Thursday of the Fifth Week in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 332

He entered a house and wanted no one to know about it, but he could not escape notice.

It seems Jesus had retreated to gentile territory to escape the public demands of his ministry for a while. A human being like anyone else, he needed some time to reflect, to be quiet and rest. Some call it down time.

It has become a rare commodity in our way of life. I celebrated a midweek mass at a neighboring church one time. Afterwards, as I greeted the departing congregation, one woman demanded, “Where’s the pastor?”

“This is his day-off.” I said.

“I wish I got a day off.”

"I wish you got a day off too." 

I didn’t say it; I thought it. As Father Germain used to say, “The Holy Spirit took ahold of my tongue and would not let me speak.”

Scientists, who serve as prophets to our secular world, tell us we need leisure. By planting electrodes in the skulls of mice, they watch how the animals work, sleep and dream.  The same neurons that fire as the mice navigate mazes fire again as they sleep. They’re dreaming about labyrinths! That’s how the brain processes new learning. Without rest we cannot learn.

In the middle of the crowds Jesus knew he had to get away for a while. Like his mother, he had to ponder where he had been and where he was going. Clearly, trouble was brewing. Despite his enormous popularity, shadowy figures on the edge of the crowd were not caught up in the excitement. Enemies were forming networks of agreement and communication; they were devising plans. Should Jesus change his style or continue doing what came naturally? For the moment he needed to rest.

At that moment a woman burst into his solitude and demanded that he drive a demon out of her daughter. A Syrophoenician woman, at that! His reaction was immediate and, perhaps, rude. “Let the children be fed first. For it is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.”

But her reaction was just as quick, “Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.”

He had to laugh. She would not be put off, she would not go away. She was smart and she made him laugh. People, you gotta love them! he thought.

A few days later Jesus returned to Decapolis and the Sea of Galilee. Once again he preached the Kingdom of God and healed the sick. He’d had a good laugh and some rest. Human beings need a lot; it’s impossible to list all our needs. But without leisure and laughter we’re not even human.