Canaanite Woman

 

The Spiritual Waiting Room

Canaanite Woman

Persistent    Interruptor

Trusting   Calling   Kneeling

Have Pity On Me Lord

Undeterred Mother

(Photo and poem by Kathy McNamara)

Scripture:   Matthew 15: 22

One day Jesus was traveling in a Canaanite district and one of the women from that area approached Him and said:

"Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is struggling with a devil."

Reflection

If your daughter was suffering, what would you do to try to get help for her?

I think most of us would answer that we would do anything we could to try to alleviate her pain. So many times when my children were sick, I would want to take on their suffering myself so that they could feel better. 

The Canaanite Woman in our passage from Matthew is in that exact situation. She wants help for her daughter who is suffering from a demon. 

She knows that she is out of place in approaching Jesus. She is a Gentile and He is Jewish. His mission is first to the People of Israel. 

She is persistent, however. She is fighting for her daughter. She interrupts Jesus even though the apostles try to keep her away from Him. She will not be denied.

Even though she is not Jewish, she recognizes Jesus as Lord and as the Son of David---a messianic title. In some way God has touched her heart with the recognition that Jesus is special. She has been blessed with the gift of faith.

She places her trust in Jesus.

She calls out to Him in her anguish.

She demonstrates her faith by kneeling before Jesus. She knows He is extraordinary. She believes He can help her. She does not give up---even when Jesus tries to dismiss her because she is not Jewish.

She asks for pity.

She asks for compassion.

She asks not for herself but for her daughter.

She reminds me of how I have prayed when my children were sick. I was not thinking about myself. I just wanted them to feel better. I put them in the arms of Jesus. I asked Jesus to heal them.

The Canaanite Woman is an undeterred mother. She will never take no as an answer. Her daughter is too important. 

The Canaanite Woman gives us an example of faith and persistence. She believes in Jesus. She will not give up. She keeps on trying. 

Help us Jesus to place our trust in you just as the Canaanite Woman did!

1. How do you feel when your children or children you know are ill?

2. Are you persistent in your prayer or do you tend to give up if you do not get an immediate response?

3. Do you acknowledge Jesus as Lord?

4. Is it challenging for you sometimes to place all your trust in Jesus?

5. What do you feel as you reflect on Kathy's photo?

(Scripture adaptation, reflection, and questions by John McNamara)

 

Water Walker

 

The Spiritual Waiting Room

Water Walker

Persevering   Faithful

Come   Choose   Courage

Do Not Be Afraid

Saves

(Photo and poem by Kathy McNamara)

Scripture:   Matthew   14: 27

Jesus was walking towards the apostles on the water. They were surprised as they were being rocked by waves in their boat. They thought that they were seeing a ghost!

Jesus said to them,

"It is I. Do not be afraid!"

Reflection

What is it like to be a water walker?

If we let our imaginations go for a moment, it must be an amazing feeling. I can just picture myself gliding over the water and enjoying the walk. How amazing!

In this incident from the  Gospel of Matthew, Peter is a temporary water walker. Initially he is doing fine; but then he falters when he takes his eyes away from Jesus and focuses on the water below. 

It is so hard to be persevering in our focus on Jesus. It can seem like Jesus is asking so much of us. Doubts can creep in about our ability to meet the challenges. We can sink into the waters of our inadequacy.

Jesus is asking us simply to be faithful. We are called to trust in Him and in His power to sustain us in our weakness. We know that He can overcome our limits and mistakes. He will always guide us into the boat when we are sinking.

Jesus asks us to come to Him every single day. We come to Jesus when we reach out to our sisters and brothers. When we feed the hungry and clothe the naked, we are coming to Jesus. We are being faithful. We are persevering.

We choose to be water walkers with Jesus. It can seem to be beyond us. We can feel that it is too difficult for us. We learn, however, that it is not about us. Our choice is to take that walk with Jesus.

