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 Psalm PS 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.
Gospel MK 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.
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". 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."
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Humility and Faith: Foundation and Cathedral |
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Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
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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.
Introductory Prayer:Lord, I
come before you today to learn the lessons of faith that you want to teach
me. I want to learn to be patient when you test my faith. I know you
want only to make it grow and bear more fruit in my life. In this prayer
I desire to trust and love you as you deserve to be loved by me.
Petition: Lord,
make my faith vibrant and persevering.
1. Seek Ye Higher Gifts: Our Lord
is close to us in our sufferings. In this Gospel, a daughter suffered
from a demonic possession, and her mother suffered with her. What most
strikes us about this passage, however, is that Our Lord initially adds to
the mother’s suffering by rebuking her. It seems so out of character, so
foreign to the one who is “meek and humble of heart,” so unlike the gentle
Jesus who is ever-sensitive to the needs of others. Yet Our Lord was
about to confer upon her the greatest gift that could befall any human being:
the gift of salvation represented by the healing of her
daughter. Because the gift was so great, the vessel that was to contain
it needed to be prepared.
2. Feelings, Nothing More Than
Feelings: It is important to remember two principles about our
feelings. First, we are not to treat them as if they were the infallible
compass of our spiritual lives. Second, their lack of support does not
mean that Our Lord is abandoning us. We can easily forget these two
principles and blindly follow our feelings, persuasions and seductions. We
can wrongly confuse feelings with faith. This believing woman beautifully
shows the attitude we must maintain. Her example of humility in the face
of Jesus’ seemingly hostile rebuke truly astounds us. No rebellion, no
complaints, no resentments, no pity party. She remains determinedly
fixed on Christ. She maintains a spirit of humility and faith in him who
has the power to deliver her daughter from the devil. Am I capable of
persisting in my prayer even when it seems Our Lord is turning a deaf ear?
3. A Cathedral of Faith for All to
See: If only we could learn from her example! With such a firm
foundation to build on, Jesus draws out of her an even greater faith — as
large as a cathedral for the entire world to see. We need to ponder and
contemplate the mysterious and wise ways of Our Lord when we suffer from his
rebukes. We must hold fast to humility, mindful that we are creatures
always loved by Christ, our Good Shepherd. He promised he would not
leave us orphans. Why then such little faith?
Conversation with Christ: Lord,
let me not confuse faith with feelings. Let me not confuse trust with
mere sentiment. Never let me reduce my relationship with you to
feelings, no matter how pleasurable or worthy I think they may be at that
moment. Help me to remain humble in my dispositions and firm in my
convictions, seeking only to trust, love and please you.
Resolution: When I
experience pleasant, worthy or helpful feelings, I will thank and praise God,
and I will channel these feelings toward what is more relevant: living out
the deeper virtue of faith.
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THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 13, MARK
7:24-30
(1 Kings 11:4-13; Psalm 106)
(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).
READING: After teaching in the area of Gennesaret, Jesus moved on to the Gentile city of Tyre in Phoenicia. There 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" to the "dogs" (a contemptuous term for Gentiles). The woman said that she was willing to accept whatever the children had thrown away (a reference to the Gentile's acceptance of Jesus after his own people had rejected him). Because of the woman's faith, Jesus healed her daughter. After Jesus' resurrection, he would commission his apostles to preach the good news to all people throughout the world (Mk 16:15).
REFLECTING: Am I willing to serve whomever the Lord sends to me?
PRAYING: Lord Jesus, help me to love all your people despite any differences that seem to separate us
MINUTE MEDITATIONS
Hope In the Cross
Christianity does not offer a life free of suffering. But from the
cross we see that our suffering does not need to end in death; it can bring new
life. This is the hope God offers us, which the world cannot give.
Lord, remember us, for the love you bear your people
‘For saying this, you may go home happy.’Jesus had withdrawn into Gentile country because he needed time apart. In fact, this story shows his strong sense of his mission to the Jewish people. The woman from Syria is a strong woman, both in her deep love for her child, and in her courage in approaching Jesus. In that culture, a woman would not have made an approach to a man, nor, especially, a Gentile to a Jew. It would have been seen as outrageous. She wasn’t put off by Jesus’ rebuff and his reference to her as a dog - the Jewish term for Gentiles. She wasn’t going to be brushed off. Her love for her daughter was too strong. She had challenged Jesus. She knew he had the power to heal her daughter. He admired her persistence and rewarded her faith. What a great example she is for us!
February
13
St. Giles Mary of St. Joseph
(1729-1812)
St. Giles Mary of St. Joseph
(1729-1812)
In the same year that a power-hungry Napoleon Bonaparte led his
army into Russia, Giles Mary of St. Joseph ended a life of humble service to
his Franciscan community and to the citizens of Naples.
Francesco
was born in Taranto to very poor parents. His father’s death left the
18-year-old Francesco to care for the family. Having secured their future, he
entered the Friars Minor at Galatone in 1754. For 53 years he served at St.
Paschal’s Hospice in Naples in various roles, such as cook, porter or most
often as official beggar for that community.
“Love
God, love God” was his characteristic phrase as he gathered food for the friars
and shared some of his bounty with the poor—all the while consoling the
troubled and urging everyone to repent. The charity which he reflected on the
streets of Naples was born in prayer and nurtured in the common life of the
friars. The people whom Giles met on his begging rounds nicknamed him the
“Consoler of Naples.” He was canonized in 1996.
