So let's talk about today's readings 2/12/09

[cheeto1]

usccb.org/nab/readings/021209.shtml

“It is not good for the man to be alone”

It wasn’t good for the woman to be alone either. Look what
happened when Adam left her alone for a minute!
Can you imagine, while Adam was still alone in a land of dirt,
then he saw all these things growing before his eyes, there was
no one to say , “look at that!” to. And then when the animals
came! I wonder how these animals and the plants before them
appeared to Adam. Was it instant surprise or did it take time?
I guess Adam knows which came first, the chicken or the egg.
And do men really have one less rib than women or is that just
a rumor?

I know they must mean something by that talk of fruitful vines
and olive plants at the table. Fruitful vine I kind of get, but I
just imagine all these potted plants at the table instead of real
children!

Today’s gospel is being talked about on another thread called
“Something bad Jesus did”. By his nature, Jesus can do no
wrong, yet that makes no sense to some people. There is
another thread called “daily readings” by COPELAND which
is interesting. It says, among other things, that the Catholic
Church is like the mother, and we are like the daughter, being
healed even in baptism by the mother’s faith.

So what struck you about today’s readings?:bible1:

 

[Pug]

OT

I miss my husband when he goes away.

So many of us keep pets and have no children.

NT

What went through the Syrophoenician woman’s mind when she received the answer about children and dogs? Maybe this is about persistence in prayer, like that widow who wouldn’t leave that unjust judge alone, so eventually got what she wanted? It would seem strange that Jesus granted the healing merely because she made a clever reply. I don’t know. Was it her acknowledgment that the Jews came first in his mission? I suspect it was her persistence.

 

[cheeto1]

I think it was more than her persistence. The Jews felt so
important about themselves because they already knew that
they were God’s chosen people. They already knew that Jesus
was for them, and they felt very important about that.
That is why Jesus publicly tested the faith of the woman. Not
only for her, but to help the Jews learn humility. To show them
that it is faith that is rewarded, not birthright. Humility, rather
than “specialness”. What do you think? Have you seen the
thread in which a man insists that this incident proves Jesus
did something bad? I think it’s called “something bad Jesus did”.

And about missing your husband, I think everyone who comes
here is alone. We probably should be talking to real people,
instead here we are, enjoying one another’s company, and faith.

 

[Pug]

I’d seen that thread pass by, but the title didn’t tempt me to look, chicken that I am. I went and looked at the first few posts on your suggestion, though. Someone remarked there on something that I knew, that the term dog was a softened term a bit, more like little dogs.

Your suggestion that the test of faith was public for the sake of the listeners is a good one. It made me check on the parallel passage. The Mark one seems to take place in a house, but the Matthew one seems to drag on through the streets (I say that because the disciples complain of her “crying after us”, like she is following them or at a distance somehow for part of the time). I wonder if Mark is reporting on more of the end of the incident, and not the whole thing from start to finish? Anyway, the observers ought to have seen that her faith was rewarded, no doubt, as you suggest. She also might have been demonstrating a more correct belief that the listeners, because she approaches knowing who he is, calling him Son of David (in Mt) and asking for mercy. This would have been a good lesson for those who watched. Also, Jesus uses the word “first” as in let the children first be fed, which could be understood by the observers that “second” the gentiles will get fed, which means that gentiles will get fed (in case anyone listening thought they wouldn’t).

Oh, and I did go out for Valentine’s Day, so I talked to some real people today! That’s why I’m late answering your post here. So my answer is a little off the cuff.