BIBLE STUDY #109


TWENTY SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

October 7, 2012



READING 1

GENESIS 2:18-24



The LORD God said: "It is not good for the man to be alone.

I will make a suitable partner for him."

So the LORD God formed out of the ground

various wild animals and various birds of the air,

and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them;

whatever the man called each of them would be its name.

The man gave names to all the cattle,

all the birds of the air, and all wild animals;

but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man.



So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man,

and while he was asleep,

he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh.

The LORD God then built up into a woman the rib

that he had taken from the man.

When he brought her to the man, the man said:

"This one, at last, is bone of my bones

and flesh of my flesh;

this one shall be called 'woman, '

for out of 'her man' this one has been taken."

That is why a man leaves his father and mother

and clings to his wife,

and the two of them become one flesh.



The Word of the Lord



READING 2

HEBREWS 2:9-11



Brothers and sisters:

He "for a little while" was made "lower than the angels, "

that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone.



For it was fitting that he,

for whom and through whom all things exist,

in bringing many children to glory,

should make the leader to their salvation perfect through suffering.

He who consecrates and those who are being consecrated

all have one origin.

Therefore, he is not ashamed to call them 'brothers.'



The Word of the Lord



GOSPEL

MARK 10:2-16



The Pharisees approached Jesus and asked,

"Is it lawful for a husband to divorce his wife?"

They were testing him.

He said to them in reply, "What did Moses command you?"

They replied,

"Moses permitted a husband to write a bill of divorce

and dismiss her."

But Jesus told them,

"Because of the hardness of your hearts

he wrote you this commandment.

But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female.

For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother

and be joined to his wife,

and the two shall become one flesh.

So they are no longer two but one flesh.

Therefore what God has joined together,

no human being must separate."

In the house the disciples again questioned Jesus about this.

He said to them,

"Whoever divorces his wife and marries another

commits adultery against her;

and if she divorces her husband and marries another,

she commits adultery."



And people were bringing children to him that he might touch them,

but the disciples rebuked them.

When Jesus saw this he became indignant and said to them,

"Let the children come to me;

do not prevent them, for the kingdom of God belongs to

such as these.

Amen, I say to you,

whoever does not accept the kingdom of God like a child

will not enter it."

Then he embraced them and blessed them,

placing his hands on them.



The Gospel of the Lord



Reflection



This week we have Jesus teaching on marriage and divorce. He is approached by the Pharisees who are trying to trap him by bringing him into clear conflict with Scripture.



Divorce was permitted; in fact, it was not uncommon. Moses allowed husbands to write a bill of divorce. But there were two schools of thought concerning the grounds for divorce. Rabbi Hillel, a contemporary of Jesus, interpreted Deuteronomy 24:1-4 to mean that a husband could divorce his wife for almost any reason, like spoiling a dish, or complaining about her in laws in public.



Rabbi Shammai, also a contemporary of Jesus, took a harder stand. He interpreted the same passage to mean that divorce is only allowed for adultery. In either case, only a man was allowed to divorce his wife; a wife could not divorce her husband. But as we see later in this passage, Mark follows the Roman custom which allows women to divorce their husbands.



Jesus would not be caught up in the controversy between these 2 well known rabbis. In fact, his teaching was radical and much stricter than either of these Rabbis.



Jesus said that Moses allowed divorce because of the hardness of their hearts. Jesus said that this teaching was not a law, but a dispensation from the law because of this hardness of heart.



Jesus goes to the heart of the matter and quotes God speaking from Genesis 2:24: “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh.” He interprets that to mean: “Therefore what God has joined together, no human being must separate." This is God’s original plan for marriage. Therefore, divorce is not permitted. Men and women were created for one another and are complementary beings.



There are other New Testament passages that reiterate this no divorce teaching: 1 Corinthians 7:10-11; Luke 16:18; Matthew 5:32; and Matthew 19:1-12.



The early Christians (at least some of them, anyway) did have trouble with this no divorce teaching. In 1 Corinthians 7:12-16, Paul allows divorce if a spouse who is an unbeliever wishes to separate. The believer may not initiate a divorce, but the unbeliever can. In Matthew 5:32 there is what’s called the exceptive clause. Divorce is allowed when the marriage in unlawful (i.e. a marriage between persons of certain blood and/or legal relationships).



In our own day, a divorce is never granted or recognized by the Catholic church in the case of a sacramental and consummated marriage between 2 baptized persons. Other marriages, though theoretically indissoluble, can receive what’s called a separation of the spouses (the church never uses the term divorce) with the dissolution of the bond (that is, freedom to marry). Here are 2 examples: 1) if the marriage has not been consummated; and 2) if 2 non-baptized persons are married, one converts to Christianity, and the unbeliever refuses to live with the believer.



The Church also grants annulments, which is a declaration by the appropriate ecclesiastical authority that a marriage contract was null and void from the beginning. This is different from a divorce. A divorce states that a marriage existed and is now dissolved. An annulment states that a marriage never existed at all (if the priest knew about the circumstances making this marriage invalid, he would have refused to do the marriage). There are 3 sources of invalidity: 1) one of the parties to the marriage has an impediment not cleared by competent authority (there are 12 in canon law); 2) the internal consent of one or both parties is missing (i.e. a substantial misapprehension about marriage, a disturbed psyche, or an incapacity to carry out the marital obligations); 3) the canonical form of marriage was not observed (catholics are required to be married by a priest in front of two witnesses in a church). These last 2 paragraphs are not exhaustive of this topic. If you have specific questions, contact your local priest.



Jesus takes the opportunity to teach his disciples about the kingdom of God by using the example of children. The kingdom is transcendent (not a product or achievement of humans) and eschatological (its fullness is in the future). No human can bring it about or have a claim on it. Only those who recognize if as God’s kingdom can enter. It is a pure gift and should be received as such. We need to be like children, open and trusting, with innocence and simplicity. We need to have these attributes to accept and live in the kingdom.





Fr. Phil