Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Wednesday 18th Week in Ordinary Time
August 9, 2006
Wednesday 18th Week in Ordinary Time - Yr II
JEREMIAH 31:1-7
At that time, says the Lord, I will be the God of all the tribes of
Israel, and they shall be my people. Thus says the Lord: The people
that escaped the sword have found favor in the desert. As Israel comes
forward to be given his rest, the Lord appears to him from afar: With
age-old love I have loved you; so I have kept my mercy toward you.
Again I will restore you, and you shall be rebuilt, O virgin Israel;
Carrying your festive tambourines, you shall go forth dancing with the
merrymakers. Again you shall plant vineyards on the mountains of
Samaria; those who plant them shall enjoy the fruits. Yes, a day will
come when the watchmen will call out on Mount Ephraim: "Rise up, let us
go to Zion, to the Lord, our God." For thus says the Lord: Shout with
joy for Jacob, exult at the head of the nations; proclaim your praise
and say: The Lord has delivered his people, the remnant of Israel.
MATTHEW 15: 21-28
At that time Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And
behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, "Have
pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon."
But he did not say a word in answer to her. His disciples came and
asked him, "Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us." He said
in reply, "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
But the woman came and did him homage, saying, "Lord, help me." He said
in reply, "It is not right to take the food of the children and throw
it to the dogs." She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the
scraps that fall from the table of their masters." Then Jesus said to
her in reply, "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as
you wish." And her daughter was healed from that hour.
REFLECTION
Throughout all four Gospels Jesus is uniformly gentle, kind and
compassionate. But in today's reading,a mother begs him to cure her
daughter and he pays no attention to her at all. Finally he does
recognize her, only to insult her: "It's not right to take the food of
sons and daughters and throw it to the dogs." He's calling the woman
and her daughter "dogs."
One explanation ascribes Jesus' unusual reaction to the woman's use of
the title, "Son of David." The woman calls Jesus, "Sir," and then she
adds, "Son of David." In the context, "Son of David" is insulting.
Jesus is in a foreign land. Calling him "Son of David" is identifying
him as a Jew, a foreigner.
Jesus goes on as though he hasn't heard her. She continues to follow
him and the disciples are getting more embarrassed, and say to Jesus,
"Do something about her." Jesus replies, "I've been sent only to Jews."
Finally, Jesus stops; the woman falls at his feet, and pleads with him
to cure her daughter. Jesus then speaks those unbelievable words: "It
isn't right to take the children's food and throw it to the dogs." A
commentator suggests Jesus was continuing the rather awkward,
discriminatory approach used by the woman when she called him "Son of
David." Maybe he wanted to show her how unfair she was. And maybe she
understood because she answered him, "Don't dogs have some rights in
your house?"
Jesus grants the woman's request. As he has done in the past, he deals
publicly with a Gentile, and a woman. In Jesus' time, Jews despised
Gentiles and had little or no respect for women. Jesus granted to this
Gentile woman the request she had made and publicly praised her faith
while granting her request. He clearly felt himself absolutely free to
disregard these two Jewish prejudices. The incident is really an
invitation to us to review our own prejudices.
PRAYER REQUESTS
We pray ...
- for a deep and profound respect for life, especially for the
unborn.
- For the total and speedy recovery of Agnes G
- For the total and speedy recovery of Mandy N
- For the safe trip of Dodge and Anjo
- For the personal intentions of R
- for wisdom and guidance for Jasmin on her exam
- for the personal intentions of Lydia and Jennette
- for all the prayer intentions in the MTQ Dailyprayer Diary
- Birthday: Enrique-Alfonso Y. Castillo
- Birthday: Rita Co Son
- Birthday: Francisca Andrea Ching
- Healing: Alan Uy
- Prayer Intention: Tact Imaging Supplies
- Prayer Intention: DIVISORIA FOOD Stuff
- Prayer Intention: Dionisio Ang
- Prayer Intention: Peter & Ruby Chua
- for world peace and reconciliation.
Finally, we pray for one another, for those who have asked our
prayers and for those who need our prayers the most.
Have a good day!
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