TWENTY-SEVENTH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME (2024)
Readings:
Genesis 2:18-24
Psalms 128:1-6
Hebrews 2:9-11
Mark 10:2-16
In the very first pages of Scripture, God proclaims the truism: “It is not good for man to be alone.” Indeed, it was good for man to give “names to all the cattle, all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals,” but “none proved to be a suitable partner for him.” But, and I hope people understand, even our ‘named’ pets don’t often complete us. Yes, our pets provide good company, but it is probably a divine blessing that they don’t talk back in a distinctly human way. If pets were allowed to talk and say whatever they wanted, there would probably be fewer pets enjoying such massive amounts of devotion. Imagine your dog saying incessantly, ‘you look fat,’ or your cat continually telling you ‘you’re not going out dressed like that!’ No, even though Adam could call all the animals in Eden by name, God was perceptive enough to know that he wasn’t in the best of situations. Adam needed a partner, needed some one to bring out what is best about humanity. Adam needed community, and so God, from Adam’s very flesh and bone fashioned Eve. They were not the perfect couple; they couldn’t even agree on the best fruit to eat. Their progeny, however, would come to fill an entire planet, with differing amounts of success.
The first reading is often chosen by couples to be proclaimed at their wedding, and I surely hope I have not ruined that choice if some young couple had plans to choose it. It definitely links our institution of marriage to the earliest plan of God. But the reality of what I am called to do, is to proclaim God’s Word not only to the married people in our midst, but also to people who are not married, to people whose marriages didn’t quite work out as they anticipated (divorced), to people who are in distinctively different forms of ‘marriage,’ to “people who need people” nonetheless. Our first reading is a call by God to ‘community,’ from the singularity of Adam alone enjoying the fruits of creation, to a community of two, who would create a community of millions.
One of the evils which afflicts our world today is individualism, an individualism that leads to the kind of narcissism which views ourselves as the center of the universe. It is the opposite of what God intended, which is why certain political theories which desire to isolate us from “others,” which feel we can do ‘this’ on our own, are so inimical to God’s plan for creation.
Our focus today should not solely be on marriage or divorce, but it is meant to be on community. Genuine community produces the wonderful benefit of children (an appropriate focus on Respect Life Sunday), and that benefit produces the ‘other,’ a human being especially in need of care, and comfort and compassion (nourishment). Only a short time ago (Mark 9:36-37), we see Jesus plucking a child out of the crowd and placing the child in the midst of the apostles. The child was meant to put an end to their quarreling and to be an example of what real discipleship is all about. Children also figure prominently in our gospel today, and it is hard to imagine the disciples forgetting so completely Jesus’ affection for children. Indeed, they try to stop the people who are bringing their children to Jesus that He might lay His hands on them. Impatiently, Jesus tells them “let the children come to me,” and proclaims that the Kingdom of God belongs to such as these.” Why? Because of their innocence, their openness to all that surrounds them, their natural dependence on others, their ability to open wide their minds and learn new things, and children are happiest when they are not alone. “Whoever does not accept the Kingdom of God like a child will not enter it.”
It’s a tall order, but can we be childlike, and not childish? The difference between the two is important, for it could lead us away from the kind of community God desires us to live in. Childish people are often self-centered, oblivious to the pain and suffering of others. Childish people are only interested in how things affect them, and any and all endeavors must result in some kind of personal benefit. Childish people are not interested in learning new things, for they are pretty convinced that they know it all, and nothing or no one is going to get them to change their minds. Spiritually, we need to muster the strength to take on the qualities of children that Jesus so admired.
(If you are looking for a new Respect Life homily, stay tuned.)
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