22nd Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 30, 2020

Gospel: Matthew 16:21–28

Theme: the risks and rewards of following Jesus

Matthew 16:21–28

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.

Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.”

He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. What profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? Or what can one give in exchange for his life?

“For the Son of Man will come with his angels in his Father’s glory, and then he will repay everyone according to his conduct.”

---

Music Meditations

• “The Summons” (by John L. Bell) [YouTube]
• “What Wondrous Love Is This?” (sung by Fernando Ortega) [YouTube]
• “Kyrie Eleison” (Chris Tomlin) [YouTube]
• “I Need Thee Every Hour” (Fernando Ortega) [YouTube]

Companions for the Journey

From “First Impressions” (2011). A service of the Southern Dominican Province:

Last Sunday Jesus blessed Peter and gave him authority over his mission to build the household of God. Things have turned quickly on Peter as now Jesus calls him a devil and pushes him off. The sound of his rejection reminds us of what Jesus said to the devil when he tempted Jesus in the desert, “Away with you, Satan!” You can’t blame Peter for trying to save his master from pain and death. But there is more involved than just a devoted disciple’s desire to protect the teacher he loves and follows. Christianity is not an easy walk, all smiles and good feelings. “Finding Jesus,” or having “Jesus in my heart,” might produce initial buoyancy of spirit. But eventually the fuller picture of what following Jesus entails will set in. In the first reading, Jeremiah was initially attracted by God’s call, but today feels tricked by God because his vocation has caused him much grief. Peter should have known better, after all, he’s following the prophet Jesus. If Peter had reflected over the history of his religion, he would have remembered how prophets got rejected and killed. Now Peter is facing what Jeremiah faced: he is being called to accept a prophetic role and it will cost. “Whoever wishes to come after me must deny themselves, take up their cross and follow me.”

You can buy a gold cross in any jewelry store. If you are a rock or movie star you can afford to buy a large jewel-encrusted cross to wear before your adoring followers. But that’s not the kind of cross Jesus invites Peter and us to willingly take up each day. We are not likely to suffer crucifixion as Jesus did, but it’s clear Jesus invites his disciples to sacrifice for his sake and for the preaching of the gospel.

Today Paul points out how we disciples are to live. We ought to offer our bodies “as a living sacrifice.” Christians are not to “conform yourselves to this age....” If we choose to follow Christ we will live lives based on a different set of values from what guides those around us. This choice will cost us—friends, family, popularity and even possessions. We cannot buy into the values of our culture without first passing them under the lens of the gospel. At first Peter does not accept the terms of the relationship Jesus is offering. The emphasis on the pain and sacrifice seems to have blocked his ears to what comes along with the cross—life. Peter will, Jesus promises, gain his life.

After we get beyond Jesus’ casting Peter off, we might notice there’s an offer also being made to Peter. “Get behind me, Satan!” It’s an initial rejection, Jesus is also telling Peter to go back where disciples should be—behind and following Jesus. That’s the right place for us too, despite our repeated failures to live up to being Jesus’ disciples. Like Peter, in subtle or more obvious ways, we have rejected the cost of discipleship and admit today our need for another chance to keep trying. We are invited back where we belong—following Jesus. Along with other disciples, we will be guided by Matthew over the next weeks as we listen to Jesus’ teachings. We disciples will notice on our journey with Jesus how he daily accepts his cross; the rejection and slander thrown in his path on the road to Jerusalem. As always, Jesus offers forgiveness for wayward and even obstructing disciples. Jesus sees in us what he saw in Peter, a willingness to do the best we can to follow him, even unto death. And so we join Peter as we get behind Jesus and follow him to Jerusalem.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• Have I ever been in the middle of a project and realized that it was a much bigger undertaking than I imagined and was going to cost me more in time and resources than I was prepared to spend?
• What is our motivation behind engaging in denial of future unpleasant events—either ones we will experience or ones we expect a loved one will experience?
• Have I ever been in denial about some reality of life, or tried to “sugarcoat” the truth for someone else? How did it work out for me?
• What would I do to prevent a family member or another loved one from being hurt?
• If I thought a beloved one was making a foolish or dangerous choice, would I try to talk them out of it?
• Have I ever been the recipient of someone’s fear for my safety or happiness? What form did this fear take? How did I respond?
• Why do I think Jesus reacts the way he does?
• Do I secretly believe that faith in Jesus will make life easier? Or that it ought to?
  Has there been a time when God’s plan for me did not meet my expectations?
• Do I sometimes in my own religious journey deny the meaning of the cross? Why?
  What do I think it means, in real-life terms, to take up my cross and follow Christ?
  What do I have to risk?
• By Daniel Harrington, S.J.:
  What thoughts or emotions does the symbol of the cross set off in you?
  How do you understand freedom? Does it have any relation to the cross?
  Do you ever think of your whole life as an act of worship?
• What does it mean to say that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God?
  Did Peter think it meant something quite different from the reality of Jesus’ life?
  Which of the last two gospel stories seems to be a truer picture of Peter?
  With which one do I most identify? Why?
• In what way do we try to “save our lives”?
  What do we buy, or use, or what comforts do we seek, calling those possessions “life”?
  Is there anything in our current culture—any values which might not pass the “smell test” when compared to Jesus’ teaching?
• What in my life do I want to” save”? What is the cost?
  Is there anything precious to me that I can let go of in order to be able to live more fully?
  I think of one behavior or personal habit I need to lose in order to save my own life as a follower of Jesus, or as a happy person.
• How does the message of this gospel fly in the face of our expectations that following Jesus will bring us an end to our problems?
• Where does love and care for the poor fit in?
• How does the Great Commandment fit into the message that those who try to save their lives will lose them?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/Imagination:

Read Acts 4:1-22. How has Peter’s attitude been changed since the story related in Matthew 16? What do you think Peter expected when he began to follow Jesus? What has happened to him to give him the courage and the strength he displays in the story from Acts? Think of a time in your life when you dreaded something in the future, but then plucked up the courage to face the challenge. What do you think gave you the strength to do what you had to do?

