Daring Doggedness

| SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary

Matthew 15: 21-28

At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, "Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon." But he did not say a word in answer to her. His disciples came and asked him, "Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us." He said in reply, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." But the woman came and did him homage, saying, "Lord, help me." He said in reply, "It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs." She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters." Then Jesus said to her in reply, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And her daughter was healed from that hour.

Introductory Prayer: Lord Jesus, I believe you want me to have faith in you, faith that hearkens to your words without any second guessing. I hope in your words, not relying solely on my own strength or reasoning. I love you. You continue to astonish me by showing me that your ways are not my ways.

Petition: Lord, fill my heart with gratitude and trust even when those I love suffer.

1. My daughter… “My daughter is tormented by a demon.” Sufferings of strangers stir our compassion. But when a son or daughter suffers, anguish can reach fever pitch. Imagine the agony of the mother in this Gospel passage. Imagine the near-physical pain she felt in the depths of her heart. However, her love nourished her hope and propelled her to seek out Christ. When those we love suffer, we need the same wisdom to seek the Lord.

2. Unfathomed Dimensions: Only a mother or father knows the depths of his or her love for a child: “Words cannot express.…” We truly understand love when it involves people we know and love. Contemplate the passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. Imagine the false accusations, scourging, humiliations and the crucifixion. Now imagine your own son or daughter, or mom or dad or loved one, suffering the same fate. Christ’s passion takes on a new dimension.

3. Our Title to God’s Grace: "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters." Faith and humility move Christ’s heart. How easily we adopt a spoiled-child mentality, believing that we deserve more. “The earth doesn’t owe you a living,” a sage once said. “It was here before you.” How much happier we are when we acknowledge our littleness and unworthiness, when we recognize our status as creatures of God who gives us life, breath and every beat of our heart. All we possess is a gift of his creative love. How happy we are when we are grateful and let him know this a thousand times a day.

Conversation with Christ: Lord, I will praise and thank you a thousand times and in a thousand ways for all you do for me. Even sufferings, I know, come from your hand for my greater good, although I may not always perceive the good at that moment. Give me the gratitude, faith and trust to accept my cross and rejoice in your creative love for me.

Resolution: I will thank the Lord repeatedly throughout the day.

The Gentile Woman

by Food For Thought on August 7, 2013

Throughout all four Gospels Jesus is uniformly gentle, kind and
compassionate. But in today’s reading,a mother begs him to cure her
daughter and he pays no attention to her at all. Finally he does
recognize her, only to insult her: “It’s not right to take the food of
sons and daughters and throw it to the dogs.” He’s calling the woman
and her daughter “dogs.”

One explanation ascribes Jesus’ unusual reaction to the woman’s use of
the title, “Son of David.” The woman calls Jesus, “Sir,” and then she
adds, “Son of David.” In the context, “Son of David” is insulting.
Jesus is in a foreign land. Calling him “Son of David” is identifying
him as a Jew, a foreigner.

Jesus goes on as though he hasn’t heard her. She continues to follow
him and the disciples are getting more embarrassed, and say to Jesus,
“Do something about her.” Jesus replies, “I’ve been sent only to Jews.”
Finally, Jesus stops; the woman falls at his feet, and pleads with him
to cure her daughter. Jesus then speaks those unbelievable words: “It
isn’t right to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” A
commentator suggests Jesus was continuing the rather awkward,
discriminatory approach used by the woman when she called him “Son of
David.” Maybe he wanted to show her how unfair she was. And maybe she
understood because she answered him, “Don’t dogs have some rights in
your house?”

Jesus grants the woman’s request. As he has done in the past, he deals
publicly with a Gentile, and a woman. In Jesus’ time, Jews despised
Gentiles and had little or no respect for women. Jesus granted to this
Gentile woman the request she had made and publicly praised her faith
while granting her request. He clearly felt himself absolutely free to
disregard these two Jewish prejudices. The incident is really an
invitation to us to review our own prejudices.