Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time
How easy it is for us to convince ourselves that we don’t really have to follow God’s commands. We might think we’re spiritually stronger than most, so “this doesn’t apply to me”. We are often weakest when we think we are strongest.
Take Solomon, son of David, for example. He went against God’s command not to take foreign wives, believing he could withstand the influence of their foreign gods. But today’s first reading (Mark 7: 24-30), tells us that when Solomon was old, “his wives had turned his heart to strange gods.” His heart was no longer entirely with the Lord as the heart of his father David had been. As a result, the Lord deprives Solomon of his kingdom, “Since this is what you want, and you have not kept my covenant….”
It is clear that Solomon made a choice, and his choice was to do what he wanted even though it went against God. Perhaps he thought he was strong enough or deceived himself into believing he was strong enough to resist the temptation that led to the sin of idolatry. But he wasn’t. And now he has to suffer the consequences of that choice, which not only affects him, but his son and future heirs to his kingdom as well.
Contrast Solomon’s false sense of strength with today’s gospel reading (Mark 7: 24-30) in which we hear of a Greek woman, a Gentile, who humbly fell at Jesus’ feet, begging him to drive a demon out of her daughter. Initially the Jews believed that Jesus came just for them, but this gospel passage makes the point that Jesus came for the Gentiles as well, and that his true disciples are the ones who hear him and place their faith in him, regardless of the origins. Jesus accedes to this woman’s plea for the cure of her daughter because of her faith, an unexpected faith in the eyes of the Jews.
Now to be fair, it is true that the Greek woman was in need and probably quite scared for her daughter, whereas Solomon pretty much seemed to have everything a king could want. And that’s a trap we can fall into. When things are going well, going our way, we may be more likely to stray from God as opposed to when we’re in need, going through tough times, even scared, we tend to turn to God in our need.
I see today’s readings as a reminder to remain humble in our faith, remembering that God is God; we aren’t. And we are weak even when we feel strong in ourselves, and maybe even more so when life seems to be going our way. Our true strength comes from God, as does our faith. When we stay close to God, rooted in God’s word, we are less likely to deceive ourselves and turn away from God trusting more in our own strength like Solomon.
Let us strive and pray to be more humble and faithful like the Syrophoenician woman at the feet of Jesus.
Eileen Miller