Scripture

THE FRUIT OF HER WOMB: John Meets His Cousin for the First Time

May 31, 2012 By Kathy Schiffer Leave a Comment

Today we celebrate the Feast of the Visitation, that day when the pregnant Mary travels from Nazareth to Bethany in the hill country to visit her older cousin Elizabeth. Mary seeks support, advice, perhaps a shoulder to cry on—for she must have worried what people would think, seeing her condition. Wouldn’t they be scandalized? And what does it all mean?

Elizabeth, seeing Mary approach along the road, rushes out to greet her.

To Mary’s delight, Elizabeth—long childless, and probably approaching menopause—is also expecting a child. Elizabeth’s son John will be born several months before Jesus’ birth in the stable at Bethlehem.

And to the surprise of both women, John (in the womb) recognizes his cousin Jesus (in the womb), and leaps for joy. Not just the little “bump” of an unborn child against its mother’s abdomen, this “leap” is an exuberant greeting to the coming Messiah. John—who will later preach in the desert, foretelling the coming Messiah—dances in Elizabeth’s womb just as King David once danced before the Ark of the Covenant. And the parallel is fitting—for Mary is the new Ark of the Covenant, carrying in her womb the Christ Child.

It is a beautiful pro-life witness, an affirmation of the dignity and personhood of the unborn child.

The words spoken by these two strong women are most familiar to us: For the words of Elizabeth to Mary will become the second sentence of the Hail Mary:

“Blessed art thou among women, and blessed is the fruit of thy womb.”

Mary responds joyfully; always humble, she giving thanks and praise to God for the great mystery which is unfolding in her womb. Mary’s greeting to Elizabeth is known as the Magnificat, and is recited in the Church’s great prayer, the Liturgy of the Hours, each evening.

My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Savior;
for he has looked with favor on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel,
for he has remembered his promise of mercy,
The promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children for ever.

Filed Under: Art, Mary, Prayer, Scripture Tagged With: Elizabeth, Mary, Pro-Life, Scripture, Visitation Leave a Comment

Jesus’ “Mean Streak”: Testing the Canaanite Woman

August 14, 2011 By Kathy Schiffer 5 Comments

Today’s reading from the Gospel of Matthew is a confusing one. I mean, Jesus is usually such a nice guy! Was he just having a bad day? Why is he so crabby with the Canaanite woman?!

See what I mean:
• First, she cries out to him, and he outright ignores her.
• Then, when the disciples ask Jesus to send her away, he responds—reminding them that he was sent only to the house of Israel, and not to this foreigner.
• He rejects her yet a third time when she pleads for help, and he insists that it’s not right to take the food of children and throw it to the dogs.

The story ends well: Jesus, seeing the strong faith of the woman, helps her—healing her daughter, who has been possessed by an evil spirit. The woman returns home, confident that her daughter will be well when she gets there. And the disciples learn an important lesson.

But criminy, why couldn’t he have been friendlier, more loving, more “Christ-like” in the first place?

* * * * *
Oh, where to begin!?

In the parallel passage in the Gospel of Mark (Mk. 7:24-29), a couple of additional facts come to light. For one thing, Jesus and his disciples had gone to this region (near Tyre and Sidon, but not actually within the city) to get away from the crowds—to regroup and perhaps to pray. Mark writes:

He entered a house and did not want anyone to know it; yet he could not keep his presence secret. In fact, as soon as she heard about him, a woman whose little daughter was possessed by an evil spirit came and fell at his feet.

So she was pushy, imposing herself in their private retreat.

And she was a Canaanite—a woman from a people who were traditionally regarded by the Israelites as hated enemies. The pagan Canaanites did not worship the God of the Israelites, but rather worshipped Baal, the “bull god” who was depicted as half-bull and half-man and who endorsed religious prostitution. Another Canaanite deity worshipped in the region of Tyre was Moloc, noted for the cult of human sacrifices, particularly child sacrifices.

In addition, observant Jews would remember the story of Canaan, son of Ham (and grandson of Noah). In Genesis 9, Noah puts a curse on Canaan, after Ham entered his father’s tent and looked upon Noah, drunken and stretched out naked on his cot.

