Today’s two Scripture passages are almost mirror images of each other. In the first reading from Kings, Solomon, son of David, the figure at the very heart of the nation, favored by God by two divine appearances and the gift of holy wisdom, turns away from the Lord and the covenant to follow the idolatry of the nations represented by his many foreign wives. In the Gospel reading from Mark, the woman, a foreigner from the very same nation as Solomon’s idolatrous wives, at first rebuffed by Jesus, persists in turning to the Lord and finally receives His compassionate favor.
Despite being the inversion of another in so many ways, these two readings are united in their depiction of God’s mercy as something mediated through the family. In Kings, despite Solomon’s faithlessness, God spares his royal dynasty over the tribe of Judah, not for Solomon’s sake, but for the sake of His promises to Solomon’s father David. And this gracious act of mercy by God will prove decisive in salvation history, for Judah’s survival means not only that the nation, God’s people, will endure, but also that the prophesied Messiah Jesus can be born of David’s line. And in the Gospel, the woman overcomes Jesus’ initial challenges not for her own sake, but for the sake of her afflicted daughter. Jesus honors the undeterred faith of a mother’s love with the divine love of the Father for His children.
Our own families know the realities of people who fit patterns like the ones we encounter in Scripture. Our families have proverbial golden boys or golden girls who have fallen from grace. Our families have proverbial black sheep who are making heroic efforts to restore their own lives or take care of others. As we share in the family life of these our brothers and sisters, our moms and dads, our sons and daughters, our cousins and aunts and uncles, we have a particular role to play, as disciples of Jesus, as those touched by the charism of Holy Cross, as those informed by the life and legacy of Venerable Patrick Peyton.
We pray, we serve as faithful intercessors, we plead for their healing, their flourishing, and their salvation. And we speak and act as witnesses to hope and encouragement. Hope that life’s trials and even the consequences of our own mistakes and sins are not as great as God’s compassion and mercy. Hope that our family life and our faithfulness to one another can be the very sign and instrument of this divine love.