Today is the story of the Canaanite woman and Jesus’s controversial interaction with her
Annette Steele on Sun Aug. 13, 2023
“Reading Lectionary for Aug. 27, Thirteenth Sunday after Pentecost
2023 Sun Aug 20
Jamaican Mission Team send-off, Sun Aug 20, 2023
The team leaves, Wed. Aug 23 for Jamaica ahead of the school distribution on Sat. Aug 26, 2023. Today, there were prayers for safe travel and a successful mission trip.
Thank you to everyone who donated school supplies for each of the 300+ students at the Victoria School in Linstead, Jamaica, These donations included 3,000+ items including drawstring backpacks, sharpeners, pencils, pens, toothpaste, toothbrushes, erasers, crayons, pencil cases, rulers, Also 6 tablets were contributed. Finally, St Peter’s was able to donate seven used computers to the school, along with keyboards and monitors to use with each computer. We collected $2,355 at the end of June for the computers and remaining school supplies
Virgin Mary, Aug. 15
We celebrate her saint day on August 15.
Mary lived circa 18 BCE- 41 CE. She was a Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee, the daughter of Joachim and Anne and the wife of Joseph, the carpenter. Little is known of her life except when it relates to Jesus life. She remained faithful to him through his death (when his disciples denied, betrayed, and fled), and even after his death, continued life in ministry with the apostles.
The New Testament records many incidents from the life of the Virgin which shows her to be present at most of the chief events of her Son’s life:
- her betrothal to Joseph [Luke 1:27]
- the Annunciation by the angel Gabriel that she was to bear the Messiah [Luke 1:26-38]
- her Visitation to Elizabeth the mother of John the Baptist [Luke 1:39-56]
- the Nativity of our Lord [Luke 2:20]
- the visits of the shepherds [Luke 2:8-20] and the magi [Matthew 2:1-12]
- the Presentation of the infant Jesus in the Temple at the age of forty days [Luke 2:22, 2:41]
- the flight into Egypt, the Passover visit to the Temple when Jesus was twelve, [Matthew 1:16,18-25; 2; Luke 1:26-56; 2];
- the wedding at Cana in Galilee [John 2:1-11]
- and the performance of her Son’s first miracle at her intercession [John 2:1-11],
- the occasions when observers said, "How can this man be special? We know his family!" [Matthew 13:54-56, Mark 6:1-3, Luke 4:22; also John 6:42],
- an occasion when she came with others to see him while he was preaching [Matthew 12:46-50,Mark 3:31-35, Luke 8:19-21],
- her presence at the foot of the Cross, where Jesus commends her to the care of the Beloved Disciple [John 19:25-27],
- her presence with the apostles in the upper room after the Ascension, waiting for the promised Spirit [Acts 1:14].
Besides Jesus himself, only two humans are mentioned by name in the Creeds. One is Pontius Pilate, Roman procurator of Judea from 26 to 36 AD and the other is Mary. There are more feast days in The Episcopal Church honoring Mary than anyone else.
There have been many appearances of Mary over the centuries. Tradition says that in 39 CE, the Virgin Mary appeared in a vision to Saint James the Great in Zaragoza, Spain. Over the centuries, there have been dozens of additional reports of appearances of the Virgin Mary in different times and places. Two of the most influential visions of the Virgin Mary are the Virgin of Walsingham and the Virgin of Guadalupe.
Her story was carried by National Geographic in December, 2015 –"How the Virgin Mary Became the World’s Most Powerful Woman"
Her message to us was simple – "Listen to Him. Listen to my Son. Do what He tells you."
How to Lead Your Life ?
By Archbishop of Canterbury Justin Welby
There are two ways to live life.
One way is to live as if we’re owed it all, that we deserve everything good that comes our way, and that anything bad we receive is an unfair mistake. The other way is to see it all as a gift.
Everything around us seems to hardwire us to believe we deserve it. All of it: education, fun times, money, respect, friendship, love. But deep down, we know it’s a lie. We know we don’t deserve it any more than anyone else.
Thankfully, God doesn’t work in terms of ‘deserve’. He doesn’t give people what they’ve earned.
Instead, he gives gifts. It’s all an utter gift. Your health. Your friends. Your family. Your future. His love for you. Everything. Gift. Gift. Gift.
And knowing that, the response from us shouldn’t be living like we deserve it, but being thankful.
How might today be different if you chose to see all these gifts for what they are, and be thankful?
From . St Johns Church Donisthorpe, UK
The “Ins” and “Outs”
One of two Gospel stories this week is Jesus confrontation with the “Canaanite woman.” Reading on we can see a connection to our time if we view the story as a classic case of “ins” vs. “outs”. And that brings us to our time. At the bottom are 5 contemporary examples of the same thing. Here is the story:
One perspective is that the story can be seen as a study of “ins” and “outs” with the Canaanite woman in the Gospel being an “out”.
If she is “out”, then why is Jesus “in”? The “ins” and “outs” is a matter who is in control. Control can be one who is controlling the conversation, such as Jesus in this conversation. Control can also be legal, economical as with civil rights. Control can be based on perception when a group of people decide you are not “good enough”.
Control can be based on sheer numbers. In the Gospel story, the Canaanites were enemies of the Jews and even through Jesus was in their turf, he took relations in his own hands withs his diciples against only one Canaanite. It can also mean situations when people have already judged your actions and they use verbal language and body language to tell you are in error.
This classic struggle of “ins” and “outs” can be applied in so many ways – religion, economics, wealth and in social relations. Fairness and justice are all part of it. We see people not as they are – in this case simply trying to get a cure for a child. We tend to classify and put labels on people which isn’t fair.
The collage in this article are part of 5 examples (links) in our time with the lnks below demonstrating the “ins” and “outs”. In the movie “Legally Blonde” Elle, the aspiring law student, is up against a group of students who doubt her abilities in law school. She doesn’t appear to have the intellectual ability. We salute those that are trying to bridge barriers, such as the case in “Freedom Summer” in 1964 in trying to sign up African Americans to vote in Mississippi. There are two links for that event. It also can be situations when you are against a group that says by word or expressions that you shouldn’t act this way. Be sure to check out the video at from the last link- “Unsung Hero” – how one person can exact change when others doubt him. The boy tries to make a better life for those he comes in contact with and the crowd shakes their heads at his efforts. (Amazingly,that video was produced by a life insurance company!)
All About the Canaanite Woman
“The Woman of Canaan at the Feet of Christ” – Jean Germain Drouais (1784)
This is another one of those “scratch your head” passages. Here are some authors who have done just that.
2. A seemingly troubling scripture
3. Another take on Christ and the Canaanite Woman