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Adapted from “First Impressions” (2008), a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

Do we have a choice; can we reject the invitation of Jesus? Of course we can. What is given to us today is an invitation, not a command. “Whoever wishes to come after me....Whoever wishes to save his/her life....” Jesus wants us to be fully aware of what we are taking on. But we won’t always feel the divine pat on the back for a job well done. Like Jesus, we may just have to keep going, trusting the call we once heard.

Jesus invites us into the same daily journey. What might we lose? In following Jesus, we might

• find ourselves at odds with our family’s fundamental choices and criteria for success
• refuse to practice unethical behavior, even at the risk of our academic advancement or careers
• choose forgiveness against voices telling us to be “realistic” and not naive
• do an honest day’s work, even when the boss is not looking and others are cutting corners and telling us “everyone else does it”
• treat co-workers with respect, despite their job skills, level of education or social status
• welcome the newcomers into our social grouping, and treat them as “one of us”

Jesus invites you into the same daily journey. What might you gain? Only you can answer this question for yourself. Spend some time this week reflecting not only on the risks of discipleship, but also on its rewards.

Poetic Reflection:

Read the following poem by Mary Oliver. What is your response?

“The Journey”

One day you finally knew
what you had to do and began,
though the voices around you
kept shouting
their bad advice—
though the whole house
began to tremble
and you felt the old tug
around your ankles.
“Mend my life!”
each voice cried.
But you didn’t stop.
You knew what you had to do,
though the wind pried
with its stiff fingers
at the very foundations,
though their melancholy
was terrible.
It was already late
enough, and a wild night,
and the road full of fallen
branches and stones.
But little by little
as you left their voices behind,
the stars began to burn
through the sheets of clouds,
and there was a new voice
which you slowly
recognized as your own,
that kept you company
as you strode deeper and deeper
into the world,
determined to do
the only thing you could do—
determined to save
the only life you could save.

21st Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 23, 2020

Gospel: Matthew 16:13–20

Theme: Who is Jesus for me, and how does Jesus impact my life?

Matthew 16:13–20

When Jesus went into the region of Caesarea Philippi he asked his disciples, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?”

They replied, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.”

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”

Simon Peter said in reply, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”

Jesus said to him in reply, “Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah. For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my heavenly Father. And so I say to you, you are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church, and the gates of the netherworld shall not prevail against it. I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

Then he strictly ordered his disciples to tell no one that he was the Messiah.

---

Music Meditations

• “Hold Me In Life” (by Huub Oosterhuis and Bernard Huijbers) [YouTube]
• “Ancient Words” (by Lynn DeShazo; sung by Michael W. Smith) [YouTube]
• “Jesus” (by Chris Tomlin) [YouTube]

Companions for the Journey

From Jude Siciliano, O.P., in “First Impressions,” a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

When Jesus asked Peter, “But who do you say that I am?” he wasn’t asking Peter to recite a series of doctrines about his identity. He wasn’t inviting him to recite the Nicene Creed we recite at Sunday Mass. That would come later when the Christian community had to address questions that had developed among its communities and when church teaching was challenged in the new lands where it had spread. The creeds and formulas would be necessary—but later. No, Jesus was not asking Peter to work out a christological formula. That’s clear from the beginning of the question, “But you...?” Jesus was inviting Peter to express his own faith. Does he believe in Jesus and what does he believe about Jesus? From his experience of Jesus and through the gift of God’s grace, Peter has come to know that Jesus is the revelation of God to the world. He articulates what the church has come to believe about Christ. The articles of that faith will be developed and taught to inquirers: but first comes Peter, expressing his faith and the faith of the first generation Christians.

Other followers of Christ will have to answer the same question and pass on that faith to their children and those to whom they preach. They will announce to anyone who will listen—who Jesus is and what difference he made in their lives. The creeds will emerge, but the teachings will have little meaning if people have not, in one way or another, answered the question Jesus asks us today, “But who do YOU say that I am?” Jesus isn’t just asking us if we go to church on Sunday; if we send our children to religious education classes or say grace before meals. First of all, he invites us to acknowledge our belief in him and to bear witness to his love and manner of living in the world.

Those who know us usually can detect our preferences. If we say we are big Atlanta Braves fans but never watch a game, wear a team insignia or know who plays first base—people will begin to wonder. If we say we love to read, but all we talk about at social gatherings are the evening TV shows and soaps—people will begin to wonder. If we say we are very concerned about the environment, but never recycle, drive a gas guzzler and keep all the lights on in our homes—people will begin to wonder. If we say we are Christians, yet there is little that signifies Jesus has made any difference in our lives—people will begin to wonder. If we insist our children must go to church with us, but at home they hear us use racial slurs, utter stereotypical comments about the poor and immigrants and gossip about people in our church—our children will begin to wonder: “Are my parents (grandparents, uncles or aunts) really Christians, or do they just go to church?” “But who do you say I am?” Jesus asks us today. What response to the question does our life reveal to those observers around us?

