Bothered

Persistence pays off.

Jesus left that place and went away to the district of Tyre and Sidon. Just then a Canaanite woman from that region came out and started shouting, ‘Have mercy on me, Lord, Son of David; my daughter is tormented by a demon.’ But he did not answer her at all. And his disciples came and urged him, saying, ‘Send her away, for she keeps shouting after us.’ He answered, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ But she came and knelt before him, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’ He answered, ‘It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the dogs.’ She said, ‘Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus answered her, ‘Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.’ And her daughter was healed instantly. - Matthew 15:21-28

In today's reading from Matthew's Gospel, Jesus is interrupted.  He has a mission in mind and a woman comes up to him begging for his help. 

How many of us have experienced a similar circumstance?  On our way to work, stopped in our tracks by someone begging for money or food, or help?

What do we do?  Do we rush to provide help, or do we try to avoid the person?

Chances are, we don't want to be bothered.  It's not our problem.  We have something more important to do.

But the question is, what is God's priority here?  In the reading, a girl was tormented and Jesus had other things on his mind.

In the end, Jesus chose to help the woman and her daughter, but he did so because she persisted, making him think about his decision to ignore them.

We are going through a time like this now, when we might just want to move on, but people are interrupting our lives to get us to see something that needs to be done.  The more persistent they are, the more we may get annoyed with them.  But maybe, like Jesus, we will see that it is easier to help than to walk away.

The question is what is God's priority here?

Maybe we should rethink our position.

More to come...