October 7th Mark 10:2-16

In today’s Gospel Jesus is being tested again with a controversial question on remarriage. “Is it legal…?” this honour/shame spectacle is challenging Jesus’ interpretation of the Torah and Jesus immediately tries to take his questioners beyond the letter of the Law. He reminds us of God’s creation and the harmony that exists or that should exist in the world around us. While the questioning refers specifically to remarriage, Jesus’ response is that we are all equal and should strive to stay away from all that causes disharmony.

The story of the little children may appear a separate incident but it again involves human relationships. The word ‘children’ meaning ‘little ones’ is not referring solely to children but to those in society who are considered ‘little’. What does Jesus do for them? He welcomes the rejected, he blesses them, he shows us that they are unique and each have something to teach us. “Lord, there are many things in life which you have made complementary, not two, but together forming one reality: young and old in a community; men and women in relationships; people of different cultures in our one world; body and soul within each of us. It is difficult to make this unity, and so we allow ourselves to divorce these things from each other. We see them as opposed and in competition. We thank you for Jesus who taught us that it was not so at the beginning of creation, and what you have united we human beings have no right to divide” (Michael de Verteuil).