PRAYER MOMENT  

Thursday 13 February 2014..

RELUCTANCE AND VIOLENCE

Pause. Be present in the company of Jesus as he visits pagan country.

Reading. “The house dogs under the table can eat the children’s scraps.”  (Mark 7:24-30)

Reflection. People have tried to soften the rawness of Jesus’ words to the pagan woman but there is no disguising his reluctance to be known in Tyre and to cure people there. He was always conscious of the danger of being misunderstood and putting his mission in jeopardy. But along comes this woman who will not take “no” for an answer and virtually forces him to act on her behalf. You can sense his joy at the woman’s violent faith as she “takes the kingdom of heaven by storm” (Matt 11:12). I was reminded only yesterday of the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas who drank himself to an early death at the age of 39 yet wrote such piercing work. He “honed his poems until they shone.” On one occasion he wrote 64 drafts of a poem before he was satisfied. Violence comes in many forms.  

Prayer. Lord, help us to be passionate in bringing to maturity the seeds you sow in our hearrts. Amen.

David Harold-Barry SJ