Daily Gospel Reflection
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February 13, 2020
Jesus set out and went away to the region of Tyre. He entered a house and did not want anyone to know he was there, but he could not escape notice.
A woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit immediately heard about him, and she came and bowed down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, of Syrophoenician origin. She begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter.
He said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Sir, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.”
Then he said to her, “For saying this, you may go—the demon has left your daughter.” So she went home, found the child lying on the bed, and the demon gone.
Jesus did not want anyone to know he was there.
Jesus’ desire to “escape notice” reminded me of my four years in the St. Peter Claver Catholic Worker community in South Bend. Regular encounters during my time there evoked this wish: “Please don’t see me.”
At midnight, tired after a long, full day, I would often pass a resident in the stairwell on the way to brush my teeth and think, “Please, don’t ask me any questions. I just want to go to bed.” Or, on nights when I was cooking for 30 people and anxious about getting dinner ready in time, I would silently plead with the new volunteer who has come, bright-eyed and eager to help: “Please don’t ask me to tell you the history of the Catholic Worker, or Dorothy Day’s life story, or how to chop an onion.”
I see now, however, that these “interruptions” were part of the real work—the works of mercy to which we are all called—and that providing hospitality to those in need, interruptions and all, is part and parcel of my vocation. Furthermore, I see now that I, too, stand in need of that same hospitality. I hope that in my own need for love and community, I will not go unnoticed.
And neither could Jesus “escape notice.” His daily actions drew the attention of those seeking healing, forgiveness, and freedom. The Gentile woman who came to him begging him to cure her daughter affirmed his role as messiah—the anointed one. In her pleading for his help, she invited Jesus to be generous—she invited him to share his capacity to heal.
People close to us also stand in need of healing: spouses, children, colleagues, those within our community struggling with addictions or homelessness. They invite us to imitate Jesus’ generosity by sharing our capacity to heal and living out our vocation to love.
Prayer
Lord, the faith of the Syrophoenician woman, and her love for her daughter, inspires us to call out to you for the needs of those we love. Hear our prayers. May our love for our families, friends, and neighbors draw your healing and consoling presence close to them. May all of our relationships be sealed with your blessing; may our love for one another always draw us closer to you. Amen.
Saint of the Day
Blessed Eustochium is a somewhat tragic figure, whose life was marked with suffering, but who seems to have borne all of her mental and physical distress with great love for Christ.
Eustochium was born in the year 1433 in Padua, Italy. She was the illegitimate daughter of a nun who had broken her vows. The sister bore Eustochium in her convent, where Eustochium could have lived her days in peace in a supportive environment.
The bishop, however, caught wind of the scandal, and reorganized the convent, presumably separating Eustochium's mother from her. Eustochium, whose baptismal name was Lucrezia, remained at the convent and attended the school for girls there.
Eventually, Lucrezia desired to enter the convent and join the order of sisters. Many of the sisters objected, out of distaste for her origins, but the bishop was on Lucrezia's side and she entered the convent a few years after her twentieth birthday. She took the name Eustochium, which was the name of an early Church Father, one of the disciples of St. Jerome.
During her short time as a sister, Eustochium experienced grave mental distress and the sisters were afraid of her wild outbursts of temper, mixed with her periods of melancholy. Eustochium cut herself with knives, which frightened the sisters, and they believed that she was possessed by a demon. They punished her in a manner which only hurt her more, and the bishop imprisoned her in a dungeon for three months. The townspeople wanted to burn her as a witch. Eustochium, however, clung to her desire to be a sister. She did not abandon her vocation. After four grueling years, she received her final vows. But the intense mental and physical distress weakened her health a great deal and she died on February 13, 1459.
Three years after her burial, her body was discovered to be incorrupt, and the bishop of Padua ordered a biography written and her body moved to a place of greater honor. Blessed Eustochium has been honored in Padua ever since. Let us pray to her to intercede particularly for those who are unwanted and for those who feel the afflictions of mental illness, depression, and loneliness.
Blessed Eustochium of Padua, young nun who bore terrible mental illness—pray for us!
Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Eustochium is in the public domain. Last accessed December 5, 2024 on Wikimedia Commons.