Jesus’ question isn’t just asked of us as individuals. It is posed to our church as well. If our Christian community fits comfortably into the society around it; never raises an objection to public discriminatory policies; never speaks up to represent those who have little power or no voice; welcomes only those who look and act like the established members; is more fussy about ritual and decorum and less concerned about newcomers and how to welcome them and incorporate them into our community and its rituals, then when Jesus asks us, “Church, who do you say that I am?” in reality our answer is, “You are an admirable leader and teacher and a good role model—and that’s it.”

Peter voiced the faith the early church had in Jesus. It was to be the message they proclaimed, “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Those who accepted that message professed their faith in God’s unique presence and revelation manifested in Christ. In accepting Jesus as “the Son of the living God,” and receiving the grace God offered them in Christ, they agreed to change their ways. Jesus was more than a role model for believers. In him God offered humanity the grace to live Christ's life of love and service—especially to serve those Jesus served, the least in the eyes of society.

In response to Jesus’ initial question, “Who do people say that the Son of Man is?” Peter responds, “Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, still others Jeremiah, or one of the prophets.” People may have had differing opinions, but they seem to have agree that they saw Jesus in the line of the great prophets. His words and life had revealed to them that he must be speaking with the authority of God. High praise indeed! But Jesus disregards those opinions and asks the question more directly to his disciples, “But who do you say that I am?”

The faith Peter and the disciples come to profess in Christ should not be kept to themselves. They must not form a secretive and isolated sect that will strive to avoid contamination from the world. Quite the opposite. Peter speaks the faith of the post-resurrection church. This is the faith Jesus will send them out to proclaim. Peter will bear the keys, like Eliakim in our first reading, who carried “the key of the House of David.” Peter will have the mission of stewardship to lead the early church by his preaching, teaching, example and his ultimate martyrdom. Peter’s faith will be accepted by many and those who profess it will be strengthened as they face persecution; the long wait for Jesus’ return; internal conflicts that would shake the church to its foundation, and pastoral disputes. Peter and the disciples will be instructed to do as Jesus did for them; to be a servant church and wash the feet of others. Their task will be to lead others to accept Jesus as “the Christ, the Son of the living God,” and to sustain and serve the community as its members attempt to live out the faith in the One they profess.

Jesus said he would build his church on rock. Sometimes it feels that the church is less on rock and more on sand. We have all sorts of divisions that distract our energies and create an atmosphere of suspicion and mistrust. It doesn’t feel like a rock-solid church, does it? A quick survey of our history reminds us that we aren’t going through anything those before us didn’t also go through in one way or another. From the very beginning we have had both saints and sinners among our popes, bishops, priests, religious and laity. At times it is very discouraging. At those low moments, when we feel our dreams and ideals are under siege, we might want to repeat as a mantra what Jesus promised, “...the gates of the nether world shall not prevail against it.”

We give praise today that, despite our less-than stellar performance as the people of God, Christ has not abandoned us. We can praise God today for the prophetic leaders we have had in our past and have today who: speak out against war and the death penalty; defend all life; protect the rights of those displaced by famine and civil war; provide shelter for the homeless and abused, etc. In our church, while there are signs of our shaky faith, there are also ample reminders that Christ is very much with his church. Just as he promised he would be.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Who do YOU say that I am?

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• Like the disciples in this story, we tend to undervalue “heroes” from our own present time in favor of those from times past. Who are my “heroes”?
• Jesus asks about what others say, but he is really interested in what Peter has to say:
  What does my current culture say about Jesus? What does the Church say about Jesus?
  What do I say when Jesus asks me in my heart? What is Jesus to me?
  How difficult is it for me to rely on my own relationship with Jesus to answer these questions? How do I live out my answer?
• From Jude Siciliano. O.P.:
  What changes must I make so that others will experience me as a person who believes that Jesus is “the Son of the living God”?
• In the text there are many opinions concerning Jesus and several ways of expressing faith. Today, also there are many diverse opinions concerning Jesus. Which are the opinions of our own CC@S community concerning Jesus? What mission results for us from this?
• Has anyone ever asked you for an opinion on something and you at first responded with what the world suggests, or with what authorities are recommending? Why was it hard to state your own opinion?
• What qualities might Jesus see in me? What title might he give me? Will it take time for me to grow into his mission?
• Recall a time when you were entrusted with a serious responsibility. How did you feel?
• A biblical scholar said, “The ‘Rock’ is not Peter; it is Peter’s faith” on which Jesus built his Church. What do you think this means?
• From Daniel J Harrington, S.J.:
  What ironies are involved in Jesus’ calling Simon the “rock”? When and how did Peter become the rock on which the church is built? Is it because of his strengths or because of his weaknesses, or both?
• Peter was given power and authority. How do you interpret that power in practical terms?
  What are the downsides of that power?
  In what ways have the successors of Peter lived out the imperative given by Jesus?
  Who is your favorite pope? Why? Had he made mistakes?
  Who is your least favorite pope? Why? Had he made mistakes?
• What do you consider the authority of the Catholic Church concerning sin and forgiveness?
• Someone else cannot answer life’s critical questions for us. Have I ever abdicated my own responsibility for formulating answers for myself—in other words, have I relied too excessively on religious or civil authorities, on “experts” or on friends and relatives? How have I made use of the advice or guidance others have given me and how has that advice impacted my decision making?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Adapted from “First Impressions”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

Only in Matthew’s Gospel is the word “ekklesia” found. It literally means the “called-out gathering.” The “called community” was formed by the earthly Jesus to continue his work. The “ekklesia” focuses on Jesus’ identity and authority, not on Peter’s. The church is not simply about a future world, but about being signs of the kingdom’s presence here and now. As Jesus proclaimed, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.” Jesus’ question: “Who do you say that I am?”  will define who I am; how I live; what I do; whom I become in my life.” I take some time to answer carefully this very question Jesus was asking of his disciples.

