Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary
Time
Lectionary: 332
Lectionary: 332
When Solomon was old his wives had turned his heart to strange gods,
and his heart was not entirely with the LORD, his God,
as the heart of his father David had been.
By adoring Astarte, the goddess of the Sidonians,
and Milcom, the idol of the Ammonites,
Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD;
he did not follow him unreservedly as his father David had done.
Solomon then built a high place to Chemosh, the idol of Moab,
and to Molech, the idol of the Ammonites,
on the hill opposite Jerusalem.
He did the same for all his foreign wives
who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
The LORD, therefore, became angry with Solomon,
because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel,
who had appeared to him twice
(for though the LORD had forbidden him
this very act of following strange gods,
Solomon had not obeyed him).
So the LORD said to Solomon: "Since this is what you want,
and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes
which I enjoined on you,
I will deprive you of the kingdom and give it to your servant.
I will not do this during your lifetime, however,
for the sake of your father David;
it is your son whom I will deprive.
Nor will I take away the whole kingdom.
I will leave your son one tribe for the sake of my servant David
and of Jerusalem, which I have chosen."
and his heart was not entirely with the LORD, his God,
as the heart of his father David had been.
By adoring Astarte, the goddess of the Sidonians,
and Milcom, the idol of the Ammonites,
Solomon did evil in the sight of the LORD;
he did not follow him unreservedly as his father David had done.
Solomon then built a high place to Chemosh, the idol of Moab,
and to Molech, the idol of the Ammonites,
on the hill opposite Jerusalem.
He did the same for all his foreign wives
who burned incense and sacrificed to their gods.
The LORD, therefore, became angry with Solomon,
because his heart was turned away from the LORD, the God of Israel,
who had appeared to him twice
(for though the LORD had forbidden him
this very act of following strange gods,
Solomon had not obeyed him).
So the LORD said to Solomon: "Since this is what you want,
and you have not kept my covenant and my statutes
which I enjoined on you,
I will deprive you of the kingdom and give it to your servant.
I will not do this during your lifetime, however,
for the sake of your father David;
it is your son whom I will deprive.
Nor will I take away the whole kingdom.
I will leave your son one tribe for the sake of my servant David
and of Jerusalem, which I have chosen."
Responsorial
PsalmPS 106:3-4, 35-36, 37 AND
40
R. (4a) Remember
us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Blessed are they who observe what is right,
who do always what is just.
Remember us, O LORD, as you favor your people;
visit us with your saving help.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
But they mingled with the nations
and learned their works.
They served their idols,
which became a snare for them.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to demons.
And the LORD grew angry with his people,
and abhorred his inheritance.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Blessed are they who observe what is right,
who do always what is just.
Remember us, O LORD, as you favor your people;
visit us with your saving help.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
But they mingled with the nations
and learned their works.
They served their idols,
which became a snare for them.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to demons.
And the LORD grew angry with his people,
and abhorred his inheritance.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
Alleluia JAS 1:21BC
R. Alleluia,
alleluia.
Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you
and is able to save your souls.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
Humbly welcome the word that has been planted in you
and is able to save your souls.
R. Alleluia, alleluia.
GospelMK 7:24-30
Jesus went to the district of Tyre.
He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it,
but he could not escape notice.
Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him.
She came and fell at his feet.
The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth,
and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.
He said to her, “Let the children be fed first.
For it is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs.”
She replied and said to him,
“Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.”
Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go.
The demon has gone out of your daughter.”
When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed
and the demon gone.
He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it,
but he could not escape notice.
Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him.
She came and fell at his feet.
The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth,
and she begged him to drive the demon out of her daughter.
He said to her, “Let the children be fed first.
For it is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs.”
She replied and said to him,
“Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.”
Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go.
The demon has gone out of your daughter.”
When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed
and the demon gone.
Meditation: "The demon has left your
daughter"
Do you ever feel "put-off" by the Lord? This
passage describes the only occasion in which Jesus ministered outside of Jewish
territory. (Tyre and Sidon were fifty miles north of Israel and still exist
today in modern Lebanon.) A Gentile woman - an outsider who was not a member of
the chosen people - puts Jesus on the spot by pleading with him to show mercy
to her daughter who was tormented with an evil spirit. At first Jesus seemed to
pay no attention to her, and this made his disciples feel embarrassed. Jesus
very likely did this not to put the woman off, but rather to test her sincerity
and to awaken faith in her.
