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| “Christ and the Canaanite” by Jean-Germain Drouais, 1784 |
Reading I: 1 Kings 11:4-13
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.
By adoring Astarte, the
goddess of the Sidonians,
and Milcom, the idol of the
Ammonites,
Solomon did evil in the sight
of the LORD;
he did not follow him
unreservedly as his father David had done.
Solomon then built a high
place to Chemosh, the idol of Moab
and to Molech, the idol of
the Ammonites,
on the hill opposite Jerusalem
He did the same for all his
foreign wives
who burned incense and
sacrificed to their gods.
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).
So the LORD said to Solomon:
“Since this is what you want,
and you have not kept my
covenant and my statutes
which I enjoined on you,
I will deprive you of the
kingdom and give it to your servant.
I will not do this during
your lifetime, however,
for the sake of your father
David;
it is your son whom I will
deprive.
Nor will I take away the
whole kingdom.
I will leave your son one
tribe for the sake of my servant David
and of Jerusalem
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Commentary on 1 Kgs 11:4-13
“The glorious
rise of Solomon, his piety and wisdom, administrative skill and wealth, the
extension of his kingdom, his prestige among neighboring rulers, his reign of
peace, above all his friendship with God-these are now eclipsed by his sins of
intermarriage with great numbers of pagan wives and the consequent forbidden
worship of their gods (Exodus 34:11-16; Deuteronomy 7:1-5). His construction of temples in their honor merited the
punishment of loss of a united kingdom to his posterity, and the opposition of
adversaries to himself (1 Kings 11:14; 1 Kings 11:23-37).” [4]
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Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 106:3-4, 35-36, 37 and 40
R. (4a) Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your
people.
Blessed are they who observe
what is right,
who do always what is just.
Remember us, O LORD, as you
favor your people;
visit us with your saving
help.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
But they mingled with the
nations
and learned their works.
They served their idols,
which became a snare for
them.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
They sacrificed their sons
and their daughters to
demons.
And the LORD grew angry with
his people,
and abhorred his inheritance.
R. Remember us, O Lord, as you favor your people.
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Commentary on Ps 106:3-4, 35-36, 37 and 40
Psalm 106 is a national
lament. The psalmist recalls the times the chosen people failed to follow the
Law of Moses, having been seduced by foreign religions and barbaric practices.
As a consequence they walked far from God, the Father who had adopted them (“And the LORD grew angry with his people, and
abhorred his inheritance.”).
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Gospel: Mark 7:24-30
Jesus went to the district of
Tyre.
He entered a house and wanted
no one to know about it,
but he could not escape
notice.
Soon a woman whose daughter
had an unclean spirit heard about him.
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.
He said to her, “Let the
children be fed first.
For it is not right to take
the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs.”
She replied and said to him,
“Lord, even the dogs under
the table eat the children’s scraps.”
Then he said to her, “For
saying this, you may go.
The demon has gone out of
your daughter.”
When the woman went home, she
found the child lying in bed
and the demon gone.
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Commentary on Mk 7:24-30
n this selection Jesus has
withdrawn from Palestine to escape the persecution of the Pharisees and scribes
and to spend time training his disciples. The region they come to is
predominantly Gentile and sets the scene for his encounter with the
Syrophoenician woman.
The exchange recorded in St. Mark’s
Gospel is intended to describe the universal nature of the messianic mission.
Within the dialogue we see Jesus first refuse to accede to the woman’s request
(even though she recognized his authority: “She came and fell at his feet.”).
This same pattern of refusal and then acquiescence is found in St. John’s
Gospel (John 2:4, John 4:48).
The metaphor being exchanged in
this banter refers to the “children” being the Hebrews and the “dogs” a
reference to the Gentiles (frequently referred to as such by Hebrews of the
day). While this seems out of character for the Lord, our translation leaves
out some conversational nuances that soften the dialogue. The word translated
as “dogs” in this translation could be more accurately expressed as “pups.” It
is also significant that the children and pups are eating at the same table,
again expressing the universal nature of the mission of the Messiah.
As in other instances in St. Mark’s
Gospel when Jesus cures a Gentile, he does so from a distance. “When the woman
went home, she found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.”
CCC: Mk 7:29 2616
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Reflection
In
spite of the way the exchange between Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman
sounds, the message given is actually one of unity. We hear Jesus refuse the
woman who has come to him. She caught him at a very bad time. He had just
traveled to Tyre; he needed a rest, time away from the confrontations with the
Pharisees in Palestine. We are told he “wanted
no one to know about it.” Yet, here comes this woman, a Gentile, and throws
herself at him.
Jesus
is true man as well as true God. He became tired just as we do and curing the
sick and casting out demons took much effort on his part. So he declines. He
has not been as successful with the children of Israel as he had hoped. The
gospel he brought had not been well received in his native land, and here comes
this Gentile woman making claims on that message of salvation.
Jesus
uses a slang expression but softens it. In scripture we hear the word used was
“dogs,” however, the Aramaic
expression would have been more like pups. The woman persists and uses the
metaphor to her own advantage and the Lord expels the unclean spirit from her
daughter.
What
is clear from this encounter is that Jesus brought his message to everyone, not
just a select few. And his call to us is to take up that message and pass it on
to others. We find that difficult to do at times. We even find it difficult to
express that message to others who are tasked with sharing the same message,
our brothers and sisters in Christ.
This
then is what the Gospel calls us to do on this day – to bring the message of
God’s love to those we meet. To express it in words and actions in a way that
cannot be misunderstood. In this way we respond to the Lord as he responds to
us – in love and understanding.
Pax
[1]
The picture is “Christ and the Canaanite” by Jean-Germain Drouais, 1784.
[3]
The readings are taken from the New
American Bible, with the exception of the psalm and its response which were
developed by the International Committee for English in Liturgy (ICEL). This
republication is not authorized by USCCB and is for private use only.
[4]
NAB footnote on 1 Kings 11:1, 3, 7.
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