Word to the Wise
Thursday, February 8, 2007 - Fifth Thursday in Ordinary Time
[Genesis 2:18-25 and Mark 7:24-30]The Lord God said, "It is not good for the man to be alone....."
The series of momentous statements in Genesis continues. From "In the beginning...." to "Let us make man in our image...." to "You are free...." to "It is not good for man to be alone....!" Each of these "moments" in Genesis is filled with meaning and consequence. Today we confront a truth about the human that is profound. The human person was not made to be alone. Indeed this truth contains some startling challenges to our modern American individualism. It would appear that we have created a cultural bias that is completely counter to the very nature of the human person! To take this truth further, human nature appears by its very essence to require a complementary being. The deep meaning of the words, "This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called 'woman'...." draws our attention to a fundamental truth that perhaps our own church has not yet fully grasped, despite the vision of "the theology of the body" outlined by Pope John Paul II. Even for vowed celibates like myself, the close friendships I am privileged to have with women remind me of the challenge that is presented in the words of Genesis. It is not a sharing of human nature from a position of dominance but from a position of complementarity. Adam recognized what God had done. It is time other men (and women!) do the same! AMEN
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