Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary
Time
Lectionary: 332
Lectionary: 332
The LORD God said:
"It is not good for the man to be alone.
I will make a suitable partner for him."
So the LORD God formed out of the ground
various wild animals and various birds of the air,
and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them;
whatever the man called each of them would be its name.
The man gave names to all the cattle,
all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals;
but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man.
So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man,
and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs
and closed up its place with flesh.
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.
The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame.
"It is not good for the man to be alone.
I will make a suitable partner for him."
So the LORD God formed out of the ground
various wild animals and various birds of the air,
and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them;
whatever the man called each of them would be its name.
The man gave names to all the cattle,
all the birds of the air, and all the wild animals;
but none proved to be the suitable partner for the man.
So the LORD God cast a deep sleep on the man,
and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs
and closed up its place with flesh.
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.
The man and his wife were both naked, yet they felt no shame.
Responsorial
PsalmPS 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
R. (see 1a) Blessed
are those who fear the Lord.
Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Blessed are you who fear the LORD,
who walk in his ways!
For you shall eat the fruit of your handiwork;
blessed shall you be, and favored.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
Behold, thus is the man blessed
who fears the LORD.
The LORD bless you from Zion:
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem
all the days of your life.
R. Blessed are those who fear the Lord.
AlleluiaJAS 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 9, MARK
7:24-30
Weekday
(Genesis 2:18-25; Psalm 128)
Weekday
(Genesis 2:18-25; Psalm 128)
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.
Thursday 9 February
Thu 9th. Genesis 2:18-25. Happy are those
who fear the Lord—Ps 127(128):1-5. Mark 7:24-30.
A woman, a gentile, comes begging for
Jesus to help her daughter. Jesus tests her: ‘It isn’t right to take the
children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ Undaunted, she answers that even the
dogs get to eat the children’s leftovers. Jesus tells her to go home, where she
will find her daughter healed.
There are times when we are so focused on
the tasks, demands, responsibilities or burdens of our lives that we don’t see
anything else. Other people, things and we ourselves are neglected for that one
focus. Jesus asks this woman to change focus, just for a short time. Her daughter
will be fine.
Maybe we can ask Jesus to open our eyes,
to ensure that we are not too focused on any one thing and to help us with
living more balanced lives.
LECTIO DIVINA: MARK
7,24-30
Lectio Divina:
Thursday, February 9, 2017
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)
www.ocarm.org
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)
www.ocarm.org
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