Our individual responses to Jesus’ question will, of course, bind us more profoundly to Him. They will, in turn, bind us more closely to one another so that we will not only give an individual, but also a communal witness to Christ – for we are the “ekklesia,” “the called out gathering,” called to effectively impact our world, so that others might be stirred to ask us important questions too, like: “Who do you say Jesus is?” “What does he mean to you?” How would I or my church answer them?

A Meditation in the Ignatian Style/ Imagination:

From “Sacred Space”, a service of the Irish Jesuits:

Suppose that Jesus suddenly put his question to me in my prayer today, what would I say? Let me be honest with him, no matter if I feel ashamed of what I come up with. Jesus reads my heart long before I speak. Perhaps he then invited me to chat with Peter, who got the formula right in this scene, but in other places tries to argue Jesus out of his passion, making Jesus so angry as to call him ‘Satan’. Peter also in a little while will deny that he even knows Jesus! But Lord, let me see that Peter’s weakness is the making of him: he finally learns not to trust in himself but in you alone. After the resurrection when you question him, he is honest in saying; You know that I love you’. And that is enough.

Let him teach me to learn your forgiving love through my weaknesses and let me love you ever more deeply…

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions

From “Faith Book”, a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

Peter got it right. Jesus is the Messiah, the one who had come to liberate not only those enslaved by Rome, but all who are poor and oppressed. His liberating power was handed on to Peter and his companions and is our responsibility today. We are to loose those who are bound and to bind the powers of those who threaten the freedom of God’s children in any way.

So we ask ourselves:
What do I need to ask Jesus to liberate me from?
How can I help another experience a similar liberation?

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

Not just Peter, but all of those disciples were the early church. I am not just a follower of the Church, I am Church. Do I speak and serve in love? Do I reflect the face of Christ to others? I plan one or two ways this week to proclaim Christ to a loved one. I plan one or two ways this week to serve a stranger in Christ’s name. I make a resolution to follow through on my plans.

Poetic Reflection:

How does the following poem from the Rev. Ed Ingebretsen, S.J. illustrate the difficulty of responding to the question “Who do You say that I am”?

“Lonely Christ”

Lonely Christ
I pray to you.
You are a puzzle to me
as those I love
always are.

My soul is at odds
with the words.
What mad reach of mine
touches any thread of you?
Or what of mine, arms or eyes,
ever shares with people
where they may lie—
as they always do—
in a hard place!

What of mine shall make good
their taking of a breath,
their rising, caring, feeding
their sleeping in fear—
what shall make good
their slight faith,
their enormous promises
made in iron
for a child, man, a woman—

what of mine shall be with the people
as they caress a special grief
fondled again and again
In bludgeoned love?

What do I bring
with which to clutch
the merest hint of your shadow?

"Dogwoman and Magicman" - 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

In the ancient Middle East, a bitter prostitute wonders if a strange traveler can heal her daughter. Fr. Dominic's short film inspired by this Sunday’s Gospel story of Jesus and the Syro-Phoenician woman. For more information about Fr. Dominic’s movie and music ministry, visit www.torch3m.org, where you can also sign-up for his occasional newsletter.

20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 16, 2020

Gospel: Matthew 15: 21-28

Theme: Who belongs? Who gets heard by God?

Matthew 15:21–28

Then Jesus went from that place and 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.

---

Music Meditations

• “Lord of All Hopefulness” (by Jan Struther and Randall DeBruyn) [YouTube]
• “Hold Me In Life” (by Huub Oosterhuis and Bernard Huijbers) [YouTube]
• “Ahavat Olam” (Song of Thanksgiving) (sung by by Ben, Jonah and Henry Platt) [YouTube], a Hebrew song of trust in God
• “So Will I” (Ben Platt) [YouTube] (popular song)

Companions for the Journey

From “First Impressions,” a service of the Southern Dominican Province:

When the Israelites went into Babylonian slavery they lost almost everything—their liberty, lands, temple, etc. In that foreign land one more calamity threatened them, loss of faith. In exile they wondered if they were worshiping the right God. It was tempting for them to think that the gods of the Babylonians looked much more powerful than their own, since Babylon had conquered Israel. So, many dropped their adherence to the God of Israel and drifted over to their conquerors’ pagan religious practices. Exile broke the spirits of many. Not unlike today, when people who suffer great loss decide to turn away from the God they feel let them down.

But even in exile there was a faithful remnant who hoped against hope that God was still with them and would someday take them home. In the meanwhile these faithful ones did what they could to protect themselves and their children from the strong pagan influences that must have felt overwhelming. Can’t we identify with their struggle to keep themselves and their children true to the faith they had inherited from their forebears? For we too want to pass on to the next generation the faith that has sustained us. Like Peter, in last week’s gospel, our faith has helped us walk on stormy seas, probably more than once in our lives and we want our children to be strengthened by that faith too.

