My friends, if you were looking for a place in Scripture where our brother, Jesus presented himself in less than his best way, this gospel passage would be it!  I think we all cringed a bit, especially we women, at the unkindness and down-right rudeness with which Jesus spoke to the Canaanite woman.  The apostles are no better telling Jesus “to get rid of her!”

Jesus of course, along with the apostles, is showing his true humanity here—his imperfect nature and this woman, in the best of her humanity challenges him to basically, “Stand up and fly right!” Probably a strong reason for our Church to share leadership and ministerial roles with women—providing a “check and balance” for each other. 

That having been said, we need to consider all that is back of Jesus words, to make sense of what he is saying and why.  The Canaanite people were looked down on by the Israelites because they wanted to keep their land holy and being that the Canaanites didn’t believe in the Jewish God, they thought they should have nothing to do with them. Reminds me of pre-Vatican II times when we Catholics were to have nothing to do with Protestants. (:

In addition, there were gender issues to deal with—a male didn’t speak to a woman in public.  Both of these issues were ones that Jesus would have grown up believing, as a “good” Jew.  Still, it doesn’t excuse his purely, less than perfect, human behavior.  Now, this might be disconcerting to some who have an image of Jesus always being perfect—showing us the way, as it were. 

Scripture scholar, Diane Bergant has this to say: “If we don’t accept Jesus’ at times, shortcomings—than that minimizes the extraordinariness of those of his actions that break through the limitations of his culture, his humanity.  Being completely human, Jesus became a man of his own limited time and culture—but at the same time, he was open enough to break out of that limitation.”

For my part, it gives me a great deal of hope to know that as I strive to walk in Jesus’ footsteps, I have someone who struggled with the same limitations as I do, but almost always rose above them to be his best self.  It is worth noting that each of us is also filled with the same divine nature as Jesus was, and it is all about “choosing” that, “better,” while often, “harder” part, to do in our Christian lives. 

So, let’s turn to the other Scriptures to get a unified sense of the full message for today.  In looking over all three, I see a “justice coupled with mercy” theme.  It’s evident in the already discussed passage from Matthew that a merciful heart will do justice in our world as portrayed through Jesus’ encounter with the Canaanite woman.  Isaiah the prophet, in the 1^st reading is basically telling those in his time, before Jesus, “to do what is right—[to] work for justice.”  Jesus of course, being a good Jew, would have most likely been aware of, and “written these words on his heart,” so to speak. 

Isaiah speaks about “foreigners” coming into the fold, about keeping the “God-given” covenant.  I would suspect that this command to be “inclusive” rose to the forefront for Jesus when the Canaanite woman challenged him to the same.

And finally, Paul’s letter to the Romans, berating the Jews for not following Jesus’ message of love, which includes seeing a bigger picture than the black and white rules that they were accustomed to following, to show mercy to those seeking a better way, not condemnation. 

So, my friends, in the end, following Jesus calls for more than small-minded responses.  As noted above, the apostles’ response to Jesus, “Get rid of her,” simply will not do!  All the “life” issues, birth to death, “the seamless garment” as spoken of 50 years ago by Joseph Cardinal Bernardin in Chicago, must be considered.

• Advocating alone for life-in-the-womb, simply will not do! 
•  Caring for babies once here through good housing, food, and education—support for families, social programs that assist and support parents to be good parents. 
• When life doesn’t go as individuals would hope and incarceration may be needed, assisting our sisters and brothers, so confined, to become their best selves through appropriate programming.  With Winona’s new jail planned to open in October, just this type of programming as opposed to the “warehousing” of people is being considered. 
• And for those considered, “the worst among us” 27 states within our country still use the death penalty. For me, it seems that no one is helped in this regard, besides the fact that many more people of color are on death-row with many, over the years, proven to be innocent. 

It would seem that for those of us serious about following Jesus, the less than good measures, simply will not do.  So, my friends, as today we celebrate 15 years as a parish, trying to respond to our world as our best selves, remembering those dear ones who have gone before us who have shown us the way, there are no easy answers to the multi-layered, complex questions that I have laid out here today, but we, like Jesus, have it in us, to be our best.  Amen? Amen!

My friends, I have always loved the 1^st reading today from Kings where Elijah goes looking to find God.  It is important for us to remember that people in Elijah’s time believed that God could and would be found on a mountain.  Even the gospel today shows Jesus, “going up on a mountain to pray.” 