The Lord shows mercy to those who seek him
What did Jesus mean by the expression "throwing bread to the dogs"? The Jews often spoke of the Gentiles with arrogance and insolence as "unclean dogs" since the Gentiles were excluded from God's covenant and favor with Israel. For the Greeks the "dog" was a symbol of dishonor and was used to describe a shameless and audacious woman. Matthew's Gospel records the expression do not give dogs what is holy (Matthew 7:6). Jesus, no doubt, spoke with a smile rather than with an insult because this woman immediately responds with wit and faith - "even the dogs eat the crumbs".
What did Jesus mean by the expression "throwing bread to the dogs"? The Jews often spoke of the Gentiles with arrogance and insolence as "unclean dogs" since the Gentiles were excluded from God's covenant and favor with Israel. For the Greeks the "dog" was a symbol of dishonor and was used to describe a shameless and audacious woman. Matthew's Gospel records the expression do not give dogs what is holy (Matthew 7:6). Jesus, no doubt, spoke with a smile rather than with an insult because this woman immediately responds with wit and faith - "even the dogs eat the crumbs".
Love conquers with persistent trust and faith
Jesus praises a Gentile woman for her persistent faith and for her affectionate love. She made the misery of her child her own and she was willing to suffer rebuff in order to obtain healing for her loved one. She also had indomitable persistence. Her faith grew in contact with the person of Jesus. She began with a request and she ended on her knees in worshipful prayer to the living God. No one who ever sought Jesus with faith - whether Jew or Gentile - was refused his help. Do you seek Jesus with expectant faith?
Jesus praises a Gentile woman for her persistent faith and for her affectionate love. She made the misery of her child her own and she was willing to suffer rebuff in order to obtain healing for her loved one. She also had indomitable persistence. Her faith grew in contact with the person of Jesus. She began with a request and she ended on her knees in worshipful prayer to the living God. No one who ever sought Jesus with faith - whether Jew or Gentile - was refused his help. Do you seek Jesus with expectant faith?
"Lord Jesus, your love and mercy knows no bounds.
May I trust you always and never doubt your loving care and mercy. Increase my
faith in your saving help and deliver me from all evil and harm."
Daily Quote from the early church fathers: Great was the power of her faith, and for our
learning, by John Chrysostom (347-407 AD)
"See her humility as well as
her faith! For he had called the Jews 'children,' but she was not satisfied
with this. She even called them 'masters,' so far was she from grieving at the
praises of others. She said, 'Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that
fall from their masters’ table.' Behold the woman's wisdom! She did not venture
so much as to say a word against anyone else. She was not stung to see others
praised, nor was she indignant to be reproached. Behold her constancy. When he
answered, 'It is not fair to take the children's bread and throw it to the
dogs,' she said, 'Yes, Lord.' He called them 'children'” but she called them
'masters.' He used the name of a dog, but she described the action of the dog.
Do you see this woman's humility? Then compare her humility with the proud
language of the Jews: 'We are Abraham's seed and were never in bondage to any
man'(John 8:33). 'We are born of God' (John 8:41). But not so this woman.
Rather, she calls herself a dog and them masters. So for this reason she became
a child. For what does Christ then say? 'O woman, great is your faith.'
"So we might surmise that this is the reason he put her off, in order that he might proclaim aloud this saying and that he might crown the woman: 'Be it done for you as you desire.' This means 'Your faith, indeed, is able to effect even greater things than these. Nevertheless be it unto you even as you wish.' This voice was at one with the voice that said, 'Let the heaven be,' and it was (Genesis 1:1). 'And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.' Do you see how this woman, too, contributed not a little to the healing of her daughter? For note that Christ did not say, 'Let your little daughter be made whole,' but 'Great is your faith, be it done for you as you desire.' These words were not uttered at random, nor were they flattering words, but great was the power of her faith, and for our learning.