In their struggle to keep faithful in the harshest conditions the exiles came up with a solution. They decided to “circle the wagons”—to gather together for mutual support and to reject what, to them, was foreign, pagan and a threat to their very survival. For those who did make it back to Israel they found it was not what they had remembered. Foreigners now lived there; again pagans seemed to surround and threaten the faithful people’s core beliefs with foreign teachings and religious practices. Should they once again circle the wagons, as they tried to do in exile? Many, encouraged by their religious leaders, did. (We can hear clear hints of the exclusionary tactics in what Jesus says to the foreign Canaanite woman in today’s gospel.)

Matthew writes his gospel from strong Jewish roots. He sees Jesus as a new Moses and the founder of a new Israel. Yet there are significant moments in his gospel when outsiders manifest faith. Remember the foreign Magi (2:1-12) and the Roman centurion (8:5-13)? And now we have the Canaanite woman.

Jesus is out of his usual element in today’s story. He has entered Tyre and Sidon, pagan territory. He is among the people who inhabited the holy land before the Israelites arrived. These are the people faithful Jews struggled against throughout their national history to preserve their faith. Jesus and his disciples would expect to meet opposition there to the good news they preached. But they were surprised and so would Matthew’s readers be, since the early church still had anti-gentile sentiments.

At first Jesus is reluctant to expand his ministry beyond his initial calling to “the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” But this woman will hear nothing of protocol and religious priorities, after all her daughter is desperately ill, “tormented by a demon.” She “came” to him, called him “Lord” and recognized him as “Son of David.” Here is a pagan who express the faith Jesus had hoped to find among his own people. She also acknowledges that God’s bread was meant for the chosen people and yet, in asking for “scraps that fall from the table,” she is asking for a share in that food. She is insistent, despite Jesus’ initial reluctance to go outside the pale to pagans. (It may help soften Jesus’ response to the woman to know that some commentators have said, that “dogs” can also be translated “puppies”—implying some affection on Jesus’ part.)

The woman’s faith stirs a response from Jesus. She may not have had the “proper” religious heritage or upbringing in God’s covenant and laws, but she captures the faith of believers like us who also recognize Jesus as “Lord,” the One who will provide bread from God. (Isn’t that what he is doing today at our eucharistic table?) How often do we meet people who may not be enrolled on our church’s membership lists, but who manifest by their words and actions the self-giving influence of Jesus’ spirit? Somehow God has found a way to renew and nourish them; how else could they be the people they are?

Matthew’s community was expanding into gentile settings where it proclaimed the good news about Jesus. The gentiles were responding and entering the community of believers. Stories like today’s, about the Canaanite woman, must have helped the original Jewish converts to Christianity accept people as brothers and sisters whom they once called “dogs.” They heard the woman acknowledge the priority of the Jewish faith and God’s openness to all believers through Jesus Christ.

She was not among the acknowledged members of Jesus’ followers, but her trust in him and her faith that he is God’s anointed, is a sign of God’s mercy working beyond the norms and conventions we humans set up to determine the “in” and the “out” crowd. If a pagan could surprise us with faith, then who are we to limit our expectations of where and how God is at work in the world?

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Woman, you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• Did the reaction of the Canaanite woman surprise me? How would I have reacted if the first answer I got from Jesus was “no”?
• Have I ever felt that my misery was ignored by God, as Jesus seemed to ignore the Canaanite woman at first?
• Do I see in this woman an indomitable spirit that will never give up hoping and praying for someone she loves? Who or what in my own life calls out that persistence in me?
• Her prayer to Jesus was an expression of both helplessness and trust. Where in my prayer life have I expressed both?
• Often we think of faith as belief in a set of theological constructs, but Jesus in this paragraph identifies faith as a trust in his love and kindness. How would I characterize the word “faith” in my own life?
• In chapter 10 of this gospel Jesus tells his disciples not to stray out of Jewish territory, and at the beginning of this segment of chapter 15, he seems to be emphasizing that his mission is to the House of Israel only. However, by the end of the section, we see that Jesus has learned something profound about the faith of a non-Jew, and changes his negative response to a positive one.
• Do I forget that Jesus had to learn how to walk, how to be a carpenter, how to pray, how to shape a mission, how to follow it, and that this learning might be a gradual process, subject to possible human error?
• Is it hard for me to think of the humanity of Jesus, with its attendant learning curve?
• Is it hard for me to think of Jesus having to learn things about his mission?
• Although theology tells me that Jesus is both God and human do I frequently dwell on Jesus’ divinity, at the expense of his humanity?
• Jesus’ tone in much of the exchange with the non-Jewish woman seems rather exclusionary. In this very story, what might Jesus’ assumptions about certain groups in our present day be?
  
  • Would he exclude certain groups of people from our worship assemblies?
    
  • Would the newcomer to our country find a warm welcome in his church?
    
  • Would he favor the benefactors over the welfare mothers and their crying infants in the back row?
    
  • Would he want teenagers to dress according to code?
    
  • Does he hear the prayer of someone who hasn’t prayed in thirty years as much as he does the devout nun in a monastery?
    
  • Does he confirm the notions of those exclusive Christians who see all others as “infidels” of one kind or another?
    
