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7 October (B) 2018 27th Sunday of the Year (B) The Bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings) The Bible in Dialogue with Questions of the Day: The Bible as Guide in Life and Liturgy (Sunday Readings) First Reading (Genesis 2:18-24). They become one body. This reading from the Book of Genesis is about the ideal situation before the sin and fall of our first parents, Adam and Eve, which will be recounted in the following chapter (chapter 3). It speaks of the human race as God would have it. First God created man (in Hebrew adam), the male, from the dust (in Hebrew adamah) of the earth, intended to emphasize his frailty and return to dust at his death. To show his superiority over beasts and birds, God has Adam name these creatures. But to stress man’s superiority above these, the text lays stress on the fact that none of these is a suitable helpmate for the human dignity of man. The text goes on to show how man’s, the male’s, helpmate is woman, drawn from the man while he is in a divinely induced sleep. This is the point of the entire passage – the union of man and woman in marriage. This is made clear in the concluding words: In marriage man and woman become one. This is the ideal situation, which was in God’s plan before the fall. With sin matters changed. The passage is chosen for today’s liturgy to accompany today’s Gospel reading, in which Christ will recall the original plan of God in his answer to a question about divorce. Responsorial Psalm (Psalm 127 [128]). May the Lord bless you all the days of you life. Second Reading (Hebrews 2:9-11). The one who sanctifies, and those who are sanctified, are of the same stock. With this passage we begin a set of readings from the Epistle to the Hebrews which will continue for the remainder of the Church’s liturgical year, until the 33rd Sunday of the year. The writing was occasioned by the danger of apostasy in an early Christian community, apparently in one with converts from Judaism. These seemed to have been over impressed with the splendour of the Jewish liturgy, finding difficulty in the more otherworldly Christian belief. The author develops in some detail some of the comparisons between the Jewish rites and Christian fulfilment. At the outset, however, he stresses the divinity, and with it, the superiority of Christ. Jesus is the Son whom the Father has appointed the heir of all things. He reflects the glory of God and bears the very stamp of his nature, upholding the universe by his word of power (Hebrews 1:2-3). Since such is Christ their Lord, believers can have complete confidence in him. But Christ is not just the powerful creator and redeemer. Those to whom this letter is directed, believers in him, were very sorely tested by doubts and persecutions. The present reading addresses just those. Christ is their model, and their guide to God. It was God’s plan that his own Son, true God, through whom the world was created, should also be truly human and experience the trials and sufferings of mortals. It was the divine purpose that his own Son, the guide and leader of believers, should experience through his own sufferings what obedience to God’s will really means, and should be made perfect in this sense. Christ is truly human; he is one with those who believe in him. Christ who sanctifies and believers who are sanctified are of the same stock. Christ openly declares them to be his own brothers and sisters. This is a tremendous presentation of the divinity and full humanity of Christ, a true source and bedrock of faith and of confidence in doubts in matters of faith, in trials and persecutions. Gospel (Mark 10:2-16). What God has joined together, let no one separate. , The background to today’s gospel reading is a burning issue that divided the Pharisees in Jesus’ day. It concerned the valid