Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time
Today Jesus is asked one of those tough questions about divorce. Jesus appealed to the harmony of creation in its initial perfection. Throughout the creation account, we hear: God saw all that he had made, and he found it very good. All creation existed because of God’s goodness. All life was holy, sacred.
In answering, Jesus spoke of the sacredness of marriage. He did so by pointing back to creation itself – God made human beings: male and female were they created. God created man and woman, in the very divine image. In the beginning, all creation was in harmony. Man and woman were created equal in the very beginning. As Jesus quotes, “and two shall become one flesh.” Over the years, the marriage bond changed. Women were considered more as property than as marriage partners. So, in Jesus’s time, it was always permissible for a man to write a divorce decree; very easy to determine grounds for divorce. It was much more difficult for women to divorce their husbands. They had very few rights.
Jesus was saying that, since in the beginning man and woman were made, both in the image of God, both are equal, it is no more permissible for the husband to divorce his wife, than for the wife to divorce her husband. Jesus was making a revolutionary statement about the equality of man and woman.
Today, on Respect Life Sunday, we do well to recall the message of the gospel today. Jesus’ words at his time were challenging to the Jewish culture. In proclaiming the equality of men and women he declared their sacredness, individually and united as husband and wife. The marriage bond speaks to us of the love of God, calling partners to dedication and fidelity. Jesus called for constant respect for everyone. In the beginn¬ing God created them: and God saw all of creation and found it very good. The words of the Lord speak to us today and to our world of the holiness of all life. Young and old, male, and female. The Gospel calls us to a rededica¬tion to seek the harmony of the created order. To uphold the dignity of each person, the unborn, the elderly, those in prison, the outcast, the poor. Jesus said: what you do for these you do for me; what you have failed to do for these, you have neglected to do for me. In the end, as in the beginning, we hear the words of Genesis: God looked at everything He had made and found it very good. All life is holy.
Reflection by Fr. Peter Ullrich, OSB
Posted in Articles for Ordinary Time, Daily Reflections