Blessed are those who fear the Lord. — Psalm 128:(see 1)
Mass Readings: Genesis 2:18-25 / Mark 7:24-30
How would you feel about being a “helper”? For many, the word carries overtones of inferiority. In today’s first reading, there is, for the first time, something in the Garden that is not “good” — the man’s aloneness. So God creates for him a “helper” (a “suitable partner,” verse 18). Since the identical word is used of God — who is described as Israel’s “help” (Ex 18:4, Ps 33:20, Hos 13:9) — “helper” can’t connote weakness, but rather, strength; one who supplies something needed or lacking.
Man and woman are undoubtedly different in their physical and emotional make-up. These differences are intentional. Theologian Anglican Father Tom Smail says of marriage: “It is a unity of love, and because it takes two to love, the twoness is as integral to it as the oneness.” Instead of competing, let’s seek to complete one another!
Prayer: Helper-God, help married couples to minister lovingly to one another.