Thursday of 5th Week in Ordinary Time

 

SCHOLASTICA, Virgin, Religious

Not much is known about St Scholastica, the sister of the great St. Benedict, in whose shadow she lived. Dedicating her virginity to God, she first lived a life of prayer at home, then stayed near her brother at Subiaco, then Monte Cassino, until Benedict put her in charge of a community of women.

We know from history how Benedictine monasteries of men and women not only radiated peace, but were in many regions the civilizers and the main witnesses to Christ’s presence in the world.

 

First Reading: 1 Kings 11:4-13 

King Solomon was obsessed with women. Pharaoh’s daughter was only the first of the many foreign women he loved—Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite. He took them from the surrounding pagan nations of which God had clearly warned Israel, “You must not marry them; they’ll seduce you into infatuations with their gods.” Solomon fell in love with them anyway, refusing to give them up. He had seven hundred royal wives and three hundred concubines—a thousand women in all! And they did seduce him away from God. As Solomon grew older, his wives beguiled him with their alien gods and he became unfaithful—he didn’t stay true to his Godas his father David had done. Solomon took up with Ashtoreth, the whore goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech, the horrible god of the Ammonites.

Solomon openly defied God; he did not follow in his father David’s footsteps. He went on to build a sacred shrine to Chemosh, the horrible god of Moab, and to Molech, the horrible god of the Ammonites, on a hill just east of Jerusalem. He built similar shrines for all his foreign wives, who then polluted the countryside with the smoke and stench of their sacrifices.

God was furious with Solomon for abandoning the God of Israel, the God who had twice appeared to him and had so clearly commanded him not to fool around with other gods. Solomon faithlessly disobeyed God’s orders.

God said to Solomon, “Since this is the way it is with you, that you have no intention of keeping faith with me and doing what I have commanded, I’m going to rip the kingdom from you and hand it over to someone else. But out of respect for your father David I won’t do it in your lifetime. It’s your son who will pay—I’ll rip it right out of his grasp. Even then I won’t take it all; I’ll leave him one tribe in honor of my servant David and out of respect for my chosen city Jerusalem.”

Gospel: Mark 7:24-30 

From there Jesus set out for the vicinity of Tyre. He entered a house there where he didn’t think he would be found, but he couldn’t escape notice. He was barely inside when a woman who had a disturbed daughter heard where he was. She came and knelt at his feet, begging for help. The woman was Greek, Syro-Phoenician by birth. She asked him to cure her daughter.

 He said, “Stand in line and take your turn. The children get fed first. If there’s any left over, the dogs get it.”

 She said, “Of course, Master. But don’t dogs under the table get scraps dropped by the children?”

Jesus was impressed. “You’re right! On your way! Your daughter is no longer disturbed. The demonic affliction is gone.” She went home and found her daughter relaxed on the bed, the torment gone for good.

 

Prayer

God our Father,
we thank you for saints
like St. Scholastica;
they remind us that a life
of prayer and community
bears witness to your presence in this world.
Make us too see clearly
that it is ultimately you who count
and you who are the meaning of our lives
and that the bond that unites us
with people anywhere
is Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

Reflection:

A call for conversion from prejudices
Today the Church celebrates the memoria of St Scholastica, the sister of the great St. Benedict, in whose shadow she lived. Dedicating her life to God, she first lived a life of prayer at home, then stayed near her brother at Subiaco, then Monte Cassino, until Benedict put her in charge of a community of women.
Today’s Gospel speaks of a desperate mother who would do anything for the health of her child. The woman in the Gospel did not believe in the God of Israel when she approached Jesus. But for the sake of her daughter she was not ashamed of coming in front of the public and plead before Jesus. Curiously enough, Jesus’ response to this pagan woman was harsh and offensive. But, it wasn’t anything inappropriate in the Jewish world of the time. It perfectly reflected the attitude of Jews to Gentiles. Jews of the days of Jesus commonly referred Gentiles as dogs. However, the refusal to respond to obvious human need seemed uncharacteristic of Jesus.
Jesus was gaining recognition as a preacher and miracle-worker. We seldom find Jesus changing his decisions. The Gospel today presents the freedom or flexibility of Jesus for changing his discourse or the way he acted when circumstances called for it.

Being in a position that involves power, be it in the Church, in the family or in our work places, we would love to see our desires and decisions are accepted and executed. To have the boss of a company reverse his decision at the request of an ordinary janitor or the parish priest to reconsider his plan of action at the request of his parishioners are not every day experiences.
The foreigner woman’s love for her daughter challenges the assumption of Jesus. And Jesus changes his mind. The breaking-in of the Kingdom into the life of the girl was the result not just of the action of Jesus but of the faith and concern of the mother as well. Jesus seemed to allow himself to be subject to the conversion of heart, that he demanded from his disciples. Conversion is so often a process of identifying our prejudices, and letting go of them, and of broadening one’s attitudes. Jesus sets aside his prejudices and healed the daughter of the Syro-Phoenician woman.
Today’s gospel invites us to open our homes and hearts to those who differ in many ways from us, that we may do all that we can to integrate them into our Christian community. May there be room in our lives, and in our Christian communities, for all people, whatever their race or religion, their culture or education may be.

 

Video available on Youtube: A call for conversion from prejudices