“Come Back to the Lord Wholeheartedly” by Beth DeCristofaro
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…. 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). (1 Kings 11:4, 9-10)
Soon a woman whose daughter had an unclean spirit heard about (Jesus). 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. Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.” (Mark 7:25-26, 29)
Piety
Study
A child born with Pulmonary Hypertension (PH) has difficulty drawing every breath. Untreated, PH will kill her/him. Treatment – not a cure - is long and arduous requiring extremely strong drugs which often have a myriad of difficult side-effects and is often delivered via invasive ports or tubes directly into young hearts. Children with diseases such as diabetes, congenital heart or other birth defects, kidney issues also face treatments through which they and their parents suffer. The mother in this Gospel was in anguish for her daughter who suffered not only a malady but a frightening, mysterious one. I wonder if she struggled with the shame that, like Solomon, her sins had brought this suffering on her child.
Unlike the wise Solomon, however, she turned to God. We don’t know what she thought of Jesus except her conviction that he, as a healer, could help her daughter was stronger than her fear of reaching out to a man, a stranger, a teacher against all cultural norms. Parents of children with diseases often find themselves becoming advocates, “grizzly” moms and dads on their child’s behalf. And what I do know is that God responds to them and to their children in their time of need because God, Jesus, the divine man, understands the need, the fragility, and the faith of humans.
The NAB notes to this Gospel explain Jesus’ dismissive response to the woman: “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.”[i] I wonder also if Jesus knew her faith and responded to her thus in order that she can be a model to the onlookers what God requests of us. “Even the dogs receive the scraps of the table,” she says to him – all creation deserves your mercy. The tragedy for mothers, fathers and all who love is that as in Jesus’ day, not all were cured in the way we hope and pray. But God’s graciousness is bestowed upon all His beings.
Action
Lent summons us, and enables us, to come back to the Lord wholeheartedly and in every aspect of our life. (from Pope Francis' message for Lent)[ii]
Jesus did not ask the woman for her green card nor for proof of insurance. Jesus granted her mercy in spite of her differentness and that she did not even worship as did the Jews. What will I do today to share in the suffering of others unlike myself in culture, health, skin color, political beliefs who were created in His image? How might I grow my own compassion to include even those who enter illegally, become distracted by false gods or make stupid mistakes which hurt others?
Illustration http://www.carmelites.net/blog/gods-garden-january-24-2018/
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