A Commentary and Reflection on the Readings for the 27th Sunday of Ordinary Time – Year B. The Liturgical Sense of the Scriptures Podcast, by Catholic Author and Theologian David L. Gray. READINGS: Genesis 2:18-24, Hebrews 2:9-11, and Mark 10:2-16.
The Three Unique Ways in Which God Comes to Meet Man in the Catholic Mass
The Catholic Mass unfolds like a Divine Symphony, each moment harmonizing to reveal the unique ways in which God meets humanity. This Sunday’s Liturgical Readings for the 27th Sunday in Ordinary Time – Year B serves as a sublime reminder of the three most distinct movements through which God encounters man, guiding him toward the ultimate fulfillment of his destiny in the Divine. These encounters manifest through the imago Dei, the sacraments, and God Himself, all of which are perfected and sanctified in the sacred liturgy of the Catholic Mass. Within this divine composition, man is called to discover his purpose, embrace his sanctity, and journey toward a life imbued with divine grace.
First, through the imago Dei – the image of God that we bear – we are invited to discover His presence and our purpose with a profound sense of joy. This gift’s elevation is most beautifully manifested in the sacrament of Holy Matrimony, a sacred union that enhances the dignity of the imago Dei, where man and woman, created in God’s image, become indissolubly one and share a double portion of divine joy.
Second, God offers man all the assistance required to find both himself and his Creator through the sacraments. This is especially true in the Holy Eucharist, where God breaks open time and space to meet a man as Himself in the present moment so that man’s path to eternity can become monumental. The Holy Eucharist is the bleeding heart of divine grace, where we receive Christ’s real presence, transforming us into His likeness and sanctifying us in the process.
Third, God’s meeting with man is not confined to the present. Through the historical event of the Incarnation, God became man in Jesus of Nazareth, initiating a new chapter in salvation history. Our eternal Father brings us into His divine embrace through Baptism, empowered by Christ’s sacrificial death and resurrection. The sacrament of Holy Orders, in which the priest acts in persona Christi, embodying the presence of Jesus, guides God’s people in worship and leads them toward the fullness of divine love.
These cherished sacraments reveal the boundless depths of God’s love and His ardent desire for our ultimate happiness in Him.
Without the gift of God becoming man, we would not have life. This fact is presently clear in a world that, as it moves further away from Christ Jesus, who is life, moves closer to celebrating and worshiping death. However, according to today’s Second Reading from Hebrews 2:9-11, the last person who was to die for the price of sin was our Lord God, saying, “He “for a little while” was made “lower than the angels,” that by the grace of God he might taste death for everyone. For it was fitting that he, for whom and through whom all things exist, in bringing many children to glory, should make the leader to their salvation perfect through suffering.” It is true that while sin leads to misery and death, virtue leads to happiness and life. Through the life, suffering, murder, and resurrection of Christ Jesus, we were given the path to the latter, but those in darkness still choose the former.
The reason man chooses sin over virtue is profoundly ironic. Whereas Christ was made lower than the angles so that man could see Him and find Him, man still falls into the inclination of lowering himself beneath the animals. In other words, because we neither see ourselves nor each other as the imago Dei, we remain all alone and in that place where God found Adam suffering with the animals.
Today’s First Reading from Genesis 2:18-24 informs us that the resolution of God’s finding that man was not happy or fulfilled being alone was to give life to another image of God who would complement man and help him. The text reads, “The LORD God then built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man. When he brought her to the man, the man said: “This one, at last, is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called ‘woman, ‘for out of ‘her man’ this one has been taken.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one flesh.” In today’s Gospel Reading from Mark 10:2-16, Christ Jesus reinforces the divine permanence of the nuptial union between man and women, saying, “So they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” “Whoever divorces his wife and marries another commits adultery against her; and if she divorces her husband and marries another, she commits adultery.”
Again, the Catholic Mass is a Divine Symphony through which God’s encounters with humanity are a vivid masterpiece. Through the imago Dei, sacraments, and the Incarnation, we are invited to discover God’s presence, purpose, and sanctifying grace. The sacraments, particularly Holy Matrimony and the Holy Eucharist, elevate our dignity and transform us into Christ’s likeness. This journey culminates in the liturgy, where the imago Dei is exalted, and we are drawn into the divine mystery of the Trinity. These sacred gifts guide us to live our lives in the world, embodying the divine love and unity we receive in the liturgy.
This is just one way the readings at Mass this Sunday connect to the liturgy and how the liturgy is forming us on how to live our lives in the world. Be in the world what you have received through the liturgy.
