FAITH OF A GENTILE WOMAN
Introduction
Why are men and women attracted to one another? Love is stronger than death and stronger than the bonds with parents. They become one chair, most of all in the chair of the child. Human beings are social, and need an equal partner, created from near the heart of man, “flesh from my flesh and bone from my bones.” And now, the man can say “you, thou.”
Despised pagans too, are offered salvation. The doctors of the Law had called the region where Jesus worked this miracle a region of dogs. God lifts up the lowly who believe. Grace is no exclusive privilege for God’s people. The kingdom is also for pagans.
Opening Prayer
Father of all,
long ago you chose the people of Israel
to make your name known to all nations.
Your Son Jesus Christ, made it clear
that forgiveness and life are the share
of all who believe in him.
Make your Church truly a place of encounter
for all those who grope for you,
that all obstacles and barriers may be removed
and that the riches of all nations and cultures
may reveal the thousand faces of the love you show us
in Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen!
1 Reading GENESIS 2:18-25
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.
Responsorial PSALM 128:1-2, 3, 4-5
R. (cf. 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 favoured. R.
Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine
in the recesses of your home;
Your children like olive plants
around your table. R.
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.
Alleluia JAMES 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.
Gospel 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.
Commentary
A call for conversion from prejudices
Today’s Gospel speaks of a desperate mother who would do anything for her child’s health. The woman in the Gospel did not believe in the God of Israel when she approached Jesus. But for the sake of her daughter, she was not ashamed of coming in front of the public and pleading before Jesus. Curiously enough, Jesus’ response to this pagan woman was harsh and offensive. But, it wasn’t anything inappropriate in the Jewish world of the time. It perfectly reflected the attitude of Jews to Gentiles. Jews of the days of Jesus commonly referred to Gentiles as dogs. However, the refusal to respond to obvious human needs seemed uncharacteristic of Jesus.
Jesus was gaining recognition as a preacher and miracle worker. We seldom find Jesus changing his decisions. The Gospel today presents the freedom or flexibility of Jesus for changing his discourse or the way he acted when circumstances called for it.
Being in a position that involves power, be it in the Church, the family or our workplaces, we would love to see our desires and decisions accepted and executed. To have the boss of a company reverse his decision at the request of an ordinary janitor or the parish priest to reconsider his plan of action at the request of his parishioners are not every day experience.
The foreigner woman’s love for her daughter challenges the assumption of Jesus. And Jesus changes his mind. The breaking-in of the Kingdom into the life of the girl was the result not just of the action of Jesus but of the faith and concern of the mother as well. Jesus seemed to allow himself to be subject to the conversion of heart, which he demanded from his disciples. Conversion is often a process of identifying our prejudices, letting go of them, and broadening one’s attitudes. Jesus sets aside his prejudices and healed the daughter of the Syro-Phoenician woman.
Today’s Gospel invites us to open our homes and hearts to those who differ in many ways, so that we may do all we can to integrate them into our Christian community. May there be room in our lives, and in our Christian communities, for all people, whatever their race or religion, culture or education.
Intentions
– That there may be room in the universal Church for the cultural riches of various peoples and for their manifesting the same faith in a variety of languages and forms of expression, we pray:
– That we may open our homes and hearts to those who differ in many ways from us, that we may do all we can to integrate them into the human and Christian community, we pray:
– That all of us may be concerned about those who are not here because they are estranged from the Church, we pray:
Prayer over the Gifts
God, our Father,
you set the table of your Son
for all who are willing to come:
for saints and for sinners, for the poor and the rich.
May we learn from your Son, Jesus Christ,
to give to all those who ask for food or love
not meager crumbs or leftovers,
but the food of ourselves,
as Jesus does here for us,
he who is your Son and our Lord for ever. Amen!
Prayer after Communion
God our Father,
in this Eucharist we have all been one
in Jesus Christ, your Son.
He died and rose to life for all;
his likeness is reflected
in the face of every human being.
May it become visible in all.
Let his face not be marred or divided
by our prejudices and fears;
do not allow your love to be less than universal,
but unite us all in him
who is our common way to you and to one another,
Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen!
Blessing
May there be room in this house, that is, in our Christian communities, for all people, whatever their race or social class, their culture or education may be. May Almighty God bless you all, the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Amen!