He left the certain test and demonstration, however, to the issue of events. Her daughter accordingly was immediately healed." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW, Homily 52.3)
"So we might surmise that this is the reason he put her off, in order that he might proclaim aloud this saying and that he might crown the woman: 'Be it done for you as you desire.' This means 'Your faith, indeed, is able to effect even greater things than these. Nevertheless be it unto you even as you wish.' This voice was at one with the voice that said, 'Let the heaven be,' and it was (Genesis 1:1). 'And her daughter was made whole from that very hour.' Do you see how this woman, too, contributed not a little to the healing of her daughter? For note that Christ did not say, 'Let your little daughter be made whole,' but 'Great is your faith, be it done for you as you desire.' These words were not uttered at random, nor were they flattering words, but great was the power of her faith, and for our learning.
He left the certain test and demonstration, however, to the issue of events. Her daughter accordingly was immediately healed." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON MATTHEW, Homily 52.3)
THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 8, MARK 7:24-30
Weekday
(1 Kings 11:4-13; Psalm 106)
Weekday
(1 Kings 11:4-13; Psalm 106)
KEY VERSE: "For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter" (v 29).
TO KNOW: Jesus set out to the Gentile city of Tyre in Phoenicia. Here a pagan woman from the province of Syria approached Jesus and begged him to cure her daughter. Thus far, Jesus' ministry had only been to the Jews. He said it was not right to give away the "food" that was meant for God's "children" ("dogs" is a contemptuous term for Gentiles). The woman said she was willing to accept whatever the children had thrown away (a reference to the Gentile's acceptance of Jesus after his own people rejected him). Because of the woman's faith, Jesus healed her daughter. After Jesus' resurrection, he commissioned his apostles to preach the good news to all people (Mk 16:15).
TO LOVE: Am I willing to serve whomever the Lord sends to me?
TO SERVE: Lord Jesus, help me to know all your people despite any differences that seem to separate us.
Optional Memorial of Saint Jerome
Emiliani, priest
In 1511, Jerome Emiliani was a soldier when he was captured by Venetian forces and chained in a dungeon. He prayed to Our Lady for help. He was miraculously freed and he hung his chains on a church wall as an offering. Jerome was ordained in 1518, a year of the spotted-fever plague. He cared for the sick and housed orphans in his own home. At night he roamed the streets, burying those who had died unattended. He contracted the fever himself, but survived. Jerome founded six orphanages, a shelter for penitent prostitutes, and a hospital. Around 1532, Jerome and two other priests established a congregation, the Clerks Regular of Somasca, dedicated to the care of orphans and the education of youth. Jerome died in 1537 from a disease he caught while tending the sick. He was canonized in 1767. In 1928, Pius Xl named him the patron of orphans and abandoned children.
Optional Memorial of Saint
Josephine Bakhita, virgin
Josephine was born to a wealthy Sudanese family, and given the name Bakhita, which means “fortunate.” She was kidnapped by slave-traders at age nine and was purchased in 1883 by an Italian consul who planned to free her. She accompanied him to Italy and worked for the family as a nanny. As an adult convert she joined the Church in 1890, and took the name of Josephine as a symbol of her new life. She entered the Institute of Canossian Daughters of Charity in Venice, Italy in 1893, serving for the next fifty years. Her gentle presence, her warm, amiable voice, and her willingness to help with any menial task were a comfort to the poor and suffering people who came to the door of the Institute. After her biography was published in 1930, she became a noted and sought after speaker, raising funds to support missions. Pope John Paul II visited Sudan and canonized her on October 1, 2000.
Thursday 8
February 2018
St Jerome Emiliani, St Josephine
Bakhita.
1 Kings
11:4-13. Psalm 105(106):3-4, 35-37, 40. Mark 7:24-30.
Lord,
remember us, for the love you bear your people—Psalm 105(106):3-4, 35-37, 40.
The
scripture readings for today elevate the strains and stresses of ordinary
living to the dimension of the worldwide struggle between good and evil.
