Posted by The WORD in Other Words by Fr Severino Biton SVD (Philippines)
Wednesday 18th Week in Ordinary Time
She is an outsider from Canaan. She does not belong to the house of Israel.
She is just a woman. Her daughter is tormented and the disciples want to get rid of her.
What do we do when we find ourselves in a similar pejorative situation? Feel bad? Wallow in self-pity? Withdraw from the world? What can we really do when the world is not fair? Nothing! The world is not always fair and people are not always kind. Circumstances are just beyond us sometimes and nothing can be done about the situation. But, nothing is more fatalistic than the thought of always feeling “kawawa” (pitiful) “kinakawawa” (pitied) and feeling “talo” (defeated). Nothing is more hurting than feeling bad about ourselves. Enough of this feeling!
Perhaps, we can learn from the woman in the gospel today. Let us learn to say: So what if I am an outsider? So what if I am a woman? So what if my daughter is sick and I can’t cure her? I must be able to move beyond these limitations and realize that I have other “resources.” I am well and can find a doctor. I have mouth and can speak. I can approach people and seek for help, plead or beg if I need to(what’s wrong with asking help, anyway). I am persistent. I can be tenacious. I have faith. I have faith in God who, I believe, can do things I cannot.
After all, Jesus never gave an outright no. He allowed me to believe in my capacity to help myself by letting me forego my self-destructive negativities and humbly approach the God of mercy and compassion who heals and makes me whole.
From the Bible Diary 2020
