TODAY'S WORD

By


Fr. Aloysius Santiago sdb
Rector and Parish Priest
Don Bosco Shrine
Lingarajapuram, Bangalore

John 2: 5 His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”


TODAY'S REFLECTION

This morning’s gospel reading gives us an insight into a mother’s instinct to leave no stone unturned when the well-being of her child is at stake.

Jesus was in Tyre, a predominantly pagan city on the Mediterranean coast. 

Why had he moved so far beyond his usual area of ministry? The reference to Jesus going into a house and not wanting anyone to know he was there suggests that he may have been seeking some time away on his own.

Yet, not for the only time in the gospels, his desire for solitude was frustrated. 

A pagan woman burst into the house and threw herself at Jesus’ feet, begging him to heal her daughter. 

The reputation of this Jewish prophet had reached the ears of this pagan woman. 

Having somehow come to hear that Jesus was in Tyre, she wasn’t going to miss her opportunity. 

Jesus appeared to give her short shrift, ‘the children should be fed first’ (the people of Israel), certainly before the house dogs (the pagans). 

Yet, the woman’s determination that Jesus should heal her daughter was in no way deflected. 

With both humility and humour she retorted that the house dogs and the children can eat quite happily together. 

Jesus was disarmed. He recognized her tenacious faith and declared there and then that her daughter was healed. 

There is a story in the Jewish Scriptures of Jacob wrestling with God. This woman was, in a sense, wrestling with Jesus. 

There can be an element of wrestling with God in our own faith. 

Our faith can be put to the test when the Lord does not appear to hear our prayer. 

At such times we need to be as tenacious in our faith as the Syrophoenician woman was.


RESOLUTION

Let's resolve to Hunger for God, be humble before God, let's hope for God whenever we ask him to Help us in our needs.

May our mother Lady of Lourdes intercede for us to obtain good health of body and mind. 

Our lady of Lourdes, pray for the sick and suffering all over the world.