B: 27th Sun of OrdTime (7 Oct 2018) - CLINGING TO THE FAMILIES - Mk 10:2-16

Our gospel today presents a situation when Jesus was asked by some Pharisees, to put him to the test, whether divorce is lawful as it was in the time of Moses. In his response, Jesus spoke against it paraphrasing Gen 2:24 as his justification, saying: “For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be JOINED to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh” (Mk 10:7-8). The New Revised Standard Version uses the verb “join” in the Markan text, but in the original Genesis text it uses the verb “cling”.

The Hebrew word used in Genesis is “dabaq”, which semantically means “to cling” but with a stronger kind of bond since the word is also used to refer to some glue or adhesive, denoting to something that is permanently inseparable. When used to describe the relationship of a man and a woman in Genesis, “dabaq” emphasizes the indissolubility of the marital union. Thus, it is not an artificial temporary “joining” of two persons, but it is a permanent “clinging” to one another making them one and inseparable.

The word “dabaq” is not only limited to romantic relationships. It is also used in the relationship between family members. One good example is the story of Naomi and Ruth in the Bible (cf. Ruth 1:1-19). When Naomi was widowed by the death of her husband Elimelech, she was left with her two sons, Mahlon and Chilion, who were both married to Moabite women. But when her two sons also died, she took the liberty of freeing her two daughters-in-law to return to Moab to find other husbands and to begin new lives. After kissing and embracing each other, Orpah left for Moab. However, Ruth did not. Instead, she clung (“dabaq”) to her mother-in-law, while saying:

“Do not press me to leave you

or to turn back from following you!

Where you go, I will go;

Where you lodge, I will lodge;

your people shall be my people,

and your God my God.

Where you die, I will die—

there will I be buried.

May the LORD do thus and so to me,

and more as well,

if even death parts me from you!”

(Ruth 1:16-17).

From the books of Genesis and Ruth, what we can say then is that family relationships bind members together, “dabaq”, in a union that is inseparable even beyond death. The context then of Jesus when using this concept is that the family—not only the couple, but inclusive of their children—is an unbreakable unit of society. Our gospel text in Mark corroborates well this premise since Jesus’ teaching on marriage (vv. 2-12) is continued by his concern for children (vv. 13-16), saying: “Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God” (v. 14).

Henceforth, we all have the moral duty of protecting each and every member of the family by advocating the sanctity of marriage, the welfare of children, and the integrity of their rights to live. Often, we do not address issues concerning them wholesale. We can only appreciate all the more endeavors from the small concerned sectors of society that give attention to all of them; see for example SVST’s support for the Widows and Orphans of Extra-Judicial Killings: https://www.facebook.com/radyokatipunan/videos/166958090889277/.

As the current Philippine government publicly admitted that the number of those killed in the Drug War rises to at least 5,000 and the President insinuated in his speech that EJKs are indeed happening in his presidency, we should be emboldened to keep on “clinging” to each other, and pray with the widows and orphans of those killed in the words of Ruth: “Where you go, I will go… your people shall be my people… Where you die, I will die.”

- Rex Fortes, CM