
Properties
& Ends of Marriage
The essential properties of marriage are unity and indissolubility (Cf.
CIC, can. 1056; CCEO, can. 776 §3).
ü Unity: This teaching has a biblical backing namely, “what God
has joined together, men must not divide” (Mark 10:9) - Not even adultery or
fornication can dissolve a validly contracted Christian marriage. The theology
of these properties of marriage speaks of the deep and lasting union between a
husband and wife as portrayed by Christ’s sacrificial love for the Church. To
this end, Garland (2016) insists that Christian spouses are expected to “strive
to nurture and foster their union in equal dignity, mutual giving and the
undivided love that flows from the divine font of charity.”
ü Indissolubility: This
teaching is based on “what God has joined together, no man must put asunder”
(Matthew 19:6). It calls on couples to “persevere in good times and in
bad, faithful in body and mind, remaining complete strangers to any adultery
and divorce” (Garland, 2016).
The two ends of holy matrimony are, the procreation
and education of children, and the union of the spouses:
ü Procreation
and Education of Children:
Couples must be open to the possibility of accepting children
lovingly from God if he gives them. Having children is not a condition for
marriage since it is God that gives them. However, when they come, they must be
provided with food, clothing, shelter and education (civic and religious).
ü Union
of Spouses: The Church
teaches that spiritual benefits are attached to being faithful to each other.
To this end, couples ought to embrace and accept one another in faithful love while
seeing their union as an opportunity to help each other become holy. As
witnesses before all, couples have the responsibility of living out their state
of matrimony daily in the light of the faith. This witness is not only to the
dignity of holy matrimony, but also to the mystery of the union of Christ and
the Church, to which it points, and so to the Christian faith as a whole. Matrimony
is a natural institution which dates back to creation having been established
by God which alone was not forfeited by punishment of original sin.
Four
Functions of Marriage (Family)
In Familiaris
Consortio, (1981, No.17), Pope Saint John Paul II outlines the fourfold
functions of the family as:
a). Forming a Community of Persons:
As the first
reading relates, man and woman were made to complement each other by forming a
community of mutual love and fidelity.
b). Serving Life: The instructing “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the
earth” presupposes that couples should serve life by bearing children for the
preservation of the human race. In this way, they become co-creators.
