This Sunday, we read more from Mark chapter 10.  Jesus talks about the indissolubility of marriage.

To read this week’s readings, click here.

In the days of Jesus, society was divided into four classes, each superior to and exercising a property right over the class below. Men were on the top level, followed by women, children and then slaves.  

Betrothals were usually arranged by an agent working on behalf of the parents. There were many details to be determined, including the mohar, a bride price paid to the family of the bride. Once an agreement was signed, the couple was legally bound to marry one another, normally within one year.  To break off a betrothal was as involved as a divorce.
Marriage in the first century was a contract between families. Marriage was not contracted unless someone witnessed spoken vows. There was almost always a written contract to verify legitimacy of the children.
In divorce, the mohar had to be paid back unless the bride was unfaithful.  This prevented some frivolous divorces, but if a man had enough money, a man could divorce his wife easily.

 

A Suitable Partner

Genesis 2:18 states, “The LORD God said: It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suited to him.”  The Lectionary uses “partner” instead of “helper,” due to the subordinate connotation of the word “helper” in English.  The NAB bible footnotes on this verse state, “Helper suited to him: lit., ‘a helper in accord with him.’ ‘Helper’ need not imply subordination, for God is called a helper (Dt 33:7; Ps 46:2). The language suggests a profound affinity between the man and the woman and a relationship that is supportive and nurturing.”
The Hebrew phrase for “suitable helper” is “ezer knegdow”. The word “knegdow” is usually translated as “suitable” and refers to an exact counterpart.  The status of Marriage in Jesus time was a bit far from this ideal.  Even today, we often struggle with understanding gender roles as equally important and supportive to each other.

 

Note that the Pharisees are present here, in today’s Gospel reading.  They were a sect who believed in the importance of oral tradition, which they considered to be equally authoritative as the Torah. They knew the law up and down, and they would often try to “catch” Jesus teaching what they considered to be error.  So, not only is Jesus correcting his Disciples about the state of marriage in the first century, he is also using his knowledge of Genesis (He is quoting the first reading!) to show the Pharisees where they can find the source of it.  

 

Marriage is a sacrament in the Church.  It is so much more than just a contract.  The old Baltimore Catechism states, “The outward sign in the Sacrament of matrimony is the mutual consent of the persons, expressed by words or signs in accordance with the laws of the Church. The whole essence of the marriage contract consists in the surrender by the persons of their bodies to each other and in declaring by word or sign that they make this surrender and take each other for husband and wife now and for life.”  Jesus has such strong views on divorce and remarriage because He is correcting the hardened hearts of men, teaching us how to live in love and fidelity. Jesus said in Mark 10:7-8. “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.”  He is elevating women in marriage to how they were described in Genesis 2:18, not being treated as property as was the custom of the time, and at the same time reaffirming the indissolubility of marriage.

 

For more reading, check out this article here.

 

Respect Life Prayer from the USCCB

 

O Jesus, you came that we might have life—and have it in abundance. Together with the Father and the Holy Spirit, you form us in our mothers’ wombs and call us to love you for all eternity.

As your most precious gift of human life is attacked, draw us ever closer to your Real Presence in the Eucharist. Dispel the darkness of the culture of death, for you are the light that shines in the darkness, and the darkness cannot overcome it.

By the power of your Eucharistic Presence, help us to defend the life of every human person at every stage. Transform our hearts to protect and cherish all whose lives are most vulnerable.

For you are God, forever and ever. Amen.

 

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