That walk involves courage. We know what happened to Jesus. There were some who rejected Him and wanted to put Him to death. We know that we will face hardships as well. It will not be easy.

One of the main obstacles that we face to walking on the water of the Gospel message is our own fears. It is easy for us to think that we are not as capable of following Jesus as well as someone else. We can wonder if we have the strength to face rejection and criticism. What will we do if people laugh at us?

Jesus tells Peter and the apostles (and us today) that there is nothing to fear. Anything that anyone can do or say to us will not really harm us because our eyes will be on Jesus who has overcome every obstacle and triumphed over it.

Jesus came with a mission and He persevered in it no matter what the difficulty. He came to save us---to offer a path that included love and compassion for each person, especially those who were most neglected. He came to heal, to feed, to lift us up. 

He was a water walker who showed us that the impossible was possible. We have nothing to fear. 

He is holding His hand out

for us to grasp---

    to lift us up when we fall,

to greet us with tenderness,

to guide us through darkness and confusion,

to bring us into the saving boat of Love.

1. How would you like to be a water walker?

2. Why do we falter when we try to walk on water?

3. What can make it difficult to be faithful to Jesus?

4. How do you try to come to Jesus?

5. What do you feel as you experience Kathy's photo?

(Scripture adaptation, reflection, and questions by John McNamara)

Humanity

 

The Spiritual Waiting Room

Humanity

Grief   Compassion

Heal   Bless   Feed

Bring Them To Me

Divinity

(Photo and poem by Kathy McNamara)

Scripture:   Matthew 14: 13 and 14

When Jesus heard about the death of John the Baptist, he withdrew by boat and went to a deserted place to be alone. 

The people realized that Jesus had done this and went to find Him. 

When Jesus got out of the boat, He saw the vast crowd that had come. 

His heart was moved with pity for them and He healed the sick they had brought.

Reflection

Do you relate to Jesus more in His humanity or in His divinity?

We know from our teaching that Jesus is one person in two natures, human and divine. As we pray to Jesus and relate to Him, we can sometimes feel a bit closer to His human nature; and, at other times, seek the power that He manifested in His divine nature.

Our scripture from Matthew features both. 

I wonder how Jesus felt when He got the news of the death of His cousin, John the Baptist? Especially hearing about how he died---beheaded by Herod to fulfill a promise to his daughter because of how she danced!

John had prepared the way for Jesus and had reluctantly baptized Jesus (even though John thought it should have been reversed with Jesus baptizing him). They had a special bond. It must have been devastating for Jesus.

In His humanity He might have been thinking, "If they did that to John, will I be next?" In His time of grief, He wanted to be alone.

His mourning was cut short. The crowd sought Him out and brought the sick with them. 

It is in this moment, when a grieving Jesus was looking at the crowd, that His humanity shines forth. He looks upon the people with compassion. They have touched His heart.

We go quickly from His humanity to His divinity. 

He heals the sick whom they have brought to Him.

He blesses five loaves of bread and two fish.

With that meager amount of food, He feeds five thousand men and many women and children.

There are twelve baskets of food left over and collected.

Jesus asks the apostles to bring the five loaves of bread and two fish to Him. What He is really asking, however, is to bring the people to Him. 

He loves them.

He wants to heal and to feed them.

His humanity displayed through His compassion. His divinity shown forth in His miracles. 

How BLESSED are we to have such a savior, such a friend, such a prophet, such a Lover!

Human.

Divine.

Love Supreme!

1. Do you relate to Jesus more in His human nature or in His divine nature?

2. How do you think Jesus felt when He got the news that His cousin John was beheaded?

3. Jesus put His grief aside to heal the sick and feed the hungry. What does this tell us about the type of person Jesus is?

4. Why does Jesus feed the crowd instead of dismissing them?

5. What do you feel as you contemplate Kathy's photo?

(Scripture adaptation, reflection, and questions by John McNamara)