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| Dominic (formerly Oreo) |
Isaiah 56:1, 6-7
Psalm 67:2, 3, 5, 6, 8
Romans 11:13-15, 29-32
Matthew 15:21-28
So yesterday I became an official
cat owner – true story. I’ve always loved animals, especially cats, and I’ve
wanted a cat for years but I wasn’t able to because of restriction at the
seminary and my previous pastors’ lack of openness to a loveable little pet in
the rectory. So when I got here and figured that I’d be living alone, I started
looking only at adoption agencies for a cute kitty or two. I found two that I
liked and yesterday I went to Petsmart to start the adoption process.
Being adopted myself, I know
there is all sorts of paperwork and stuff to do, so I figured they would start
the process then and I’d go back later in the week to actually take the animals
home. But surprise, surprise, when I asked about later in the week the lady
helping me said, “Oh no, you can take them home with you right now.” “Oh…ok…”
was my semi-stunned response and I immediately went to get a buggy to start
shopping for everything necessary to make kittens happy. I didn’t get a big
carrier because they suggested one that was available online, so I settled for
the boxes they had there to transport my two adorable kittens home.
When they put the cats in the box
they were like two little angels. The boxes were totally closed but had holes
to see and get air and such and for the five or so minutes they were in the
store they just quietly sat there. When I got them into the car for the ride
home, the story quickly changed. Dominic started meowing. Then meowing loudly.
Then howling. Then scratching at the box trying to tear his way out. The
further along we went, the louder and more upset he got. And the whole time I
was sitting there trying to console this poor cat stuck in a box. I spoke as
gently as I could saying, “It’s okay. Only 30 more minutes…” as if the could
would understand the logic of such a statement. And yet I tried. As I was
driving along trying to console this cat that was now crying unceasingly, and
the other cat, Gemma, who had joined in on the fun, I laughed and thought to
myself that maybe I should have tried what Jesus in the Gospel today and not
respond at all. But I didn’t. I kept doing my best to help the cat, when in
reality there was absolutely nothing I could because in the end he was still in
the box and needed to stay there.
As I was stressing about this cat
situation it hit me – how often am I like that cat in the box? How many times
in my life have I felt completely trapped by something – illness, broken
relationships, struggles at home, work, or school. How many times have we all
felt some trial that we wanted to be over with an quickly? And in the midst of
it all what do we do? We keep on crying out like the woman in the gospel today
– Lord, help me! That’s what we’re supposed to do; we’re supposed to persist in
our prayer.
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| Gemma (formerly Padmé) |
When we were driving home
yesterday there was nobody in the world that wanted that cat out of that box
more than I did and the same is true of God with us in our trials, in those
boxes we experience in this life. God doesn’t want us to suffer. He doesn’t
enjoy watching us struggling and listening to us cry out over and over. And yet
He permits it to happen for some particular reason – usually that we might grow
in some aspect of our faith. That’s why Jesus ignores the Canaanite woman in
the Gospel today. It wasn’t because He didn’t hear here. It wasn’t because He
didn’t want to help her. He avoided speaking to her for a moment because He is
the God who knows our hearts and He knew that in her heart there was much more
faith than she expressed in that initial request to save her daughter. Christ
saw in her a great faith that He wanted to pull forth from her heart to show
her what was present there and to show her that God is faithful is we persevere
in prayer. It wasn’t for Him that He remained quiet but for her and the same is
true of us today. When we continue in the boxes in our life, we cry out over
and again and so often the response is silence, nothing, not even an
acknowledgement. We can think that God isn’t listening but He is. And as He is
listening to our cry, He is also looking into our hearts to pull forth from us
greater faith in Him. It is up to us to persist because at some point, He is
going to open that box and free us.
When I finally got home I brought
the boxed up cats into my room and closed the doors, as the agency suggested to
give them time to transition. I opened the boxes and Gemma ran under the bed to
find her safe place. Dominic, however, turned around, walked over to me and sat
on my feet. I moved over a few steps and he walked over and sat on my feet. I
did it a couple of more times and he continued to do the same. And I think that
is what God really wants of us. He wants us always to come and sit at His feet,
but sometimes it takes a little difficult in this life to bring us there.
Sometimes it takes a box for God to pull faith from our hearts. So let us ask
for the grace today to persevere in prayer and keep crying out to the God who
created us, the God who saved us, and the God who will free us from all evil in
this life and bring us rejoicing to the next.
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