   The part that I love is that Elijah doesn’t find God in the powers of nature—wind, earthquake, or fire—but in, “a gentle whisper.”  It would seem that Jesus had this sense too, that he would find God, his Abba, not in noise, but in silence, sending the apostles away. 

   So, it would seem that “our finding God” too, will not be so much about a “place,” but perhaps, a “condition,” maybe even a “frame of mind.”  Let me explain:
   For all intents and purposes, those of us who lived prior to the Second Vatican Council were taught basically, that to “find” God, and perhaps be alone with God, we too needed to go to “a mountain.”  Our “mountain” of course was the church, “where Jesus lived.”  I can remember as a young girl, attending Cathedral Grade School in Winona, slipping into the church, during recess on the playground adjacent to the church, “to make a visit,” and at special times when the Eucharist was exposed, making a visit was of even more importance.  And I am sure that during those visits, that I and others made, we did encounter God (Jesus) in the silence.

   The Second Vatican Council called each of us to go deeper—encouraging us to not only look for Jesus in the bread of the altar, but in fact, in each other—both, and.  Now, in order to do this, we must necessarily reconsider why Jesus was incarnated among us. 

   If we hold onto the old theology of a vindictive God who needed to be appeased for the sinfulness of humanity and that Jesus became that appeasement, then our faith is simply about a human/God figure, “who took the fall for us!”  Additionally, we were never taught to use the intelligence that God gifted us with to truly think about what kind of God would ask such a sacrifice.  For my part, I would rather wrap my heart and mind around the God portrayed by Jesus in the stories of the Prodigal and the Good Shepherd.

   Pope John XXIII and the Second Vatican Council called us to “open some windows and let in some fresh air” –move out from Eucharistic Adoration to the much more tangible and understandable image of God in humanity, in all of creation—praising God there.  Or as Paul says today to the Romans— “Blessed forever be God who is over all,” and we might add, in all, as Paul connects Jesus, as Messiah to “human ancestry” and to his (Paul’s) people. 

   So friends, at face value, it might appear easier to praise and thank God in the Eucharist and in Adoration, but it simply doesn’t get the work done in our world that the psalmist points to today, “Adonai, justice will march before you” [!]

   I believe the Eucharist was always meant to be simply, the starting place, where we can hear, Elijah’s “gentle whisper[ing] God.”  It is the place where we can gain the strength, to not, “be afraid,” as was Peter in today’s gospel—to have, “more faith” than he had, and not “doubt,” but believe that we can do what we are called to by our brother, Jesus, to basically, get out of the boat! 

   Now, that having been said, I need to add that it is perfectly normal and human, to be afraid, and to doubt.  That is why we see many times in Jesus’ life, working with his apostles and disciples, that he gives them chance after chance to try again to get it right.  This is called “love” in its best sense.  Jesus, in his humanity knew fear and doubt too, asking his Abba, in the garden—if it was possible, could all that was coming next be taken from him. 

   Scripture tells us, in the end, he did find the strength needed to conquer death, and all evil by submitting to death and thereby bringing himself and us to a new life.  Do we fully understand this? No, but by his example, he showed us what we are capable of. 

   And with that, I offer us all an opportunity to share our good lives with others in our community.  Justin Green, deacon at St. Stanislaus Catholic church here in Winona, has invited any and all who may be interested to be part of a group of volunteers for the new jail intended for opening in October of this year.  Justin and others advocating over the years for a jail that would not just “warehouse” individuals, but indeed help them to grow and become productive members of our community after their release, have as well advocated for programs that would assist this endeavor. 

   If any of you would have an interest in helping in this way, I can supply you with a volunteer form. I can’t tell you what your volunteering would involve, but I would assume you would be able to help where you feel comfortable.

   I have been taking this request to my time with God, listening for Elijah’s “gentle, whisper[ing] God,” and I would invite you to do the same.  Amen? Amen!

P.S. If you answer “no” to the above request, you could respond as one man did in a report from Steve Hartman in his Friday night, “On the Road” series.  When asked why he helped out an old high school friend, realize a dream that was now out of his control due to a diagnosis of ALS at 56 years of age, simply said, and I paraphrase, it’s just about “doing good stuff.”  It would seem that is what each of us should be about—every day.