  Are any of these possibilities above a reality in today’s religious groups, including mine?
• Do I harbor, maybe even unconsciously, a sense of exclusivity about how the faith should be lived out and by whom?
• Has it ever seemed that at times God was ignoring me, or at least distant and unapproachable?
  Does initial rejection of a petition or hope send me away in defeat or resentment, or does it call forth an energy and determination to make myself known and heard?
• Who are the people in my life that I don’t pay enough attention to?
• Might the purpose of this story be to illustrate that membership in God’s kingdom is not limited to religious identity or to other external circumstances? Do I harbor an unconscious sense that my affinity group (religion, ethnicity, university affiliation, country of origin, etc) is better than others, or even more beloved by God?
• “Dogs” was a Jewish name for Gentiles, and Jesus’ expression raised no eyebrows in his own time, when ethnic and tribal loyalty in the face of danger from the outside was the norm. Many of us have more unconscious tribal tendencies than we want to admit to. Do I have epithets or subtle exclusionary names for the “others” in my life? Does my parish or my social group provide welcome for “the other”, for the outsider?
• Have I ever felt like an “outsider”?
• Have I ever participated in an inter-religious dialogue? What happened?

Meditations

A Meditation in the Augustinian Style/Relationship:

Could we treat this pagan woman’s dialogue with Jesus as a prayer of petition and her response as a prayerful and honest reaction expressing her disappointment and feistiness? How often is our Prayer “sanitized”—expressing what we think God wants to hear? In many of the psalms (often called Psalms of Lamentation) we see a people who are honest and raw in their feelings about life, and willing to share their frustrations with God. Read selections from Psalm 42, then write your own honest psalm about where you are in your life right now:

4My tears have become my bread, by day, by night,
as they say to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”

10I will say to God, my rock, “Why have you forgotten me?
Why do I go mourning oppressed by the foe?”
11With a deadly wound in my bones, my enemies revile me,
saying to me all the day long, “Where is your God?”

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

I read selections from psalm 69:

2Save me, O God, for the waters have risen to my neck.
3I have sunk into the mud of the deep, where there is no foothold.
I have entered the waters of the deep, where the flood overwhelms me.
4I am wearied with crying aloud; my throat is parched.
My eyes are wasted away with waiting for my God.
5More numerous than the hairs on my head are those who hate me without cause.
Many are those who attack me, enemies with lies.
What I have never stolen, how can I restore?

9To my own kin I have become an outcast,
a stranger to the children of my mother.

14But I pray to you, O LORD, for a time of your favor.
In your great mercy, answer me, O God, with your salvation that never fails.
15Rescue me from sinking in the mud; from those who hate me, deliver me.
Save me from the waters of the deep,
16lest the waves overwhelm me.  Let not the deep engulf me, nor the pit close its mouth on me.
17LORD, answer, for your mercy is kind; in your great compassion, turn towards me.
18Do not hide your face from your servant;
answer me quickly, for I am in distress.

I consider how many times we as humans turn to God only in times of personal crisis. What am I hoping for when I pray at moments like these? Do I just want to share my anxiety, and yes, my anger? Or do I want to manipulate God into changing the plans set out for my life? Anne Lamott, in Traveling Mercies says:

Here are the two best prayers I know: “Help me, help me, help me” , and “Thank you, thank you, thank you”. A woman I know says, for her morning prayer: ”Whatever”, and then for the evening, “Oh well”, but has conceded that these prayers are more palatable for people without children.

What do I think that prayer is for anyway?

A Meditation in the Franciscan Style/Action:

In the midst of the financial crisis caused by this pandemic, mothers are watching, helpless, as their children go hungry.

In the face of built-in inequality, mothers are watching, frustrated, as their children lack the basic learning tools and experiences to thrive and grow into their potential.

In the face of the opioid crisis, mothers watch in pain as their children succumb to anxiety and hopelessness, seeking escape from the lives they are living.

In the system of institutionalized racism, mothers watch in fear as their young sons are targeted for violence simply because of the color of their skin.

How do we answer the pleas of these mothers, spoken and unspoken? How do we help them nurture and protect their beloved children? The first step would be to learn more about the causes of these social ills. The next step would be to pick one cause that speaks to you personally and use the internet to discover where your resources and your time would be of use in our very community. The CC@S website would be a good place to start; contact Lourdes Alonso (lalonso@stanford.edu) for some information on social Justice groups in our Catholic community.

We need to do more than wring our hands. We need to do more than pray. We need to DO!

Poetic Reflection:

How does the following poem from the Rev. Ed Ingebretsen, S.J. capture the care Jesus takes of us in our deepest need?:

“From Narrow Places”

From narrow places
the strength of our voice
rises:

our every breath
is prayer,
the great poem of need,
a constant scattering
of praise.

Early
we reach to God
in the claim of our hearts,
while he,
our father,
mothers us
in his

19th Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 9, 2020

Gospel: Matthew 14:22–33

Theme: Jesus will never abandon us, especially in stormy times.

Matthew 14:22–33

Then he made the disciples get into the boat and precede him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. After doing so, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray.

When it was evening he was there alone. Meanwhile the boat, already a few miles offshore, was being tossed about by the waves, for the wind was against it.

During the fourth watch of the night, he came toward them, walking on the sea. When the disciples saw him walking on the sea they were terrified. “It is a ghost,” they said, and they cried out in fear. At once [Jesus] spoke to them, “Take courage, it is I; do not be afraid.”

