OCTOBER 6TH 2024, 27TH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (YEAR B)

For a patriarchal era, the famous story of Genesis is an unexpected statement of the equality of the sexes and their mutual development through marriage. The story does not describe the creation of woman but explains why women are so important to men. In God’s plan, women are not subordinate but fully human. Today’s gospel shows Jesus rejecting the Jewish custom of divorce—which could be initiated only by the husband—and establishing equal responsibilities in marriage for both partners (the Jewish husband was not considered guilty of adultery against his wife). Jesus forbids divorce by either partner in the interpersonal relationship of marriage. Then the gospel turns to Jesus’ love for children; they are not self-sufficient but are open to others. We should welcome God’s rule like children, who cannot claim anything on their own merits. The letter to the Hebrews holds up Jesus as the one who leads us into God’s glory. In Jesus, God entered into partnership with the human race. In Jesus’ spirit of self-giving, women and men can enter into and sustain the most demanding of partnerships, marriage.

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