Become One Flesh February 8

Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

“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. Genesis 2:23-25

<>“Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.” Mark 7:28 <>

Piety

Let us pray: Jesus, make me more aware of the privileges I have in life, in business, and in society. Teach me that all people are created equally and that we all share basic civil rights so I can carry this message throughout society. Help me to speak up and point out privilege in society. Help me to confront discrimination in all its forms from bad jokes and attitudes to institutional and systemic problems. Amen.

Study

<>http://www.usccb.org/nab/020807.shtml

Who better than a mother to advocate for what is due to her children?

Jesus meets such a mother today while visiting the port city of Tyre, far to the north of his home in Nazareth (where he was performing signs in the readings last week). Jesus hardly ever got farther from home than this.

Jesus moves around a lot in Mark’s Gospel, shifting between his native (Jewish) territories and various locations in the Gentile world. We have already read an account of Jesus healing the daughter of Jairus, the synagogue official, who turned to him. So what more do we learn in this story? Inclusivity and equality. Symbolically, today’s story helps to show how Jesus shares and extends his ministry to all people, regardless of the power, race, gender or privilege of the people who seek an encounter with him.

After this example, we can no longer think that Jesus came just to save the Jewish people of ancient Palestine. Mark very explicitly identifies the gender and nationality of today’s believer. “The woman was a Greek, a Syrophoenician by birth.”

<>Social class distinctions would have prohibited a woman like this from entering the home of a Jewish man and addressing him directly. When she confronts him, Jesus again seems to adopt an attitude that is very challenging. He seems to want to care for the needs of the Jewish children of God before caring for anyone else. Usually, Jesus gets the last word in. But not today. He allows this woman to push the limits of His ministry farther out.

The Greek woman calls Jesus on his response and turns his words around. The figure of a household in which children at table are fed first and then their leftover food is given to the dogs under the table is used effectively to acknowledge the prior claim of the Jews to the ministry of Jesus; however, Jesus accedes to the Gentile woman's plea for the cure of her afflicted daughter because of her faith.

Action

<>How can you be better aware of the kind of discrimination overcome by the Greek woman in today’s story, the welfare mother in today’s inner city or the immigrant adjusting to making a new life in this country like my ancestor’s did? How can you fully comprehend the “inclusivity” lesson in this reading?

We have been, based on our gender and ethnicity and race, afforded many of the privileges of society. If you are Male, see how many of the questions below (excerpted from “The Male Privilege Checklist”) you are aware of. The whole list is here.

1. My odds of being hired for a job, when competing against female applicants, are probably skewed in my favor. The more prestigious the job, the larger the odds are skewed.
2. I can be confident that my co-workers won't think I got my job because of my sex - even though that might be true.
3. If I do the same task as a woman, and if the measurement is at all subjective, chances are people will think I did a better job.
4. I am not taught to fear walking alone after dark in average public spaces.
5. If I have children and provide primary care for them, I'll be praised for extraordinary parenting if I'm even marginally competent.
6. If I have children and pursue a career, no one will think I'm selfish for not staying at home.
7. If I seek political office, my relationship with my children, or who I hire to take care of them, will probably not be scrutinized by the press.
8. Chances are my elected representatives are mostly people of my own sex. The more prestigious and powerful the elected position, the more likely this is to be true.
9. I can be somewhat sure that if I ask to see "the person in charge," I will face a person of my own sex. The higher-up in the organization the person is, the surer I can be.
10. As a child, I could choose from an almost infinite variety of children's media featuring positive, active, non-stereotyped heroes of my own sex. I never had to look for it; male heroes were the default.
11. As a child, chances are I got more teacher attention than girls who raised their hands just as often.
12. If my day, week or year is going badly, I need not ask of each negative episode or situation whether or not it has sexist overtones.
13. I can turn on the television or glance at the front page of the newspaper and see people of my own sex widely represented, every day, without exception.
14. My wardrobe and grooming are relatively cheap and consume little time.
15. I can be loud with no fear of being called a shrew. I can be aggressive with no fear of being called a bitch.
16. I can be confident that the ordinary language of day-to-day existence will always include my sex. "All men are created equal…," mailman, chairman, freshman, he.
17. My ability to make important decisions and my capability in general will never be questioned depending on what time of the month it is.
18. Every major religion in the world is led primarily by people of my own sex. Even God, in most major religions, is usually pictured as being male.
19. Magazines, billboards, television, movies, pornography, and virtually all of media is filled with images of scantily-clad women intended to appeal to me sexually. Such images of men exist, but are much rarer.
20. I have the privilege of being unaware of my male privilege.