Peter said to him in reply, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” Peter got out of the boat and began to walk on the water toward Jesus. But when he saw how [strong] the wind was he became frightened; and, beginning to sink, he cried out, “Lord, save me!”

Immediately Jesus stretched out his hand and caught him, and said to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” After they got into the boat, the wind died down. Those who were in the boat did him homage, saying, “Truly, you are the Son of God.”

---

Music Meditations

• “Be Not Afraid” (sung by John Michael Talbot) [YouTube]
• “Lord, I Need You” (Chris Tomlin) [YouTube]
• “Walk on the Water” (Britt Nicole) [YouTube]

Companions for the Journey

From a homily delivered at CC@S Mass in 2008:

It is always helpful to locate the scripture passage into the greater story that the evangelist has woven. Today’s incident immediately follows the miraculous feeding of the five thousand. If I were one of the disciples I would have felt that I was so fortunate to have found this miracle worker who could cure the sick and take care of the hungry. Here is somebody I can rely on. Sometimes religion sounds like it is making similar offers; that it can help us stay on the right side of God and get us out of any predicament in which we find ourselves. If you’ve “got religion” and do things “properly” you’ve got protection and life ought to work out for you. (adapted from Jude Siciliano: FI 19 SUNDAY 2005). Well, my friends, this story should disabuse you of that notion. Look at the disciples in today’s story. They get into the boat on Lake Galilee as he tells them to, and they get in without Jesus, as he tells them to. Now the Sea of Galilee, 700 feet below sea level, was and still is known for its violent storms, causing many to drown in its waters. These storms can come up suddenly, with cool air from the surrounding hills or the Golan Heights colliding violently with the warm air near the surface of the water, creating enormous waves and howling winds.

Imagine the disciples’ consternation when their certainty of safety is shattered by this vicious and dangerous storm. Don’t you think the disciples wonder if Jesus has absconded, taking God with him? Jesus is off on a mountain somewhere, and here they are struggling with the wind and the waves. By the time Jesus shows up, it is dawn. That is an awful lot of hours of being tossed and buffeted with no let-up. (I’ll just bet they didn’t hear the still small voice of God in the winds out there on the lake that day, either.) I can almost feel their panic as they struggle just to hang on and keep the boat afloat, wondering if the howling will stop and the waves will ever get calm again. I am sure they feel that they might die out there, as others have in the past.

Have you ever felt that this incident might be a metaphor for certain times in your life? What are the storms in your religious or personal life? Ever felt adrift and at sea? Ever felt that you have been left by your own stony lonesome to work things out?

The story speaks immediately to our lives; if not today, then yesterday; if not yesterday, then tomorrow. (ibid) It reminds me of another similar incident in which Jesus was with the disciples, but asleep in the boat while the storm raged on. Finally, in fear and desperation, they woke him up saying: “Teacher, do you not care if we perish?” We, in a similar vein, might ask: “Don’t you see what I am trying to cope with here? What took you so long to let me know you were paying attention?”

There is always the danger here that we are looking to Jesus to mend all that is wrong in our lives. To solve our problems for us.

Not gonna happen. Peter walked on a stormy sea, not one that had been made calm by Jesus. It is no wonder that he faltered as he began to doubt his own trust in Jesus. But Jesus understood Peter’s fear and doubt, just as I believe he understands ours. “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” is not so much a criticism as it is the kind of comfort a parent gives a lost and frightened child: “Why are you so worried? Don’t you realize that I am in charge?

Our faith (that is, our trust) always needs bolstering when we are in the midst of changes or turmoil, or sorrow. But how hard that is, when the voices around us are calling for us to do something, to make our own problems disappear, to mend their lives, or simply just stop whining. This is when we realize that faith is not something we possess, it is a conscious choice. It is something we live. One day at a time. One storm at a time.

Faith is a refusal to let despair overwhelm us. Faith is the ability to look into the unknown and believe that God will be there with us, no matter what. To quote Julian of Norwich: Just so, [Our Lord] said in the last words with perfect fidelity, alluding to us all: You will not be overcome. He did not say: You will not be troubled, you will not be belabored, you will not be disquieted; but he said: You will not be overcome.

And so, when we believe the kingdom has come despite evidence to the contrary, we have faith. When we are tossed on the seas of life in fear and trembling, and make a conscious decision to believe, to trust that we are not alone, we have faith. When we rejoice in the beauty of the world and the opportunities and talents we have been given as gifts by the God who loves us, we have faith. When we realize that those gifts are not ours alone, but have been given to us for the betterment of the kingdom, then we have faith.

We live our faith by trusting in God’s innate goodness and in our own ability to respond to that goodness. We live our faith by living out the possibilities the Spirit has placed before us, step by step. We live our faith by responding to others who need our hope and care. We live our faith when we open our hearts to hear the answers God sends us to questions we haven’t even asked. And we live out that faith when we fail to trust and beg Jesus to haul us back in the boat, and later on, try again.

Weekly Memorization

Taken from the gospel for today’s session…

Take courage, it is I. Do not be afraid.

Living the Good News

What action can you take in the next week as a response to today’s reading and discussion?

