19th week in Ordinary Time, August 18. 2006

Scripture: Ezekiel 16:1-15,60,63. Isaiah 12:2-3,4-6. Matthew 19:3-12

We know that Ezekiel like any good writer falls back on his own experiences in many of the things he relates to us in his visions, parables in action, and his prophetical oracles. He speaks also about the death of his wife and this probably happened early in their marriage. In today's readings, he definitely shows us that he knows about the development and beauty of a young person growing into womanhood. She advances to the marriageable moment and then becomes even more integrated and beautiful both physically, psychologically, and sexually. Ezekiel goes on to describe her attire and adornment and her charm. Thus he is able when he wants to teach a lesson about Israel as a bride in relationship to God as a spouse. Strong imagery and examples not meant for the overly pious and scrupulous! God loves Israel just as Ezkekiel loved his wife, but there is a difference. Israel used her beauty in a selfish way and turned away from God to other gods and nations. This is what Ezekiel laments and talks about today. Infidelities lead God to pronounce strong judgment on Israel. Again, I do not think that Ezekiel is speaking about his own wife as being unfaithful but uses what he knows about the one he loved so much what would have happened had she been unfaithful. He is using his experience of the marriage covenant to illustrate that this covenant of love is the way God loves us and the way God loved Israel in the time of the prophets and the Exile.

Jesus is also speaking about the bond of love in marriages and he uses the Hebrew and later the Christian traditions that spring from the scroll of Genesis. He uses the sacred text to illustrate faithfulness and perseverance in the marriage of those who see it as a covenant of love under God. He also intimates that there are unlawful marriages but does not spell out what this means. Then he tells us that some will not marry for the sake of the Kingdom of God, but his is an exception to the normal trend for almost everyone to enter into marriage. With such pronouncements, it is hard for me to see how Jesus historically would be saying this if he himself did not marry. But in saying this, I know that I will never be writing a best seller. Amen.