HUMBLED TO BE HUMBLE – 02/10/22 (Memorial of St. Scholastica)

Mark 7:26-29

26 Now the woman was a Greek, a Syrophoeni'cian by birth. And she begged Him to cast the demon out of her daughter. 27 And He said to her, "Let the children first be fed, for it is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs." 28 But she answered Him, "Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children's crumbs." 29 And He said to her, "For this saying you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter."

For the full readings, click here: 

https://www.ewtn.com/catholicism/daily-readings

For the summary of the life of St. Scholastica, click here:

https://mycatholic.life/saints/saints-of-the-liturgical-year/february-10-saint-scholastica-virgin/

Blessed Memorial of St. Scholastica! In our gospel reading, the woman was born as a Gentile, and her daughter was possessed by an evil spirit. She told Him that even a dog ate the left overs of children because the Jews at the time of Christ believed themselves to be higher class than the Gentiles, but it did not stop her from having faith in Jesus. Her desperation to God's grace and being contented, even if it was just little, was pleasing to our Lord in comparison to the Israelites who received God's promises before but rejected Jesus. This led to the healing of her daughter. Because of her circumstances, she became a witness that salvation was offered to everyone, not just to Jews, and she had the opportunity to humble herself even more.

God allows us to fall and experience numerous storms in our lives. These may include family problems or personal problems. At the same time, many people are struggling because they always fall to sins. Even though it's difficult to understand, we should never lose our hope in Christ. Our Lord wants us to look at our lives as a journey. If we turn to God and make Him the center of our lives, we can see that the obstacles we encounter are actually steps towards holiness. Like the woman in the gospel reading, we should persevere to be more humble and to beg for His mercy even more. Only He can grant us peace amidst the darkness that we experience, and only He can bring us eternal life. 

Because of the wounds from other people who discriminated against us, we may be afraid of coming to Christ. In reality, Jesus is not like the people who affected us in a negative way and who neglected us. He loves us, and He desires that we depend on His mercy alone. By having faith in Him, He will heal us of our wounds and give us the strength to overcome our problems. When we feel we are humbled by God, it is for us to renounce our pride and to practice humility even more. As long as we completely trust in God's will, we can become saints. We can be witnesses to other people as they see how God's mercy transforms us even despite our dark past. May we always serve Him with pure heart as we await His coming. 

Amen +

 

Jesus, Mary, and Joseph, be with us always until the hour of our death. Amen. +

 

May the Lord + bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen. +  

Reflection by: Dominic