1st Reading Genesis 2: 18-24
Psalm Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6 (R. cf. 5)
R//: "May the Lord bless us all the days of our lives"
2nd Reading Hebrews 2: 9-11
Gospel Mark 10: 2-16
SAME DIGNITY, FITTING HELPER, INDISSOLUBLE MARRIAGE
Beloved, we usher ourselves into the new month of October, the month of the Holy Rosary. The month is all about the Blessed Virgin Mary, the woman whose "Yes" undid the "No" of Eve. She is the New Eve because Eve's disobedience, her "No" closed the doors of paradise, but Mary's "Yes" (Lk. 1: 38) opened the doors of Heaven, giving birth to Christ and giving hope to all creation. In this gracious month, we ask God, through Mary's help, to renew us by His Grace so that we may merit what prayer does not dare to ask.
The Word of God for this Sunday brings on issues regarding marriage. The first reading and the Gospel are very often used during the celebration of Holy Matrimony. Amazingly, a link is created between the earlier mention of Eve and Mary and the first reading. Let us quickly dive into the passages.
The first reading (Gen. 2: 18-24) tells us about the creation of the woman. Of course, we are reading from Genesis, a book which informs us about the beginning of things and the stories behind what we see today. The creation of the woman should then be a story about something today — marriage. It is not a surprise to have our first reading ending with the reason for the creation of the woman, thus, "that is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body" (Gen. 2: 24). It is the same phrase that we find in the Gospel passage (Mark 10: 2-16 or 10: 2-12) when Jesus responded to a question about divorce. Jesus referenced the author of Genesis 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" (Mk. 10: 7). What then necessitated this conclusion?
The first reason is what we find in the first reading, "The God said: it is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suited for him" (Gen. 2: 18). The first reason is DIVINE WILL. It is ultimately God's desire for marriage to be established. Marriage is not borne out of human will. This means that no human can alter the meaning and nature of marriage. It is right that it is a man and a woman. God created a woman as the fitting helper for the man.
The man was to NAME the animals and birds of the air that were formed from the GROUND (v. 19). Although the man and the animals were created from the same source, the GROUND, the man after naming them, did not find them FITTING or SUITED FOR HIM. To name a thing is to allocate to the thing a nature equal to its responsibility. It is to tell what a thing represents. None of the animals had the privilege of being named as FITTING HELPERS. The Hebrew word for HELPER as used in the text is 'EZER, and this means one who is like himself and can do what a person does. None of the animals was like himself or did not resemble Adam and could not do what Adam could do. Adam is created in the image and likeness of God (Gen. 1: 27) and the animals are not. The animals are not the right helpers, thus the " 'EZER KENEGDO"(the perfect resemblance of Adam).
This helper created is equal in dignity to the man. Three details from the passage point to the fact that the helper is both FITTING and has equal DIGNITY as the man.
The first is that of the NAME. The passage requests Adam to name animals. He names them and none became fitting to bear the name of a helper. When the woman was created he, without being requested to name, quickly named and said, "This one shall be called 'woman', for out of a man this one has been taken" (Gen. 2: 23b). The Hebrew word used for man is 'ISH (אישׁ), and the used for a woman is 'ISHAH (אשּׁה). That is a Hebrew play on words. The name of the woman is derived from the man. Whatever the man has, the woman has also. It will be out of place to accord different levels of dignity to them. They possess the same dignity as humans. We should be careful to differentiate between dignity and role. Additionally, the name tells us that the "wo-man" is the fitting helper for the "man".
The second detail is that the woman was created out of one of the ribs of the man (v. 21). The rib houses the life of every human being — the Heart. The heart is the source of both intellect and will in ancient Israel's thought. Intellect and Will are possessed only by Humans. The implication is that the woman has the same Intellect and Will and is fully human just as the man. In strength and identity, the woman is the fitting help because she has what it takes to resemble Adam. Additionally, because the woman is fully human, any act of violence and discrimination against the woman undermines her dignity and is done against God.
The third detail that tells us that the woman is the fitting help and has the same dignity lies in Adam's exclamation: "This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh" (v. 23a). This is a Hebrew expression meaning that somethings are alike and identical. A similar expression is read in Genesis 29: 14: "You are indeed my bone and my flesh". This is what Laban said to Jacob. This phrase points to blood relations. Blood is life. What Adam is asserting is that the same life that is in him is what is in the woman. They have the same source. What enlivens him enlivens the woman.
Due to this FITTINGNESS, a man shall leave his father and mother and cling to his wife, and the two shall become one body (Gen. 2: 24; Mk. 10: 7). Why should the man "leave"? In Ancient Israel, sons did not move away when they married but lived near their parents and inherited their father's land. "Leaving" his parents will imply that the man shall consider the welfare of the woman or their union as more important than what he will gain from his parents. What the man and the woman will gain from seeing to their union will be more than what they will inherit from their parents.
What will they gain? The man is spoken about to "cling" to his wife. Another way is to render the Hebrew expression as "hold fast". Holding fast is a language of covenant faithfulness (Deut. 10: 20). Before anything, marriage is a Covenant, not a breakable contract. The three contents of the Covenant are the Law (Torah), statutes (Seder), and ordinances (Mitzvah) (Deut. 6: 1- 25). What they will gain from "holding fast" to their union is likened to what one will gain from holding fast to the Covenant. It is that "it will go well with you and you may increase greatly" (Deut. 6: 3).
Jesus, holding on to the unbreakable covenantal aspect of marriage in Genesis 1: 24, objects to divorce. Centrally, it is God who joined together. It is a DIVINE work. No human has what it takes to separate it. To separate them, a human needs to be DIVINE, to be God. Because Humans cannot be God, it will be out of place and an act against God to do what only God can do.
Whenever Israelites sin, it is taken as a breach of their Covenant with God and it is described as Adultery (Jer. 2: 20-28; Ezek. 16: 15-59; Isa. 54: 5-6). Marriage is a Covenant, and breaching this covenant by divorce is a sin and this is Adultery. Rightly, Jesus says, "Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits ADULTERY against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits ADULTERY" (Mk. 10: 11-12). Remember that Adultery is prohibited and it is one of the 10 Commandments: "Do not commit Adultery" (Exod. 20: 13; Deut. 5: 18). It is a breach of the Torah (the Law). The promise of keeping the Covenant of which the Torah is first will not be fulfilled. Rather, the opposite will happen. Regardless of the situation, Divorce should not be an option.
Pax et Bonum
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