ground for a man to divorce his wife, and the interpretation of Deuteronomy 24:1 which says that if a man marries a wife and she find no favour in his eyes because he has found “something indecent” (or: “anything indecent”) in her, he may write her a bill of divorce and put her away. Shortly before Christ’s day, and during it, there was sharp division among the Pharisees as to how interpret “something” (or: “anything”) indecent”. One authority, Shammai, maintained that indecency meant adultery, which would be sole ground for divorce. A rival authority, Hillel, was more lenient, stressing the other word: “anything” meant just anything: for instance bad cooking, or if he found I nicer-looking woman. The Pharisees’ question is regarded as a test. Jesus refers them to Moses’ law, to Moses’ command, on the matter, and on getting a reply passes beyond Moses and the Mosaic law (central to Judaism) to God’s original plan which for him had no place for divorce. He cites the text of Genesis, which ends with the words: “and they shall become one body”, to which Jesus adds, to strengthen his statement: “What therefore God has joined together, let no one put assunder.” This was Jesus’ answer to the Jewish Pharisees. The continuation makes it clear that what he has said holds true for all his followers. When his disciples ask him about the matter, Jesus gives a clear answer, categorically ruling out divorce and remarriage. His reply was: “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her”. Mark’s text goes on to give the same principle for a divorce by a woman, applying the principle to pagan Greek and Roman society. Jewish women did not have the right to divorce. This teaching of Jesus is found substantially the same in the other Gospels Matthew 19:9; 5:32; Luke 16:18, except that Matthew has an exceptive clause “except for unchastity” (in Greek porneia, a term here of uncertain meaning), a clause which, whatever its original meaning, is irrelevant today, where divorce is by mutual consent. The Lord’s prohibition on divorce and remarriage is also in 1 Corinthians 7:10-11, to which we shall return below. The Bible in Dialogue with Questions of the Day Teaching of an understanding Redeemer on Divorce With regard to some of the sayings of Christ in the Gospels, or to teaching ascribed to Christ, some scholars question whether the saying or doctrine in question are from Christ himself or from his followers in the early Church. There is no such question with regard to Christ’s teaching on divorce. This presented such difficulty for the early Church and later history as to render it unlikely that anyone would have attributed it to Christ unless he had really said it. St Paul, writing about 57 A.D., presents clear evidence that the ruling is from Christ himself. Writing to questions raised by the Corinthians with regard to marriage and celibacy (abstention from marriage), he clearly distinguishes between his own advice and the Lord’s teaching. When it comes to marriage and divorce he is clear: “To the married I give charge, not I but the Lord, that the wife should not separate from her husband (but if she does, let her remain single or else be reconciled to her husband) – and that the husband should not divorce his wife” (1 Corinthians 7:10-11). Paul clearly knew of the Lord’s teaching on the matter, as recorded in the Gospels. One may legitimately ask how one can reconcile this teaching of Christ on divorce with the criticism of the Pharisees for binding heavy burdens, hard to bear, and laying them on people’s shoulders (Matthew 23:4), or with Christ’s words that his yoke is sweet and his burden light, and with Christ’s invitation to all who labour and are burdened to come to him (Matthew 11:28-30). The contrast between his teaching on divorce the other points raised calls for reflection. Christ’s clear teaching on divorce and