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.
Ps 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
Responsorial PsalmR. (see 1a)
Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
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.
Meditation: Genesis 2:18-25
“It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a suitable partner for him.” (Genesis 2:18)
In this charming story, God creates man from clay and creates everything else for his enjoyment. Yet something is missing. A solitary human being is incomplete, and even the most special pet cannot make up for it. In the end, God takes a piece of the man’s own flesh and makes a partner who complements him perfectly.
When he is presented with God’s handiwork, Adam is awe-struck. He immediately recognizes that this creature is able to fill the void he has been feeling, and he cries out: “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh” (Genesis 2:23).
Adam knows that he doesn’t need a yes-man, someone to echo his thoughts and carry out his plans. No, he recognizes Eve as “flesh of his flesh” and yet delight-fully different from himself. As every husband and wife will attest, that difference can be mystifying and frustrating at times. But the love they experience for each other tells them that with patient observation and intimate conversation, they can grow to understand each other more and more—and their love can grow deeper and deeper.
While this passage has much to teach us about the joys and blessings of marriage, it tells us just as much about the joys and blessings of friendship. God didn’t intend for us to live in isolation. No, he created us for relationship.
So treasure your friendships. Cherish your husband or wife. Of course they are not exactly like you. That’s part of the beauty of relationships. God gives us people whose strengths complement our weaknesses. He gives us friends who help us stay honest with ourselves so that we don’t get caught in a trap of self-congratulation. The moment we let our differences overshadow our love for each other is the moment we need to change our thinking and recall the gift that they are to us.
May we always let our love for each other cover the flaws we think we see. Remember: It is not good for us to be alone!
“Father, thank you for placing other people in my life. Help me to see you in their faces, and teach me how to share myself with them.”
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