Mark 10:2-16

Is there anyone who is not aware of the debate between creationists and evolutionists? Very big issue at Iowa State a few years back. Faculty members debating it in public, why even a movie was made about the fight, and about the lack of granting tenure to a faculty member supposedly over this issue.

St. Thomas Aquinas entered into the debate, bringing Fr. Bob Beck to the Iowa State campus. Fr. Beck is a scripture scholar and his area of expertise is the Gospel of Mark. He was to address the topic of “How do we interrupt Scriptures?”

My recollection is that he said something like, “I am convinced that both creationists and evolutionists views are true. They are talking about the same thing on different levels. The Book of Genesis is teaching religion—the FACT THAT God created everything and that it is all good. Science, on the other hand, is teaching about HOW God did this creation.”

When we attempt to read Genesis as a scientific treatise, we tend to ignore its actual message and the artistry involved in writing and communicating the religious truths. The opening two chapters of Genesis we might call “Symbolic History.” Those events, not available for eye witness reporting, are dramatized in a sort of a morality play. Like many morality plays God is frequently one of the main characters in the play.

In the Book of Genesis there are two creation stories written by two different authors. The first one pictures God creating in a span of six days, giving ample opportunity to point out the goodness of God and of God’s creation. In this first creation story, God is portrayed as a building contractor constructing spaces or rooms for the first three days. And then in the second set of three days, he goes through that construction in the same order that it was built, like an interior decorator, filling those spaces with furnishing and with light.

The author of the second creation story (our first reading), images God, first as a potter and then as a surgeon. In this marvelous story, God notices that when creation is completed man is lonely. So God decides to fashion a friend. Logically, the “potter” repeats the molding action that has produced the man in the first place. The result was the creation of animals. While they have a certain kinship to the humans, God did not breathe into them the breath of life. So while they may be friends, they are not close enough to solve the problem of loneliness.

Noting the inadequacy of the divine efforts, God now changes tactics using “the man” himself as the material from which the new person is formed. The woman is made of the same substance, not from the clay of the earth like the animals. This pair share the same nature. Keep in mind the author is writing in a patriarchal society where the woman would have little value. This creation story makes it clear that the woman’s place is at the man’s side, near his heart because that is her origin. Male and female are of the very same substance. If you would, this man is now split and longs for reunion. The first man says, “this one is truly bone of my bone, and flesh of my flesh.” An English parallel to that Hebrew phrase would be for us to say, she is of my “flesh and blood.” It indicates an intimacy and a close relationship. It also indicates a completeness of person, not just a physical relationship but also kindred spirit.

We move into the Gospel of Mark and see that Jesus cites from both of the creation stories when addressing the hostile question regarding divorce. Jesus is a good rabbi, teacher. When asked to give a legal interpretation on a question which was very divisive in his Jewish community, possible grounds for divorce, note what he does. Jesus does NOT answer the question. Rather, he focuses the community’s attention on the values and basis for marriage. As a good teacher, he is not about to get caught up in a legal argument but rather desires to teach people about the nature of marriage.

He, first of all, points out that Moses commanded a written divorce decree. Moses, being true to the values expressed in the creation story, was not about to allow woman to be trampled upon by easy divorce. Rather he required a written statement (keep in mind that this was an illiterate society-would be very difficult for most to write a divorce decree). While Moses might have recognized that there were occasions when great suffering was occurring, he did not provide an easy remedy for men to dismiss their wives for frivolous reasons.

Jesus harkens back to the original intent of the Creator. It is in the creation stories that we find some of our basic values. It is the human beings made in the image and likeness of God who are of great value in our Judaic-Christian tradition. The Genesis story and Jesus both speak strongly to the dignity of the human person and the equality of both genders.

This may help us to understand that transition to the “little children.” In a society that did not recognize either women or children as human persons, Jesus teaches that children are people. They, too, are made in the image of God and deserve the dignity and respect that we would afford an adult person. In fact, Jesus goes one step beyond that and upholds the child as an excellent example of embodying the values of the Kingdom.

St. Paul would take this whole concept one step further and refer to the joining together of couples in marriage as a “mystery.” (Ephesians 5) The word mystery is the word the early church used to refer to those realities which we call “sacraments” today. A mystery is when God is present in our human actions continuing to bless us.

This weekend our readings focus our attention upon some very basic and fundamental values:

1. Dignity of the human person

2. The equality of males and females

3. The great mystery of two becoming one

Here at Saint Patrick, we take this very seriously.

1. We spend a fair amount of time with each couple preparing for marriage. Each couple meets with me a couple of times, and with a Sponsor Couple, a couple specifically trained, to help the engaged couple grow in understanding the richness of our tradition in regards to marriage.

2. We encourage engaged couples to go on Engaged Encounters or Pre-Cana.

3. We encourage married couples to make a Marriage Encounter, or a Retorno, a weekend for married spirituality.

4. It is my hope that we might begin Teams of Our Lady – small groups of married couples, committed to mutual support and growth in their marriages.

But most importantly, I hope that none of you come to this Eucharistic feast without seeing the connection between what we do here and the Wedding Feast. I am aware of no culture that celebrates a wedding without a meal. Likewise, when we gather at this table, we need to be evermore conscious of the marriage between ourselves and our God in the person of Jesus Christ. This is truly our wedding banquet table.

Rev. Everett Hemann

RevEv@saintpatrickcf.org