remarriage do not come from a cold perfectionism or lack of understanding on his part. The person of Jesus as made known through the Gospels is that spoken of in today’s reading from the Epistle to the Hebrews. It was the Father’s will that his Son Jesus experience all the trials of humanity. Jesus befriended the marginalized and rejected. He sympathized with human brokenness. But with all this he came with the message that God was recalling humanity to its original state. Human weakness and brokenness did not take from God’s vision of the human race. That state was and is represented by marriage as intended by God. What is said about divorce and God’s original plan holds for much of the New Testament vision, The church has to be faithful to Christ’s message on the matter, as the apostle Paul was. She must also show the kindness of Christ for the many caught up in the problems that can arise within marriage, and from the break up of marriage. Today’s liturgy is a call for followers of Christ to be faithful to their calling to Christ’s teaching and his loving concern for all the many problems of broken humanity.
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7 Deireadh Fomhair 2018 (B) An Seachtú Domhnach Fichead Saor Freagra don Chreideamh leis an mBíobla leis an Ath. Máirtín Mac Conmara, MSC Léachtaí an Domhnaigh mar Threoir don Bheatha Chríostaí An Bíobla in Agallamh le Ceisteanna an Lae: Teagasc Íosa, an Slánaitheoir caoin, ar an gcolscaradh. Léachtaí an Domhnaigh mar Threoir don Bheatha Chríostaí. Céad Léacht (Genesis 2:18-24). Rinneadh aon fheoil amháin díobh. An léacht seo as Leabhar Genesis is faoin staid idéalach a bhí ann roimh pheaca agus thurnamh an tsinsir, Ádhamh agus Éabha, é. Beidh cur síos ar an bpeaca, an turnamh, an titim, sin sa chéad chaibideal eile den leabhar seo (Genesis caibideal 3). Tráchtann an léacht seo, agus an cuntas lena mbaineann sé, ar an gcine daonna mar ba mhaith le Dia é a bheith. I dtús báire chruthaigh Dia an duine (san Eabhrais adam), anseo duine fireann, as chré (Eabhrais adamah) na talún, le meabhrú cé chomh leochaileach agus a bhí an duine agus go raibh sé le filleadh ar an luaithreach tar éis bhais dó. Le airde céime an duine ar na beithígh agus na héanlaithe a léiriú, iarrann Dia ar an duine ainmneacha a thabhairt orthu siúd, agus fós deir an téacs nach bhfuarthas céile cúnta a dhiongbhála don duine (Ádhamh) in aon cheann díobh. Téann an téacs ar aghaidh lena thaispeáint gurb í an chéile cúnta don duine, don fhear (as Eabhraia ís), ná bean (Eabhrais isea) a tógadh as an bhfear nuair a bhí sé sa suan trom a chuir Dia air. Is í seo buaic an tsleachta seo ar fad — aontas an fhir agus na mná sa phósadh. Déantar seo soiléir i mbriathra deiridh na léachta: déantar aon fheoil amháin díobh. Ba í seo an staid idéalach roimh an titim. D’athraigh cúrsaí le peaca an tsinsir. Roghnaíodh an sliocht seo do liotúirge an lae inniu le dul leis an sliocht ón soiscéal, ina thugann Íosa chun cuimhne an téacs seo, le plean tosaigh Dé, mar fhreagra ar cheist a cuireadh air. Salm le Freagra (Salm 127[128]). Go mbeannaí an Tiarna sinn gach lá dár saol. Dara Léacht (Eabhraigh 2:9-11). Is d’aon bhunadh amháin an té a naomhaíonn agus na daoine a naomhaítear. Leis an sliocht seo tosaímid le sraith léachtaí as an Litir chuig na hEabhraigh a rachaidh ar aghaidh ar feadh an chuid eile den bhliain liotúirgeach, go dtí an 33ú Domhnach Saor den bhliain. Ba í ba bhunchúis don scríbhinn seo ná baol shéanadh creidimh a bhí ann i gcomhluadar éigin luath-Chríostaí, ceann ina raibh baill a iompaigh ón Ghiúdachas. De réir dealraimh bhí niamhracht an líotúirge Ghiúdaigh ag dul i bhfeidhm go láidir ar na baill sin, agus bhí deacracht acu glacadh leis an dreach neamhshaolta a bhí ar an gcreideamh Críostaí. Déananan an t-údar comparáid go mion idir deasghnátha an liotúirge Ghiúdaigh agus an tslí ina dhéantar