This struggle is part of personal
life and defines the nature of our human existence. We read that Solomon did
what was displeasing to God and was not a whole-hearted follower of God as his
father David had been. The insight of the psalm we read today is inspirational
for us as individuals and for the whole of humanity: ‘Happy are we if exercise
justice and constantly practice virtue.’
Sadly, like Solomon, we don’t! We
have sinned as much as our fathers and perhaps, all things considered, even
more. Our need for redemption is real beyond imagining. ‘Lord, God, remember
me’, writes the psalmist, ‘for the love you bear your people. Come to me as a
saviour.’ Jesus’ cure of the woman’s daughter was a sign of his power for good
in the world.
Saint Josephine Bakhita
Saint of the Day for February 8
(c. 1869 – February 8, 1947)
Saint Josephine Bakhita’s Story
For many years, Josephine Bakhita was a slave but her spirit was
always free and eventually that spirit prevailed.
Born in Olgossa in the Darfur region of southern Sudan,
Josephine was kidnapped at the age of 7, sold into slavery and given the name
Bakhita, which means fortunate. She was resold several times,
finally in 1883 to Callisto Legnani, Italian consul in Khartoum, Sudan.
Two years later, he took Josephine to Italy and gave her to his
friend Augusto Michieli. Bakhita became babysitter to Mimmina Michieli, whom
she accompanied to Venice’s Institute of the Catechumens, run by the Canossian
Sisters. While Mimmina was being instructed, Josephine felt drawn to the
Catholic Church. She was baptized and confirmed in 1890, taking the name
Josephine.
When the Michielis returned from Africa and wanted to take
Mimmina and Josephine back with them, the future saint refused to go. During
the ensuing court case, the Canossian Sisters and the patriarch of Venice
intervened on Josephine’s behalf. The judge concluded that since slavery was
illegal in Italy, she had actually been free since 1885.
Josephine entered the Institute of St. Magdalene of Canossa in
1893 and made her profession three years later. In 1902, she was transferred to
the city of Schio (northeast of Verona), where she assisted her religious
community through cooking, sewing, embroidery, and welcoming visitors at the
door. She soon became well loved by the children attending the sisters’ school
and the local citizens. She once said, “Be good, love the Lord, pray for those
who do not know Him. What a great grace it is to know God!”
The first steps toward her beatification began in 1959. She was
beatified in 1992 and canonized eight years later.
Reflection
Josephine’s body was mutilated by those who enslaved her, but
they could not touch her spirit. Her Baptism set her on an eventual path toward
asserting her civic freedom and then service to God’s people as a Canossian
Sister.
She who worked under many “masters” was finally happy to address
God as “master” and carry out everything that she believed to be God’s will for
her.
LECTIO DIVINA: MARK 7,24-30
Lectio Divina:
Thursday, February 8, 2018
1) OPENING PRAYER
Father,
watch
over Your family
and
keep us safe in Your care,
for
all our hope is in You.
We
ask this through our Lord Jesus Christ, Your Son,
who
lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit,
One
God, forever and ever. Amen.
2) GOSPEL READING - MARK
7:24-30
Jesus
went to the district of Tyre. He entered a house and wanted no one to know
about it, but he could not escape notice. Soon a woman whose daughter had an
unclean spirit heard about him. She came and fell at his feet. The woman was a
Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth, and she begged him to drive the demon out of
her daughter. He said to her, “Let the children be fed first. For it is not right
to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She replied and
said to him, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.”
Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of
your daughter.” When the woman went home, she found the child lying in bed and
the demon gone.
3) REFLECTION
In
today’s Gospel we see how Jesus is attentive to a foreign woman, belonging to
another race and to another religion, even though this was forbidden by the
religious law of that time. At the beginning Jesus did not want to help her,
but the woman insists and obtains what she wants: the cure of her daughter.
Jesus
is trying to broaden the mentality of the disciples and of the people beyond
the traditional vision. In the multiplication of the loaves, He had insisted on
sharing (Mk 6: 30-44). He had declared all food pure (Mk 7: 1-23). In this
episode of the Canaanite woman, He exceeds, goes beyond the frontiers of the
national territory and accepts a foreign woman who did not belong to the people
and with whom it was forbidden to speak. These initiatives of Jesus, which come
from His experience of God the Father, were foreign to the mentality of the
people of that time; Jesus helps the people to get out of their way of experiencing
God in life.
