From Adam's Rib ~ Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time (B)

Gn 2:18-24

Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6

Hb 2:9-11

Mk 10:2-16

There are two important themes  in today's readings and it is difficult to decide on which to concentrate, so I will touch on both of them.
  
In the first reading from Genesis, we learn about the creation of woman.  The Lord God realized that it was not good for the man to be alone.  He needed a companion.  None of the animals that the Lord had created were suitable as a partner for the man, so in an ingenious way the Lord God fashioned a woman from the man's rib.

The man was overjoyed because he recognized immediately that this new being was to be the perfect companion and partner for him.  Their future together became the first marriage.

This idyllic state apparently did not serve as an example for future generations because we find that by Moses' time, bills of divorce were allowed the Israelites.  In Mark's Gospel, we hear Jesus' response to the questions of the Pharisees who asked Jesus whether it was lawful for a man to divorce his wife.

Jesus assured his listeners that God only allowed the Israelites to divorce their wives because of the hardness of their hearts.  That in reality, God created male and female so that they could cling only to each other and become one flesh; and what God had joined together no one should separate.

But we recognize today that some marriages, for whatever reason, have broken apart...  Not necessarily through the unwillingness or hardness of heart of the people involved, but for real issues of immaturity, abuse, etc.  In our complicated world, we celebrate those couples who have been able to work through problems in their marriages and who are still together in love and respect for each other.

This leads us to the other theme of the Gospel reading this week: that we are to become like little children in order to enter the kingdom of Heaven.  It is important to note that Jesus did not ask us to be childish.  No, instead, we are to be trusting and loving, and to believe in him as a child would.  Jesus welcomed and embraced the children of the people, showing care and concern for them, even as his disciples were trying to keep the children from bothering him.  "Let the children come to me;...  for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these."

This gospel always reminds me of a vacation bible school program that St. E's presented to the community many many years ago.  The woman who planned and ran the program came up with a wonderful theme and I have never forgotten it.  What could be more appropriate than this one:  "Let the children come!"



~ Image Source:  Holding Hands by Gare and Kitty