iad a chomhlíonadh i gcreideamh Chríost. Ach i dtús báire leagann sé béim ar dhiagacht Chríost, is é sin le rá ar a ardchéim. Is é Íosa an Mac a cheap an tAthair ina oidhre é ar an uile ní. Is é scáil ghlóir Dé é agus cló a shubstainte, ag coinneáil an chruinne ar bun lena bhriathar bríomhar (Eabhraigh 1:2-3). Toisc gur mar sin atá Críost a dTiarna, is féidir le creidmhigh muinín a bheith acu as. Ach ní hé an cruthaitheoir agus slánaitheoir cumachtach amháin é Críost. Iad sin ar díríodh an litir seo chucu, creidmhigh i gCríost, bhí cathú trom curtha orthu ag amhras agus géarleanúintí. Labhraíonn léacht an lae inniu díreach leo siúd. Is é Críost a n-eiseamláir, a dtreoraí, a gceannródaí, chun Dé. Ba é plean Dé go mbeadh a Mhac féin, fíor-Dhia, trina cruthaíodh an domhan, go mbeadh sé go hiomlán daonna agus go mothódh sé na peannaidí agus na deacrachtaí a fhulaingíonn daoine daonna, agus go ndéanfaí foirfe é sa chiall seo. Tá Críost go hiomlán daonna; eisean an té a dhéanann naofa iad siúd a chreideann ann. Is de aon bhunadh amháin Críost agus iad siúd a thugann sé chun naofachta. Bíodh gur Dia é, ní náir leis bráithre agus siúracha a thabhairt orthu. Is iontach an cur i láthair é seo ar dhiagacht agus ar lán-daonnacht Chríost. Is foinse agus dúshraith chreidimh agus mhuiníne é nuair a bhíonn amhras ann faoi chúrsaí creidimh, i dtráth buairimh, peannaidi agus géarleanúna. An Soiscéal (Marcas 10:2-16). An ní a cheangail Dia, ná scaoileadh duine é. An cúlra do léacht an lae inniu ná ceist loiscneach a bhí ina cúis easaontais idir na Fairisínigh i laethanta Íosa. Bhain sé leis an mbunús bailí a bhí ag fear dealú lena bhean chéile, agus an míniú cuí a bhí le thabhairt ar Deotarainimí 24:1 a deir dá mba rud é gur phós fear bean agus nárbh áil leis í agus go bhfuair sé mínáire eigin (“neamhghlaine éigin”) le cur ina leith gurb fhéidir leis bille scartha a scríobh dí agus í a chur chun siúil óna theach. Tamall roimh aimsir Chríost, agus le linn a bheatha, bhí easaontas géar i measc na bhFairisíneach faoin mbrí le baint as na briathra “náire (“neamhghlaine”) eigin” den téacs sin. Mhaigh údarás amháin, Seamái, gurbh é adhaltranas a bhí i gceist le “náire” (“neamhghlaine”) agus gurbh adhaltranas an t-aon bhonn amháin do cholscaradh. . Bhí a mhalairt de thuairim ag údarás eile, a chuir béim ar an focal “éigin”, “ar bith” den téacs: “náire, nemahghlaine, ar bith”, mar shampla, droch-chócaireacht, nó go bhfuair sé bean níos áille ná í. Promhadh, ag baint trialach as Íosa, ba chúis le ceist na bhFairisíneach. Ag tabhairt freagra dóibh déanann Íosa tagairt do dhlí Mhaois, don rud a ordaigh Maois, ar an ábhar, agus nuair a fuair sé freagra téann Íosa thar Maois agus Dlí Mhaois go plean tosaigh Dé, nuair nach raibh aon áit ann do cholscaradh ar bith dar le hÍosa. Luann Íosa téacs Genesis a chríochnaionn leis na briathra: “agus aon cholainn amháin a bheidh sa bheirt acu”, agus le treise a chur leis sin cuireann Íosa an bhreis seo leis: “Dá bhrí sin, an ní a cheangail Dia, ná scaoileadh duine é”. Ba é seo freagra Íosa do na Fairisínigh Ghiúdacha. Déanann an téacs a lean seo soiléir go mbaineann a dúirt Íosa lena lucht leanúna go leir. Nuair a chuireann a dheisceabail ceist air faoin ábhar, tugann Íosa freagra a chuireann colscaradh agus athphósadh go follasach as an áireamh: “Duine ar bith a scaoileann uaidh a bhean (colscaradh) agus a phósann bean eile déanann sé adhaltranas ina coinne”. Téann téacs seo Mharcais ar aghaidh leis an prionsabal céanna faoi cholscaradh ó thaobh na mná de a lua le sochai phagánach na Gréige agus na Róimhe, áiteannna ina fhéadfadh na mná tús a chur le colscaradh. Ní raibh ceart colscartha ag mná Giúdacha. Tá teagasc Íosa faoi cholscaradh go bunúsach mar an gcéanna i Soisceil Matha (19:9; 5:32) agus Lúcás (16:18), agus atá sé i Marcas, ach amháin go bhfuil clásal eisceachta ag Matha (“ach nach de dheasca