Homily for Thursday of the 5th Week in Ordinary Time

Women are at the center of our readings today. In Genesis, the first woman takes away the solitude of the first man, measures up to him in a way that no other creature could, and the two are united as equals, “in one flesh.” While the woman brings joy and stability into the life of the first man, elsewhere in Scriptures, pagan women are also held responsible, at least in part, for apostasy in Israel. Then in our Gospel reading, a pagan woman surprises Jesus with her faith and humble persistence.

These texts invite us to reflect on the relationship of the sexes, in family, in friendship, and in community. Our differences as men and women, along with diversity in personality, talents, and interests help us to complement each other and challenge one another to grow. Genesis clearly suggests that woman and man in isolation are each lacking important gifts and qualities. The union by which they complement one another enables the image of God, divine goodness, strength, and fidelity, to be manifest. In this way, marriage sets the pattern for all human friendship and community.

Many of the women in the Scriptures are, in some sense, models for both men and women, just as men provide examples for both women and men. What is scattered and fragmented must be reunited in Jesus, for as Paul says: “among you, it is no longer Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female, for all are one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:28-29). Belonging to Jesus, then, in a radical way, heals all fragmentation arising from gender or race.

Adam exclaimed, “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh.” If a spouse is to leave father and mother and cling to the other, then each has a divine mandate to put nothing before one’s love and loyalty for the other person. Jesus put it still more heroically and totally: There is no greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends (John 15:13). In this context, we understand Jesus’ other words: Whoever tries to preserve their life will lose it; whoever loses it will keep it (Luke 17:33). Not only do we refuse to put any other object before our spouse, friends, or community members, but we do not even place ourselves in preference to them.+