27th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Reading I: Genesis 2:18-24
Responsorial Psalm: Psalms 128:1-2, 3, 4-5, 6
Reading II: Hebrews 2:9-11
Gospel: Mark 10:2-16
The gospel is about God’s plan for marriage. Jesus found in his time that marriage was not in accord with God’s plan. Divorce was common and women became victims because man could easily send his wife away with just a letter of dismissal. In a culture where the status of a woman depended on having the right husband, a letter of dismissal meant to be thrown into a society where a woman could not survive on her own.
Jesus says that this was never part of God’s plan in the creation of Adam and Eve. The book of Genesis talks about a permanent bond, “What God has joined together, no human being must separate.” The sanctity of marriage goes back to the creation story. God created Eve out of the rib of Adam. Jewish teachers explained she was not created out of Adam’s head for he might think she is a product of his imagination and power and then she is his property. Neither was she created from his feet for he might think she is at his footstool as a servant always on call. She was created from the rib which protects the heart. She must be the person closest to his heart. Marriage must be a relationship of love.