Keep a private journal of your prayer/actions responses this week. Feel free to use the personal reflection questions or the meditations which follow:

Reflection Questions

• From “First Impressions” 2020:
  Do we feel like those disciples, victims in the pandemic storm’s clutches?
  Do we look into the midst of the storm and wonder if Jesus is just a ghost, a product of our fear-driven imagination?
  Can we hear him say to us what he said to his frightened disciples, “Take courage, it is I, do not be afraid.”
• What were some moments in your life when you encountered stormy seas, felt adrift or separated from Jesus? How did you handle this?
• When you are troubled or anxious, how do you talk to God? What prayers do you say?
• Has there ever been a time in your life where you had to work through fear to arrive at trust in your life? How did you do this?
• What gives you courage?
• Someone commented that Peter began to falter when he took his focus of Jesus and focus on himself. Do you agree with this assessment?
• We criticize Peter for his “lack of faith”. Should we not notice that Peter was wise enough to ask for help when he needed it? Should we not be paying attention to the startling fact that Jesus didn’t refuse to help Peter because of Peter’s failure to trust?
• Do you read this gospel as a warning that God will put our faith to the test, just so we can be graded on how well we did?
• Do you read this gospel as a scathing indictment of those who do not trust God enough?
• What, actually, does this gospel tell you about God?
• Where has our fear overcome our basic faith in the goodness of God, our faith in the eventual well-being of the world, our faith in the care and concern of Jesus? How did we handle it?
• From a Benedictine website featuring Lectio divina:
  Has there been a contrary wind in your life? What have you done to overcome it?
  Has this happened sometimes in your community? How was it overcome?
  Which is the particular crossing that communities are doing today? From what to what or where to where?
  How does all of this help us to recognize today the presence of Jesus in the contrary waves of life?
• Was Jesus praying for the disciples during the storm. Do you think?
  Would some of our “storms” be more manageable if we turned to prayer?
• Is there someone you know experiencing a stormy time in his/her life to whom you can say “I am with you”?

Meditations

A Meditation on the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

(story from “First Impressions”)
Well, I knew a man in his mid-fifties who did things very well. A good man, he was a frequent church goer, excellent husband and family man. He was sincere in his religious practices and generous with his time for the needy. This very special man got cancer, fought a painful battle with it and a year later died. Didn’t he say the right prayers? What about the prayers we said for his healing? What more could we have done? Where was Jesus in his and our storm? We know lots of people with similar stories. When things turn out poorly for us or someone we love, we wonder what happened. We may even blame ourselves for not praying correctly or enough. Didn’t we follow the directions, say the right prayers, have the proper attitude, get enough people to pray with us? Do we secretly believe that if our prayers are not answered the way we want, it is because we didn’t pray correctly, or were otherwise deserving of the bad things that happen to us?

A Meditation in the Dominican Style/Asking Questions:

Meditation on the Lord’s Prayer:
Do I trust that God is my father, and the father of all of us? Do I believe that heaven exists because God is there? Is God’s name holy to me? Do I really trust that God will give me whatever of this world’s goods I need, or do I worry a lot about money, possessions, security? Do I believe that God forgives me? Do I forgive those who have hurt me, or do I still carry old resentments and pain into my relationships? Do I believe that God would never ‘tempt’ me to sin and thus lose eternal life, or do I believe that God sets traps for me so that I must constantly prove my love? Do I believe that my God, my Father/Mother, will deliver me from evil, that God, my Father/Mother, is my strength and my salvation?
And finally, I recite the Lord’s Prayer, praying each phrase as an affirmation of my trust in the Lord, rather than as a series of petitions.

A Meditation in the Augustinan Style/Relationship:

Rework Psalm 62, addressing God in the second person. How does this psalm help you to understand God's care for you?

2In God alone is my soul at rest; (In you alone is my soul at rest)
my salvation comes from him. (my salvation comes from you)
3He alone is my rock, my salvation,
my fortress; never shall I falter.
4How long will you all attack one man (How long will they all attack one man)
to break him down,
as though he were a tottering wall,
or a tumbling fence?
5Their plan is only to bring down;
they take pleasure in lies.
With their mouth they utter blessing,
but in their heart they curse.
6In God alone be at rest, my soul,
for my hope is from him.
7He alone is my rock, my salvation,
my fortress; never shall I falter.
8In God is my salvation and glory,
my rock of strength;
in God is my refuge.
9Trust him at all times, O people.
Pour out your hearts before him,
for God is our refuge.
10The sons of men are a breath,
an illusion, the sons of men.
Placed in the scales, they rise;
they all weigh less than a breath.
11Do not put your trust in oppression,
nor vain hopes on plunder.
Even if riches increase,
set not your heart on them.
12For God has said only one thing;
only two have I heard:
that to God alone belongs power,
13and to you, Lord, merciful love;
and that you repay each man
according to his deeds.

Poetic Reflection:

Read Thomas Merton’s famous “Prayer” which speaks to the kind of faith I am talking about: How does this poem reflect the poet’s utter trust in God and in God’s care for us?

MY LORD GOD, I have no idea where I am going.
I do not see the road ahead of me.
I cannot know for certain where it will end.
Nor do I really know myself,
and the fact that I think that I am following your will
does not mean that I am actually doing so.
But I believe that the desire to please you does in fact please you.
And I hope I have that desire in all that I am doing.
I hope that I will never do anything apart from that desire.
And I know that if I do this you will lead me by the right road
though I may know nothing about it.
Therefore will I trust you always
though I may seem to be lost and in the shadow of death.
I will not fear, for you are ever with me,
and you will never leave me to face my perils alone.