Today's gospel, Mark 10:2-16, focuses our attention on marriage, divorce and children. The Code of Deuteronomy (Dt.24:1) allowed for divorce. However, it was a contentious social and political issue during Jesus' lifetime. There were great rabbinical debates about how to interpret Deuteronomy 24:1. Some rabbis interpreted the code strictly, while other interpreted it more leniently. No matter how the Law of Moses was interpreted, it only applied to men. A man could divorce his wife easily but the wife had no legal recourse. She was nothing more than property. A husband could cast his wife out of her home with nothing. All he had to do was get a written divorce decree and his wife was out on the street. Roman law of the day permitted women to initiate divorce. Jesus contradicts both Roman law and Hebrew law.
Jesus defends the dignity of all women by asserting their important role in the work of creation. And, he tells us that marriage must not be dissolved because the couple is "joined together" by God. The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches us that, "Man and woman were made "for each other"—not that God left them half-made and incomplete: he created them to be a communion of persons, in which each can be "helpmate" to the other, for they are equal as persons ... and complementary as masculine and feminine. In marriage, God unites them in such a way that, by forming "one flesh," they can transmit human life: "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth." By transmitting human life to their descendants, man and woman as spouses and parents cooperate in a unique way in the Creator's work" (CCC 372).
Immediately following his discussion on marriage and divorce, Jesus welcomes and blesses children - the fruit of marriage. In today's world, the lives of children are vulnerable. Like women during the time of Jesus, children today have few rights. Unborn children are particularly vulnerable; they have no rights. Yet, as Jesus tells us, "The kingdom of God belongs to such as these" (Mark 10:14).
God, source of all love,
blessed are you for your tenderness
inscribed in the hearts of people;
blessed are you for giving us your Son
as the token of your faithful love.
Keep us fromseparating what you have united:
husbands and wives,
parents and their children,
your Son and his Church,
friends in their joys and sorrows.
Let us all live in your creative, lasting love.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen
