Mothering
I offer August’s reflection on this week’s gospel as an invitation to spark something new in you—the gospel and all of this Sunday’s readings are here. My writings are a way for me to share what’s going on in my life. They are also linked to my website, where you can read about my work in the world and see pictures from my garden. Sending you cool evenings and bright mornings during this hot season.
Mothering
A few Sundays ago, a young mother took her restless toddler out of mass—or at least she tried to! She would get so far and he would loudly lament that he needed to go another way. I could almost feel that mom’s stress, and wondered if all the moms and mothering folks sitting with me in the pews were not fervently praying for the young one’s mouth to close and his legs to follow his mom’s out the nearest door. Firmly and kindly, she had to repeat, “go this way—let’s go this way.” When finally the youngster was safely out the door, I heard many sighs of relief.
The act of mothering offers such rich lessons in the spiritual life, and this gospel is no exception.
The Reading: Matthew 15:21–28
In this passage, Jesus encounters a Canaanite woman who begs him to heal her demon-possessed daughter. The encounter isn’t comfortable—Jesus compares the woman to dogs. But this mother, using her quick wit, turns Jesus’s metaphor around, asking for the crumbs that fall from the master’s table. Like that young mother from our own community, she suggests going in another direction—this one offers sustenance to the Gentiles as well as the Jews.
Episcopal priest and author Barbara Brown Taylor views this challenging text as a pivotal moment where the outsider brings Jesus to a realization-- his divine mission transcends tribal or religious borders to include all people.
The Word
Not only does Jesus heal the Canaanite woman’s daughter, he also affirms the mother for her deep faith. Score one for the moms! And by moms, I mean all mothering people—grandmothers, adoptive moms, birth mothers, godmothers, aunts, and even nurturing friends.
A mother’s love manifests in many ways, but like the communion wafer, you only need a fragment to receive Christ who is present in every crumb. The Canaanite woman foreshadows an essential part of our faith: a crumb is enough to heal every one of us.
The mother’s request offers a new sense of what is possible through Jesus—it’s a reminder that we are all bound together in ways we cannot quite imagine. This woman’s appeal breaks open an age-old divide and suggests how humanity is deeply connected.
In all of this story, there’s the echo of the Mother of all mothers, Mary, who seems to be beckoning each of us to go another way and maybe try a different path. The 13th century philosopher, theologian, and mystic Meister Eckhart (1260-1328) speaks to motherhood when he writes:
We are all meant to be mothers of God. What good is it to me if this eternal birth of the divine Son takes place unceasingly, but does not take place within myself? And, what good is it to me if Mary is full of grace if I am not also full of grace.
Like Mary, we can choose. We can say yes to a new way of being in the world, full of creativity and transformation, or we can remain fearful, discouraged, doubting.
Mother Mary enlarges the vision of what is at stake and shows the way to new life with the resurrected Christ. May we listen to the voice that calls us to go “this way, let’s go this way.”