Mark
7: 24: Jesus gets out of that territory. In the Gospel yesterday (Mk 7: 14-23)
and of the day before (Mk 7: 1-13), Jesus had criticized the incoherence of the
tradition of the ancients and had helped the people and the disciples to get
out of the prison of the laws of purity. Here, in Mark 7: 24, He leaves
Galilee. He seems to want to get out from the prison of territory and race.
Finding Himself outside, He does not want to be recognized. But His fame had
reached there before. People had recourse to Jesus.
Mark
7: 25-26: The situation. A woman approaches Jesus and begins to ask for help
for her daughter who is sick. Mark says explicitly that she belongs to another
race and to another religion. That means that she was a gentile. She throws
herself at the feet of Jesus and begins to plead for the cure of her daughter,
who was possessed by an unclean spirit. For the gentiles it was not a problem
to go to Jesus. But for the Jews to live with gentiles was a problem!
Mark
7: 27: The response of Jesus. Faithful to the norms of His religion, Jesus says
that it is not appropriate to take the bread of the children and give it to
little dogs! This was a hard phrase. The comparison came from life in the
family. Even now, children and dogs are numerous, especially in poor
neighborhoods. Jesus affirms one thing: no mother takes away bread from the
mouth of her children to give it to the dogs. In this case the children were
the Hebrew people and the little dogs, the gentiles. At the time of the Old
Testament, because of rivalry among the people, the people used to call other
people dogs (1 Sam 17: 43). In the other Gospels, Jesus explains the reason for
His refusal: “I have been sent only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel!”
(Mt 15:24). In other words, the Father does not want Me to take care of this
woman!
Mark
7: 28: The reaction of the woman. She agrees with Jesus, but she extends the
comparison and applies it to her case: Jesus, this is true, but the
little dogs also eat the crumbs that fall from the table of the children! It is
as if she said, “If I am a little dog, then I have the right of little dogs,
that is, the crumbs that fall from the table belong to me!” She simply draws
conclusions from the parable that Jesus told and shows that even in the house
of Jesus, the little dogs eat the crumbs that fall from the table of the
children. And in the house of Jesus , that is, in the Christian community, the
multiplication of the bread for the children was so abundant that there were
twelve baskets full left over (Mk 6: 42) for the little dogs , that is, for
her, for the gentiles!
Mark
7: 29-30: The reaction of Jesus: “Because of what you have said, go. The devil
has gone out of your daughter!” In the other Gospels it is made more explicit:
“Great is your faith! May it be done as you wish!” (Mt 15: 28). If Jesus
accepts the woman’s request, it is because He understands that now the Father
wanted Him to accept her request. This episode helps us to understand something
of the mystery which envelops the person of Jesus and His life with the Father.
Observing the reactions and the attitudes of the people, Jesus discovers the
will of the Father in the events of life. The attitude of the woman opens a new
horizon in the life of Jesus. Thanks to her, He discovers better the project of
the Father for all those who seek to liberate themselves from the chains which
imprison their energy. Thus, throughout the pages of the Gospel of Mark, there
is a growing opening toward the people. In this way, Mark leads the readers to
open themselves before the reality of the world which surrounds them and to
overcome the preconceptions which prevent a peaceful living together among the
people. This opening toward gentiles appears very clearly in the final order
given by Jesus to the disciples, after His Resurrection: “Go out to the whole
world, proclaim the Gospel to all creation” (Mk 16: 15).
4) PERSONAL QUESTIONS
Concretely,
what do you do to live peacefully with people of other Christian Churches?
In
the neighborhood where you live, are there people of other religions? Which?
Do
you normally speak with people of other religions?
What
kind of broadening of mind does this text demand from us today, in the family
and in the community?
5) CONCLUDING PRAYER
Blessed
are those who keep to what is just,
whose
conduct is always upright!
Remember
me, Yahweh, in Your love for Your people.
Come
near to me with Your saving power. (Ps 106:3-4)
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