Thursday of the 5th Week of Ordinary Time
Gen 2: 18-25; Mk 7: 24-30
Dc. Larry Brockman
“Blessed are they who fear the Lord”. That was our response, repeated several times this morning. Indeed, we hear all the great things that will happen to us if we fear the Lord. For example, we shall eat of the fruit of our handiwork; have many children; and see prosperity all the days of our lives- all because we fear the Lord. These images, and granted they are Old Testament images, were evidence of great favor in the culture of ancient times.
Now the word “Fear” in this context means a healthy respect, rather than the kind of fear that is a terrifying horror. It is like the respect a young child shows his parents. Given the awesome power and overwhelming benevolence the child sees, they honor and respect every word, action, and facial expression of the parents. Their parents are their whole world to them. Even their cries can echo a sense of respect.
The Syrophoenician woman in the Gospel is a person that fears the Lord in this sense. This woman respected the power of God that was entrusted to Jesus so much that she believed that whatever was left over from Jesus ministry to the people of God, the Jews- yes, even that little built, like the scraps children drop from the table would be more than sufficient to heal her daughter, to heal her daughter of the presence of an unclean spirit.
If we could see a prayer dramatized- the lifting of a person’s mind and heart to God in a request to God to help that person, then the story of the Syropoenician woman is basically like that. It is a vision of how a humble, sincere prayer to God was heard and answered by God himself in real time.
Many of us here this morning have similar dilemmas as this woman. We have a demon that needs to be cast out somewhere in our families or in our lives, and despite our best efforts, we can’t seem to get it done ourselves. It might be a big demon- like somebody’s addiction, a depression, or a financial disaster; or it may be a smaller demon; ;ike a bad personal habit or someone who is pestering us. But it won’t go away. And yet, if we fear the Lord, and bring our hearts and minds to God, He will answer our prayers, because “Blessed are they who fear the Lord”.
Tags: Fear of the Lord