striapachais, mígheanmnaíochta, Gréigis porneia, é”). Ní fios go beacht cad is brí leis an bhfocal Gréigise porneia sa chomhthéacs seo, ach is cuma cad ba bhrí leis mar ní bhaineann sin le hábhar inniu mar a bhfuil colscaradh le fáil le comthoiliú. Tá cosc Íosa ar cholscaradh agus athphósadh le feiscint freisin in 1 Corantaigh 7:10-11, ar a mbeidh tagairt arís thíos anseo. An Bíobla in Agallamh le ceisteanna an lae. Teagasc Íosa, an Slánaitheoir caoin, ar an gcolscaradh. Maidir le roinnt de ráitis Íosa sna Soiscéil, nó den teagasc a leagtar ar Chríost, cuireann scoláirí an cheist an ó Chríost féin na ráitis nó an teagasc sin, nó óna lucht leanúna sa luatheaglais. Ach ní chuirtear aon cheist dá leithéid maidir le teagasc Íosa faoin gcolscaradh. Rinne an teagasc áirithe seo an méid sin deacrachta don ógeaglais, agus don eaglais níos déanaí, nach dócha go gcuirfeadh aoinne ar bheola Íosa é mura rud é go ndúirt sé dáirire é. Ag scríobh chuig na Corantaigh thart an an mbliain 57, tugann an tAspal Pól fianaise shoiléir gur ó Chríost féin an teagasc seo. Ag tabhairt freagra do na Corantaigh ar cheisteanna a chuireadar chuige maidir le pósadh agus aontumhacht (staonadh ó phósadh), déanann sé idirdhealú soileir idir a chomhairle féin agus teagasc an Tiarna Íosa: “Tá an foláireamh seo le tabhairt agam, áfach, dóibh seo atá pósta, agus ní uaim féin é ach ón Tiarna: Ná tréigeadh bean a fear céile – agus má thréigeann fanadh sí gan pósadh nó déanadh sí mór arís leis – agus ná scaoileadh fear a bhean chéile uaidh” (1 Corantaigh 7:10-11). Is soiléir go raibh eolas ag Pól ar an ábhar seo, faoi mar atá sé le fáil sna soiscéil. D’fhéadfadh duine go macánta an cheist a chur conas teagasc seo Íosa faoin chosc ar cholscaradh a réiteach leis an gcáineadh a dhéanann sé ar na Fairsisínigh faoi ualaí troma do-iompair a cheangal le buaileadh ar ghuaillí daoine (Matha 23:4), agus le briathar Chríost féin go bhfuil a chuing so-iompair agus a ualach éadrom, agus cuireadh Chríost do gach aoinne a bhfuil saothar agus tromualach orthu teacht chuige (Matha 11:28-30). Glaonn an chodarsnacht idir theagasc Chríost ar an cholscaradh agus na poinnti eile sin orainn machnamh a dhéanamh. Ní thagann teagasc soiléir Chríost ar cholscaradh agus athphósadh ó fhoirfeachtachas fuar nó ó aon easpa tuisceana ó thaobh an tSlánaitheora. Pearsa Íosa mar is eol dúinn ó na Soiscéil í, ionann í agus an cur síos atá uirthi i dara léacht an lae inniu ón Litir chuig na hEabhraigh. Ba í toil an Athar go mothódh Íosa, a Mhac, na peannaidí agus crá croí a bheadh le fulaingt ag an gcine daonna, ag gach mac máthar agus iníon athar. Bhí Íosa ina chara dóibh siúd a bhí ar an imeall agus curtha i leataobh. Bhí trua aige don chine daonna agus don nádúr daonna briste. Ach maraon le seo go léir tháinig sé le teachtaireacht ón Athair an cine daonna a glaoch thar n-ais don staid ina raibh sé i dtosach, nuair a cruthaíodh é. Níor thóg an laige dhaonna ná a staid bhriste ó fhís Dé don chine daonna. Ba shamhail an pósadh mar ba thoil le Dia é, agus mar is toil leis fós, den staid tosaigh sin. An méid a deirtear faoi cholscaradh agus plean tosaigh Dé, is fíor sin faoi mhórán de fhís agus de léargas an Tiomna Nua – glaoch thar nais don bheatha sin is toil le Dia. Ní mór don Eaglais bheith dílis do theachtaireacht Chríost san ábhar seo, mar a bhí an tAspal Pól. San am céanna tá uirthi cineáltas Íosa a thaispeáint do na daoine iomadúla atá gafa le fadhbanna taobh istigh den phósadh, agus ó phóstaí atá briste, le tuiscint aici do na brúnna iomadúla ar an bpósadh an lá atá inniu ann – díreach mar atá á dhéanamh aici inniu agus í ag cíoradh na gceisteanna faoi mhoráltacht an teaghlaigh. Is glaoch é liotúirge an lae inniu ar lucht leanúna Chriost a bheith dílis don ghairm atá acu ó Chríost, dílis dá theagasc agus dá chúram grámhar do na fadhbanna gan teorainn atá ag cine daonna leochaileach, briste.