Comment:
People often become arrogant and power hungry when they try to live a lie, for example, when they forget their own sinfulness and ignore the gifts God has given to other people. Giles had a healthy sense of his own sinfulness—not paralyzing but not superficial either. He invited men and women to recognize their own gifts and to live out their dignity as people made in God’s divine image. Knowing someone like Giles can help us on our own spiritual journey.
People often become arrogant and power hungry when they try to live a lie, for example, when they forget their own sinfulness and ignore the gifts God has given to other people. Giles had a healthy sense of his own sinfulness—not paralyzing but not superficial either. He invited men and women to recognize their own gifts and to live out their dignity as people made in God’s divine image. Knowing someone like Giles can help us on our own spiritual journey.
Quote:
In his homily at the canonization of Giles, Pope John Paul II said that the spiritual journey of Giles reflected “the humility of the Incarnation and the gratuitousness of the Eucharist” (L'Osservatore Romano 1996, volume 23, number 1).
In his homily at the canonization of Giles, Pope John Paul II said that the spiritual journey of Giles reflected “the humility of the Incarnation and the gratuitousness of the Eucharist” (L'Osservatore Romano 1996, volume 23, number 1).
LECTIO DIVINA:
MARK 7,24-30
Lectio:
Thursday, February 13, 2014
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, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel reading - Mark 7,24-30
Jesus left that place and set out for the territory of Tyre. There he went into a house and did not want anyone to know he was there; but he could not pass unrecognised. At once a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him and came and fell at his feet.
Now this woman was a gentile, by birth a Syro-Phoenician, and she begged him to drive the devil out of her daughter. And he said to her, 'The children should be fed first, because it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to little dogs.' But she spoke up, 'Ah yes, sir,' she replied, 'but little dogs under the table eat the scraps from the children.' And he said to her, 'For saying this you may go home happy; the devil has gone out of your daughter.'
So she went off home and found the child lying on the bed and the devil 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 wanted: the cure of her daughter.
• Jesus is trying to open 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 (Mc 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 the territory and of the 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 arrives close to 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 pagan. 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 pagans it was not a problem to go to Jesus. But for the Jews to live with pagans was a problem!
• Mark 7. 27: The response of Jesus. Faithful to the norms of his religion, Jesus says that it is not convenient to take the bread of the children and give it to little dogs! This was a hard phrase. The comparison came from the life in the family. Up until now, children and dogs are numerous especially in poor neighbourhoods. Jesus affirms one thing: no mother takes away the 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 pagans. At the time of the Old Testament, because of rivalry among the people, the people used to call other people “dogs” (1 S 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). That is: “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, it 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 simple draws conclusions from the parable that Jesus had 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 pagans!
• 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 request of the woman, it is because he understands that now the Father wanted him to accept her request. This episode helps to understand something of the mystery which envelopes the person of Jesus and his life with the Father. Observing the reactions and the attitudes of the persons, 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 life and 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 prevented a peaceful living together among the people. This opening toward pagans 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 persons of other Christian Churches? In the neighbourhood where you live, are there persons of other religions? Which? Do you normally speak with persons of other religions?
• Which is the opening that this text demands 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)
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, for ever and ever. Amen.
2) Gospel reading - Mark 7,24-30
Jesus left that place and set out for the territory of Tyre. There he went into a house and did not want anyone to know he was there; but he could not pass unrecognised. At once a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard about him and came and fell at his feet.
Now this woman was a gentile, by birth a Syro-Phoenician, and she begged him to drive the devil out of her daughter. And he said to her, 'The children should be fed first, because it is not fair to take the children's food and throw it to little dogs.' But she spoke up, 'Ah yes, sir,' she replied, 'but little dogs under the table eat the scraps from the children.' And he said to her, 'For saying this you may go home happy; the devil has gone out of your daughter.'
So she went off home and found the child lying on the bed and the devil 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 wanted: the cure of her daughter.
• Jesus is trying to open 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 (Mc 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 the territory and of the 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 arrives close to 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 pagan. 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 pagans it was not a problem to go to Jesus. But for the Jews to live with pagans was a problem!
• Mark 7. 27: The response of Jesus. Faithful to the norms of his religion, Jesus says that it is not convenient to take the bread of the children and give it to little dogs! This was a hard phrase. The comparison came from the life in the family. Up until now, children and dogs are numerous especially in poor neighbourhoods. Jesus affirms one thing: no mother takes away the 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 pagans. At the time of the Old Testament, because of rivalry among the people, the people used to call other people “dogs” (1 S 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). That is: “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, it 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 simple draws conclusions from the parable that Jesus had 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 pagans!
• 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 request of the woman, it is because he understands that now the Father wanted him to accept her request. This episode helps to understand something of the mystery which envelopes the person of Jesus and his life with the Father. Observing the reactions and the attitudes of the persons, 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 life and 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 prevented a peaceful living together among the people. This opening toward pagans 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 persons of other Christian Churches? In the neighbourhood where you live, are there persons of other religions? Which? Do you normally speak with persons of other religions?
• Which is the opening that this text demands 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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