Thursday, February 10, 2022

 Memorial of Saint Scholastica, virgin

(I Kings 11:4-13; Mark 7:24-30)

Solomon started his rule pleasing the Lord.  He asked for wisdom, not riches, and God gave him both.  At the end of his reign, however, his heart turns to pleasing his wives.  He abandons God for foreign idols. Today’s gospel tells of a woman who moves in the opposite direction.

The passage says the Syrophoenician woman is Greek.  It means that she is a pagan.  Yet hearing of the holy one, Jesus, she turns to him in her need.  She humbles herself beseeching Jesus to help her possessed daughter. To show that God’s mercy extends to the whole world, he grants her request.  Without so much as seeing the woman’s daughter, he relieves her of the demon.

When we turn our hearts to God, we will not be disappointed.  The effort requires humility and persistence.  God will reward us in ways we do not expect.  When we set our hearts on pleasure, we are bound to become dissatisfied.  Pleasures come and go quickly.  Pursued relentlessly, they will draw us away from happiness.

Thursday,February 13, 2020

Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

(I Kings 11:4-13; Mark 7:24-30)

In the ancient churches of Europe natural images are often found in the detail work on ceilings and cornices.  Critics of Christianity are wont to characterize these images as pagan resistance to Christian dominance.  A historian of medieval times recently published an essay debunking this theory.  He writes that the inspiration for these images is varied and not likely a pagan revolt.  In any case the readings today provide an ambivalent assessment of pagan culture.

I Kings reports how Solomon was corrupted by his pagan wives.  The fact that he had more than one wife is itself a sign of decadence.  But that he built shrines to pagan gods and even worshipped those gods is truly outrageous.  The pagan woman who comes to Jesus for help, however, testifies to pagan openness to Christian worship God.  She recognizes Jesus as God’s emissary by calling him “Lord.”  She also expresses humility as she acknowledges Jews as God’s chosen people.  In face of such incipient Jesus cures her sick child.

We note a resurgence of paganism in our time.  It seems to stem from people being restless and disenchanted with established Christianity.  Their beliefs and rituals may seem weird, but we should judge them by their works.  Many Christians struggle to accept all the beliefs the Church holds. Rather than condemn those who veer from Christ, let us strive to give sterling example.  Let us show tolerance and, indeed, love so that they may return to Christ. 

Thursday, February 8, 2018

Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

(I Kings 11:4-13; Mark 7:24-30)

Where Solomon in today’s first reading cannot set a limit on pleasing others, Jesus shows himself capable of doing so in the gospel.  The wise Solomon has grown foolish with age by pandering to the wishes of his foreign wives.  He allows them to offer sacrifices to gods who do not exist.  He thus offends the Lord who insists, “Thou shalt not have strange gods beside me.”

In the gospel Jesus retreats to a border area so that he might rest.  But people there have heard about him and come to him for help.  He tries to put off the pagan woman, but she persists.  In the end her belief in Jesus overcomes his need of rest.  He heals her ailing daughter of the unclean spirit.  Jesus demonstrates once again that there is no limit to his love.  Ultimately he will die on the cross to show the vastness of that love.

We should not hesitate to go to Jesus with our needs.  He will help in every case.  We may not experience what we ask of him, but we will turn out stronger and more complete human beings.  Even non-Christians can go to Jesus with their requests.  After all, whether people believe it or not, he is ruler of all the universe.