Daily Reflection Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time

Whenever I read the account of the Canaanite woman, I picture Jesus’ mother

standing next to him and saying, “Son, Joseph and I didn’t raise you to throw slurs at people.” Yet, I take comfort in this incident that shows Jesus to be human like us. The people from Canaan had separated themselves from the Jewish faith, so there certainly was not an amicable relationship between the two groups. However, Jesus does allow himself to be taught by this humble woman who will sacrifice herself for the life of her daughter. Love does such things! Jesus does not push the Canaanite woman away from him. In fact, he allows himself to be taught by her. In the same way Jesus wants us to persist beyond our weaknesses, beyond where society and advertising allure us.

In our first reading through the prophet Jeremiah, God assures us of divine

unconditional love. Perhaps we can take some time to marinate in the gift of this

unconditional love. As God delivered the people from suffering, so God will deliver us

from the chaos, misunderstanding, and fractures we are experiencing in society, and

possibly within our own hearts. We can learn from Jeremiah’s words, “He who

scattered Israel now gathers them together.” 

God teaches us in our humanity through the word of Scripture. We are invited,

perhaps lured, into immersing ourselves into the love that God shows us through the

Word, Jesus, and through the good words and actions of others. Let us respond to the

call to be attentive to the invitation God is extending to each one of us in our Church

and in our society.