Twenty-Seventh Sunday in Ordinary
Saint Boniface Parish
October 7, 2018
I reflect on how a grade-school teacher can have quite a difficult role to fill, especially in the younger grades: first grade, second grade, and the like. They don't really differentiate their teaching roles. They are asked to teach everything: math, science, religion, you know… ethics on the playground, everything that their growing minds desire to know they are there to help form. These teachers can, at times, say things that maybe are not completely true. Perhaps because they do not recognize the fallacy, then again, they do have to have a lot on their minds, and they are expected to basically know everything about anything. Another reason, perhaps, is that they are in the process of doing something else and some spunky second grader asks a bizarre question, out of nowhere, such as ‘did Adam really lose a rib when God created Eve, and does that mean women have more ribs than men do?’ The teacher may have said something like ‘yes, you are right, you, little Adam, have fewer ribs than women do.’ And from that moment on that little second grader believed that, that is until he got to a high school, when he and other in his class were corrected by the anatomy teacher. Finally, a college professor made it a big point to correct those who had not yet realized that this concept is false. And so, with our proximity to the medical school, I think it is important to acknowledge the fact, for anyone with the lingering misconception: women do not have more ribs than men do, all things being equal we have the same number of ribs. In fact, the only way that I know of to distinguish a male skeleton and a female skeleton is the width of the pelvis, and even that is not always certain. I have heard, and the medical students might correct me on this on, that the thickness of the skull can at times be an indicator of masculinity in the skeleton.
It is just not true, even though many may believe it, men and women have the same number of ribs. The relationship between men, women, and the ribs has fascinated me for some time so when I heard the song entitled Shady Grove, sung by the Tabasco Donkeys, a connection was instantly made. The song, I have come to find, has some significant history. It is an old Appalachian song that has gone through many renditions, but one of the possible verses of the song, Shady Grove, is this:
Wish I had a needle and threadFine as I could sewI'd sew that pretty girl to my sideAnd down the road I'd go
This song is speaking of the love the singer has for his intended bride, and how, if he could, he would sew her to his side. Now, we must recognize that this is a rather old song, and so in the era of #MeToo and all the scandal that is taking place in politics, in society, but also in the Church, we can hear this idea that woman was created from the rib of the man, and understand that to mean that woman are less than, that men come first and that woman come second. Even this song, on first impression, may sound like she is being made to follow him, to go wherever he goes. I also think that it is important to hear that he is pursuing her, he desires to be sewn to her as well. It goes both ways, the symbolism of Adam’s rib also tells us that they are connected at their side - that they are equal, they walk side-by-side.
It may be difficult to see this equality at work here unless we look through Incarnational eyes – that is eyes that are informed by the Incarnation, the mystery of Christ becoming a human being, the mystery, the absurdity of God taking on flesh and becoming man. Our second reading reminds us of this act of Christ, his being made lower, for a time, than the angels. Christ took on flesh. Christ – God, in God’s self, took our humanity onto himself. In a similar way, God, in the Book of Genesis, took from the man a rib, a piece of his body, his flesh, and created woman. The God who created that flesh, the God who shaped creation according to God’s plan, that same God pursued us, God came after us. The way in which the man in the song pursues the woman, we are worth this pursuit, we mean so much to God that God went out of God's way to put on flesh, to become for a time less than the angels, and pursue us. God pursued, God pursued us despite the suffering he would endure, in spite of the rejection he would face. Through eyes informed by the Incarnation we can look at words of Genesis, the words that Jesus repeats in today’s Gospel, and see another misconception. Not just the misconception that men have fewer ribs, but the idea that a man leaves his home and clings to his wife. For much of human history, for most of those who have encountered this Word of God, in practice this reading from Genesis simply was not true. The man would not have left his home to go live with her. Having acquired her she would have come to live with him and his family. Incarnational eyes can help us see Sacred Scripture telling us that the man goes to clinging to her side. She may be the one to leave her home and join his family, but he goes out of his way to pursue her. These words do not speak of the physical reality they experienced, but these words express a spiritual reality. These words reminded the husband, and continue to remind the husband, that they were committed to one another as equals, that they are created as equals, and the words reinforce the desire to commit to one another.
This commitment to one another as equals, as those who stand side by side one another as they pledge their freedom to commit their lives to one another, just as hundreds, if not thousands of couples stood here, on this exact spot, and committed their entire lives to one another - as equals, as partners in life. Both desiring to raise a family, desiring to support, and to love one another, and they are called upon for the rest of their lives to trust the commitment they make to one another. That is why Christ desires for that commitment to be realized and for it to remain unbroken. Difficulty in relationships continues to exist, divorce remains a reality in our world, and in our Church. As humans we work with that difficulty, work with it as best we can. All the while commitment remains the ideal, commitment is still a reality we strive for. We recall the words of the marriage rite where it speaks of the couple as being a symbol, a reminder, of Christ's love for His Bride the Church. The Catholic Church is often referred to as the Bride of Christ. Christ, the Son of God, God Himself clings to her, His Bride. He brings her to His side and He will not let her go. He walks right beside her, loving her, desiring to show her the way. Christ's commitment to His Bride, His Church is mirrored in the commitment of a husband and wife and by that we are charged with being committed to one another as well. You may have received an envelope on your way in. If not, there are some envelopes for the Catholic Services Appeal, this years CSA, on your way out. This is a small reminder of our commitment to this Archdiocese. It is a bond, a commitment that reminds us all that we do not go it alone. If we are together, if we are committed to the universal Church, committed to the Bride of Christ, this is an opportunity for us to express that commitment through a monetary donation. It's our opportunity to express that commitment to the larger Church, the Bride of Christ himself. Christ has committed himself to us in a bond that will never be broken, might we commit to that same Church?
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