Reading 1 Gn 2:18-25
The LORD God said:
“It is not good for the man to be alone.
I will make a suitable partner for him.”
So the LORD God formed out of the ground
various wild animals and various birds of the air,
and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them;
whatever the man called each of them would be its name.
The man gave names to all the cattle,
all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals;
but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man.So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man,
and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs
and closed up its place with flesh.
The LORD God then built up into a woman
the rib that he had taken from the man.
When he brought her to the man, the man said:“This one, at last, is bone of my bones
and flesh of my flesh;
this one shall be called ‘woman,’
for out of ‘her man’ this one has been taken.”That is why a man leaves his father and mother
and clings to his wife,
and the two of them become one flesh.The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame.
Gospel Mk 7:24-30
Jesus went to the district of Tyre.
He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it,
but he could not escape notice.
Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him.
She came and fell at his feet.
The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth,
and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.
He said to her, “Let the children be fed first.
For it is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs.”
She replied and said to him,
“Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.”
Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go.
The demon has gone out of your daughter.”
When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed
and the demon gone.
The First Reading of today narrates why and how God created woman.
From this reading, I wish to raise five important issues and discuss three.
- The purpose of woman in creation.
- The place of woman in a man’s life.
- The suitability of male and female.
- The relationship of a man and woman in marriage (unity and indissolubility).
- The disposition in marriage (being together without shame).
Reflection
The purpose of woman in creation
Woman was created as a helpmate for man. That is, a suitable helper, a companion, a friend. The woman was a necessity in man’s life- it was a divine discovery. Men and women of today need to be reminded of this.
In a world where many men treat women like things, like non-entities or when many women make life unliveable/unbearable for their husbands. Some women are like Delilah and Herodias, they bring sadness and failure to the lives of their husbands. Such are not fulfilling God’s agenda (cf. Sirach 26:1-4).
The place of a woman in a man’s life
Here I wish to quote a modern writer M. Henry who says “woman was taken out of man; not out of his head to top him, not out of his feet to be trampled under foot, but of his side to be equal to him, under his arm to be protected, and near his heart to be loved.
What we see today is that men go extra-miles begging a lady to marry them, sometimes appealing to them to quit a pre-existing relationship for their sake and the moment this is done, they make life worse for the woman and make her regret her irrevocable choice.
All men here should hear this, you need patience with a woman, you need to tame your temper and never allow your wife to have reasonable reasons to regret marrying you.
Every beating of a woman whether a partial or full beating, sound slap or noiseless, backhand or palm slap, verbal or non verbal slap, whether this is done under fury or under stupor, with full consciousness or subconsciously, whether with good intention or ill disposition, such act is mean, barbaric and ungodly.
A man is suitable for a woman
Every marital relationship of a man and a man, a woman and a woman, a man and a dog, a woman and a cat is not just disordered but ungodly no matter how we try to justify this. Same-sex union is a rebellion against God’s plan for family life. Let us be careful and not experiment what is detrimental to our sanity, let us shun every proposal or suggestion of same-sex relationship. Let us uphold what is right and defend it. I know many won’t like me again for saying this but it is better to be hated by people than to betray God.
Like the Syrophoenician woman in today’s Gospel, let us beg God in faith, persistence and humility to rescue families from the prevalent mess we find in almost every other home.
May St Cyril and Methodius, the co-patron of Europe who sought to bring the light of Christ to the Slavonic people intercede for us In this era of confusion.
May St Valentine intercede for us that we may learn to love as we are loved by God.
Sermon Preached by Rev. Fr Emmanuel Okami on St. Valentine’s Day February 14, 2019