{"id":629,"date":"2017-12-15T03:20:55","date_gmt":"2017-12-15T03:20:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/?p=629"},"modified":"2017-12-15T03:20:55","modified_gmt":"2017-12-15T03:20:55","slug":"homily-fort-mcmurray-workshop-on-reconciliation-after-the-trc","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/2017\/12\/15\/homily-fort-mcmurray-workshop-on-reconciliation-after-the-trc\/","title":{"rendered":"HOMILY FORT McMURRAY WORKSHOP ON RECONCILIATION AFTER THE TRC"},"content":{"rendered":"

In a Spirit of Reconciliation<\/em><\/p>\n

December 15, 2017<\/p>\n

(Is 48:17-19; Ps 1; Mt 15:21-28)<\/p>\n

************************************<\/p>\n

You will notice that the gospel is different than the one provided for today, chosen because it fits our theme of moving forward in a renewed spirit of reconciliation with the Indigenous peoples. It involves cross-cultural encounter, and can serve as a model for inter-religious dialogue.<\/p>\n

Jesus and His disciples were under considerable pressure from the hostility of the religious leaders after he had criticized their hypocrisy, so he withdrew to the pagan region of Tyre and Sidon. What transpires there is an experience of cross-cultural \u201ccontact\u201d similar to our history of contact with the Indigenous peoples of our country. Even the acceptance of Jesus as \u201cLord\u201d and \u201cSon of David\u201d by the Canaanite woman is reminiscent of the acceptance of the Christian message by the Indigenous faithful in our history.<\/p>\n

The key to the gospel is the humble faith of the woman who persists despite three rebuffs by Jesus to deepen her faith in him: first ignoring her, then stating that Israel must come first, and finally Jesus\u2019 seemingly harsh remark about tossing food to the dogs.<\/p>\n

The persevering and very perceptive woman picked up on the word \u201cfirst.\u201d While she acknowledged the Jews\u2019 priority in the plan of God, she detected the inference that the Gentiles would ultimately be recipients of the Savior\u2019s benevolence, and she wondered \u2014 \u201cWhy not now?!\u201d So, with a stroke of brilliant argument, she countered: \u201cYes, Lord, for even the little dogs get the children\u2019s crumbs that fall from their master\u2019s table.\u201d The term \u201cdog\u201d is a diminutive, like the Cree \u201cacimosis\u201d from the word for dog, \u201catim\u201d, which actually means \u201ca little puppy\u201d and is not demeaning.<\/p>\n

Notice that she drops the title \u201cSon of David\u201d that is a link with Israel, and uses \u201cLord\u201d which is Jesus\u2019 universal title. She is wisely appealing to his deepest reality as savior of the world, and that touches his heart. He addresses her then just like his mother at Cana: \u201cWoman,\u201d and heals her daughter at a distance.<\/p>\n

The woman\u2019s prayer is similar to that of Peter sinking on the water: \u201cLord, help me!\u201d She appealed to Jesus\u2019 compassion by emphasizing the need and the occasion \u2013 the daughter\u2019s illness and a mother\u2019s anguish \u2013 sentiments not confined to Jews but that transcend the confines of ethnicity.<\/p>\n

This is a remarkable example of mutuality in dialogue. The woman ends up convincing Jesus, and he allows himself to be convinced by her, a pagan woman. This extraordinary event is an invitation to us to cross borders as Jesus did of gender, ethnicity, social class, culture, religion and others whose way of life is completely different, to create new spaces of inclusion.<\/p>\n

Jesus recognizes her spirituality and culture: \u201cWoman, great is your faith.\u201d Would that we could have done the same at the time of contact: \u201cGreat is the spirituality of the Indigenous peoples.\u201d Jesus\u2019 final response is a healing one, not an institutional one like the Pharisees, as encouragement for us to move in that same direction of recognizing Indigenous spirituality as a gift to the Church. Our workshop today on reconciliation is a sign of that.<\/p>\n

So \u2013 our celebration, and the gospel, invite us to cross borders, and to move forward into new avenues of healing and reconciling the relationship between Canadian society, the Churches, and the First Nations, Inuit and M\u00e9tis people of this country we call Canada, derived I believe from an Indigenous word meaning \u201cpure and clean.\u201d May our efforts today be a small step in helping our country live up to its name. Amen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In a Spirit of Reconciliation December 15, 2017 (Is 48:17-19; Ps 1; Mt 15:21-28) ************************************ You will notice that the gospel is different than the one provided for today, chosen because it fits our theme of moving forward in a renewed spirit of reconciliation with the Indigenous peoples. It involves cross-cultural encounter, and can serve […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-special-events"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=629"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":630,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/629\/revisions\/630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/archbishopsylvainlavoie.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}