So some readers think that Jesus stalled, and it was only her deep faith that touched his heart and convinced him to help her.

Others, though, cite Jewish traditions to show that Jesus was only acting as any rabbinic teacher of the age would have done.
• Like rabbinic scholars at the time, Jesus frequently used questions, challenges and puzzles to engage a student in the learning process. “Have you understood all these things?” he asks in Matthew 13:51. In Matthew 16:13 he quizzes the disciples, “Who do people say that I am?” In Mark 3:4 he quizzes the crowd, “What is it lawful to do on the Sabbath—to save life or to kill?” And on it goes.
• Silence as a response was another common approach for rabbi’s of the time and was not, as it would be today, a sign of rudeness. Jesus had used silence to heighten the drama, for example, in John 8:11, when the woman was accused of adultery. Or he may have simply wanted to permit her time for reflection. In any case, he wasn’t dismissive of her—since he didn’t just send her away in the first place. And her response was not one of discouragement; she simply waited for him to respond and to answer her prayer.
• Lastly, Jesus was teaching an important lesson to his disciples. They were gathered there for rest, for teaching from the Master himself; but Jesus interrupted this important work to show compassion for this woman. The woman is led to a greater faith and hope; and the disciples better understand their role and their privilege as Jesus’ closest followers.

Here’s what I think: Jesus wants us to have faith. Not the ardent disbelief of the Pharisees, but the humble, confident faith of the Canaanite woman.

And sometimes, he wants us to wait patiently for our prayer to be answered. We may not understand why—Does he want us to grow in faith? Are there circumstances that we don’t comprehend, but which are clear in the mind of God, which would make an affirmative answer not in our best interest? Or must we learn to wait patiently?

Matthew 15:21-29

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.

Filed Under: Faith, Prayer, Scripture Tagged With: Canaanite Woman, Faith, Gospel of Matthew, Mean Streak, Patience, Scripture 5 Comments

Playing Martha to My Husband’s Mary

July 3, 2011 By Kathy Schiffer Leave a Comment

My husband and I went in two different directions today.

He, a deacon, has been helping out in the last week before our new pastor arrives, so he preached at two Masses this morning. He helped a kindly but somewhat befuddled visiting priest, hugged a newborn baby, talked to a hundred or so souls and wished them a happy holiday.

I cleaned the house.

I had attended the vigil mass yesterday, so I had fulfilled my obligation. And we have company coming this week, so there was much to do.
And it’s been hot and dry, and the garden needed tending. And I work fulltime. And… well, blah blah blah. Somehow, sitting here on Sunday afternoon, I feel like Martha to Jerry’s Mary. He has chosen the better part.

I mention this because I’m pretty sure I’m not alone in sometimes letting the busyness of life keep me from what really matters. All over America, there are mothers who spend so many hurried days ensuring that their families are well cared for—and who then try to squeeze in a little prayer time before dropping in exhaustion at day’s end. My own children are grown, but I remember the press of day-to-day responsibility and how it could so easily overtake relationships, including (or especially) my relationship with God.

In the gospel of Luke, we hear about Jesus’ visit to the home of his friends Martha and Mary, where he is made welcome by the hospitable and hardworking Martha, while Mary sits enraptured at his feet, listening to him. Jesus gently rebukes Martha for being “worried and distracted” by her many tasks and for her resentment of Mary’s behavior. Jesus reminds her that she needs only one thing: She needs to focus on loving God and her neighbor as herself, and to do this one thing is to choose the better part—to be a disciple of Jesus.

For many of us in today’s frenetic society, that is a hard saying. Easy to say, you mutter under your breath, but who’s gonna clean up this place?!

How do you resolve this in your own life? How do you keep God first, yet get through all the stuff that sometimes seems to stand in the way of the spiritual life?

Now as they went on their way, he entered a certain village, where a woman named Martha welcomed him into her home. She had a sister named Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to what he was saying. But Martha was distracted by her many tasks; so she came to him and asked, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the work by myself? Tell her then to help me.” But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and distracted by many things; there is need of only one thing. Mary has chosen the better part, which will not be taken away from her.”

–Luke 10:38-42