1 Kings 11:4-13; Psalm 106; Mark 7: 24-30 Feast of Our Lady of Lourdes
Although there are no special readings for this feast, but because so much of our world is sick physically or sick at heart, we look at both readings through that lens. Solomon’s heart was not “true” or faithful, and he turned to idols. God promised him a divided kingdom as his punishment. Jesus’ mind and heart seems to have been bent, as all of us are bent, by a culture that is unexamined – for Jesus, the xenophobic culture of Galilee and for us, what is purveyed by the media. Surely Mary and Joseph never taught Jesus to call Gentiles “dogs,” and yet in this passage he does. His culture has infiltrated his mind. The woman is so focused on her demon-possessed daughter that she accepts the slur and asks for crumbs. Jesus’ consciousness is raised. “For saying that…” He who calls us to conversion, in this passage is himself converted.
Ask the Spirit to show you where you might harbor unconscious prejudice, and to bring it to mind. Look at it with Jesus. Ask for healing for anything that feels like your own sickness of heart and mind, and ask for that openness that Jesus learned to extend. Pray for the sick of the world, especially those without care—in Haiti, in refugee camps, on our own city streets.
Ave Maria! Mary, we beg you to comfort the sick wherever you find them. Help us to remember their vicious pain and deep loneliness when we begin to complain.