MALE AND FEMALE, HE CREATED THEM – part I
For the last few days, the First Reading during Holy Liturgy invited us to Paradise. I would like to stay there with You. Therefore, for the next few days, I want to share with you reflections on what happened in Paradise.
The Bible emphasizes the equality of humanity between the sexes and that the difference between "being a man" and "being a woman" is something good and willed by God.
We live in a time when Orwell's saying is actual: "repeating the obvious is the duty of intelligent people." Western countries have questioned the definition of marriage as a union between a man and a woman, now questioning the more obvious thing - the separateness of man and woman inherent in their nature. It is said that masculinity and femininity do not result from gender, from nature, that is, from being born a man or a woman. Femininity or masculinity are only social roles against which a person has the full right to rebel and shape them at his/her own discretion. Such a vision is contrary to the biblical vision of man. I do not know anthropology, that is, a vision of man more sublime and noble than Christian. Healthy Science is the best cure for sick theories.
God made two sexes
According to the biblical description of creation, it is the essence of man to be created by God as a man or as a woman. This "duality" is a fundamental fact that belongs to the nature of humanity. Nobody is human at all, a person apart from gender. You are human either as a man or as a woman. The Book of Genesis communicates the truth about the origin of man from God in the form of simple, even "catechetical" stories. These biblical stories answer fundamental human questions: where did man ultimately come from? what is the essence of his nature? what is his calling? These questions will not be answered by a biologist, physicist, chemist, doctor, psychologist or sociologist. Which does not mean disregarding the knowledge about man that these specialists provide. The Bible views man from a religious perspective and should be read that way. Bible is an inspired book. We believe that it tells how God himself sees man. There are two descriptions of creation in the book of Genesis that originated in different traditions. The last editor collected them and put them together. We have to read them as complementary statements. In the first description of the creation of man (priestly tradition), it is shown as the culmination of God's work of creating the entire world. Man is created on the last day as the crown of creation, the most important one. The Creator stopped for a moment before bringing him into existence.
God's solemn declaration (the solemn "we") of God appears, as like his reflection: "Let us make man in our image, like us" (Genesis 1:26). And then comes the key sentence of this description: "God created man in his image, in the image of God he created him: male and female he created" (1:27). The source of man's greatness, dignity, and dominance over the world is God's likeness. Each of the people carries within him/her the "image of God". Already in this sentence there is a gender distinction. The next verse contains God's blessing and points to the primary purpose of sexuality. "Then God blessed them, saying to them:" Be fruitful and multiply, so that you may populate the earth and subdue it "(1:28).
One of the essential elements of man's likeness to God is the ability to transmit life. There is something divine about procreation. Being a man and being a woman are inherently oriented towards a life-giving union. Fertility is a sign of God the Creator. The world and people were created out of God's love, out of the love of man and woman new human beings, "images of God", born as men or women are created. These biblical verses echo the truth about the equality of both sexes and about the difference that is intended by God. Man and woman have been created, which is to say, willed by God: on the one hand, in perfect equality as human persons; on the other, in their respective beings as man and woman. "Being man" or "being woman" is a reality which is good and willed by God: man and woman possess an inalienable dignity which comes to them immediately from God their Creator.240 Man and woman are both with one and the same dignity "in the image of God". In their "being-man" and "being-woman", they reflect the Creator's wisdom and goodness” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, 369).
Reflection on Today’s Gospel
When I listen to today’s passage from the Gospel, I always look deeper. Because what we see in the scene outlined by St. Mark? Healing the deaf man. Jesus takes the sick man aside, puts his fingers in his ears, touches his tongue with saliva and says the word: Ephphatha!” - “Be opened!”. The sick person recovers immediately. Yes, this incident was outlined by an evangelist but is it really all about healing? When I listen to this passage, I get the impression that Jesus is talking to each of us Ephphatha!. He comes to us; he takes us out of the crowd. He takes us aside. And then he says "open up" to these spheres in our lives that are closed to His action.
How many people are dumb and spiritually deaf today; their ears are closed to the Gospel.
Their tongue does not proclaim the Glory of God. Reading this passage, I often ask myself: Do I really hear or is it just my imagination. Do I always speak well or is my speech gibberish that no one understands? Or maybe I am listening to the wrong thing? Maybe I eavesdrop on conversations that do not concern me and then gossip, slander.
Is my speech - as it is written in the Bible - Yes, yes, no, no or am I combining, coloring, saying what people want to hear? Are my words full of phrases, empty promises or boasts? Do I listen to the inspirations of the Holy Spirit? Am I trying to follow what I heard? Do I listen or only hear? Do I speak or maybe just talk either I speak, or I discuss, or I just babble?
Listen to the Master!
Jesus not only looks at us, but also speaks to us. (St. Teresa of Avila)
Jesus takes a man out of the noise of the crowd, from prying eyes. Contact with God is a mystery between Him and that one and only person. Even if there were billions of people in the world, God is with everyone alone, far from the crowd, in a completely personal, special relationship. He put his fingers in, touched by God's fingers! The first tablets of the Law on Mount Sinai were written by the finger of God; with God's finger, Jesus casts out demons; he writes with his finger on the sand ... This is A sign of God's action.
The senses of sight and hearing are the most spiritual senses in man. By listening and seeing (i.e., reading, seeing) communication becomes possible on the level of concepts, and further on - spirit. By opening these senses, Jesus opens the whole person to God. This is what the Aramaic word Ephphatha! means: opening, healing the whole person.
Talk to him!
After listening to the Master, we start a conversation with Him. We are to address him with simple and true words. (St. Teresa of Avila)
Until Tomorrow
fr. george