From the Beginning of Creation!

Sunday, October 6, 2024

Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time

Gn 2:18-24; Heb 2:9-11; Mk 10:2-12

The twenty-seventh Sunday stresses the goodness of God’s intentions for humanity. 

The first reading highlights God’s creation of Eve as a fitting human companion for Adam. The creation account also underscores what God originally intended for the welfare of the human community. God’s interest is about giving a helper to man, and that is the reason God makes marriage part of the creation. Therefore, God willed that the marital union between a man and a woman helps them raise the family as a microcosm of humanity. 

The Gospel presents the Pharisees approaching Jesus with their question on divorce. It is good to note that the Pharisees are only interested in the question of the legality of divorce, not its grounds. They want to know if Jesus agrees with the arrangement of divorce or not. Viewed thus, they were only interested in the letter aspect of divorce, not its spirit. Biblical scholars also believe that the Pharisees came up with this question on divorce, aiming to bring Jesus into direct conflict with the Herod family which had a history of royal divorces. 

Nevertheless, Jesus, who reads the malicious intention of the Pharisees to trap him, takes them to the root of everything so that he is interested in reclaiming God’s original intention for humanity, showing no willingness to comment on human whims and fancies. This is why Jesus reminds them that ‘from the beginning of creation,’ it was not so. The clever arguments by the Pharisees fail in the face of Jesus’ explanation, citing the creation account. 

While the first reading and the Gospel are obviously connected to the theme of marriage, the second reading highlights what went wrong in the arrangement of God and how we needed Jesus’ sacrifice to reclaim what was lost. When God’s intentions for humanity were noble, the sin of Adam and Eve collapsed everything. Since we find in marriage a microcosm of humanity, it is also the perfect example of what humanity could have been and what we are instead. Thus, the sacrifice of Jesus makes a profound sense in the context of saving the fallen humanity. Secondly, marriage is a visible image of the relationship between Christ and his Church. Christ perfected what went wrong through his sacrifice on the cross. His death was necessary to redeem the community of believers united in the Church, his bride. 

The readings of the Sunday invite us to reflect on three themes.   

Relative Morality: Also known as moral relativism, this principle denies the possibility of universal morality. Since the principle alienates God’s intentions for the entire humanity, it is only good to justify a moral stance of our own liking. The readings invite us to consider the goodness and blessings of a marital bond and promote its unity and indissolubility. 

Discerning God’s Intentions: In his argument with the Pharisees, Jesus devotes his energy reclaiming God’s intentions for humanity. Jesus shows that whatever God intended for humanity is the most desirable ideal. Christians cannot be so narrow-minded to focus only on what is of interest and convenience to them. Following Christ is recreating what he did. 

Christian Families: A Christian family is a microcosm of the Church. Pope Francis said, ‘The family has a positive effect on everyone, since it is a generator of common good. Healthy family relationships represent a unique source of enrichment, not only for spouses and children but for the entire ecclesial and civil community.’ Hence, Christians are called to guard against the evils that disintegrate a family so that the Church and society may continue to benefit from its contributions. 

Let us pray for the grace to reclaim and retain God’s intentions for the further flourishing of the human community. 

Fr. Dhinakaran Savariyar