Loyalty is a theme in today’s readings. God had blessed Solomon in many ways. As Solomon was made King of Ancient Israel, God blessed his kingship. He had great power and wealth and was admired by all. Yet, Solomon did not remain loyal to the Lord, turning to the worship of the pagan gods of his pagan wives.
One of my favorite Catholic authors is Herni Nouwen, a Catholic theologian and priest from the Netherlands who died in 1996. Nouwen was a accomplished scholar, having taught at prestigious universities such as Harvard, Yale, and Notre Dame. On the pastoral side, he served as chaplain at the L’Arche Daybreak community in Canada with it founder Jean Vanier, a community that helped individuals with developmental and intellectual challenges. Reflecting upon today’s reading about King Solomon, I thought of Nouwen’s book Can You Drink the Cup? According to Nouwen, part of drinking the cup that Jesus offers to us is holding it and reflecting upon it. According to Nouwen, if we do not examine our lives, if we do not reflect on our faith and on our journey, we will not grow in our life of discipleship. Without reflection and development in our life of faith, our loyalty to God could possibly waiver and grow dim. Perhaps this is why Solomon was not able to remain loyal to God in his life of faith.
In comparison to Solomon, the Syrophoenician woman in today’s Gospel was able to show loyalty to Jesus even with the rejection and discrimination she faced in life. Loyalty is an important moral value we are called to follow on our journey of discipleship: Loyalty to Jesus, loyalty to our faith, loyalty in a world that tries to lure us away in another direction. May all of us feel this call to be loyal to our Lord Jesus Christ.
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