The Persistence of Prayer Embodied in a Widow

I want to share with you, a story from Hinduism... There was this Hindu who saw a scorpion floundering around in the water. He decided to save it by stretching out his finger, but the scorpion hurt him. The man still tried to get the scorpion out of the water, but the scorpion hurt him again. A man nearby told him to stop saving the scorpion that kept stinging/hurting him. But the Hindu said: "It is the nature of the scorpion to sting. It is my nature to love. Why should I give up my nature to love just because it is the nature of the scorpion to sting/to hurt?" In Mark, we find: “He [Jesus] had compassion for them, because they were like sheep without a Shepperd; and he began to teach them many things…” Jesus experienced compassion for the crowd who came to his encounter. That compassion is part of his nature. Jesus exemplified all of the Father’s attributes, including his compassion. Interestingly, Jesus has a sharp tongue for the self-righteous, but a soft heart for people in need. The word in Greek translated as compassion, is also the word for guts, and describes caring for the other that starts deeply and internally in a person’s being. What a beautiful metaphor we have once again with Jesus as the Shepperd, a compassionate Shepperd with a “heart that goes out” for his sheep. He knows these sheep are in need of the many things he has to teach them. This crowd was waiting for Jesus. They were in expectation for … we don’t know how many hours, days, maybe. That makes me realize about the same expectancy in which we await for someone we love dearly to arrive to our home. This crowd is an example of how needy they are for Jesus’ presence in their lives. What do we expect from Jesus and his disciples? Tiredness, hunger, annoyance and irritation… but what we encounter is a Jesus with his best disposition to teach the multitude many things. Jesus understands how needy those women and men of that time were. Jesus understands how needy we are today. We are people in need. Let’s take a look at the creation. All other creatures since the moment they are born they look instinctively to their mothers to be nurtured. The child recently born has to be looked after by his or her mother, otherwise he or she can die. The first years of our humanity make us dependents of our parents. We are so vulnerable and needy since the moment we are born until the day we die. However our needs are not only material but spiritual. Jesus gets it. Jesus reaction to the crowd is “teaching them many things”. The gospel reads that Jesus teaches many things instead of giving things. In the teaching are the basics of the giving or getting things. The way we teach our loved ones and people we care about equipping them with love and compassion makes a big difference in their lives and ours too. In the case of fulfilling our needs is the way we taught others on how to solve them. Popular wisdom has taught us: “to teach fishing instead of giving the fish”. Mark doesn’t talk about Jesus’ teaching during that speech in front of that multitude. We can use our intuition to use the information we have from previous lessons and readings about the teaching related to the Kingdom of God. The Kingdom of God was Jesus’ passion, ministry, and his life. The characteristics of Jesus’ teaching are summarized as follows: a teaching about liberation. Jesus wanted to bring his ministry and teaching into action. During Jesus time, the Jews were stuck in a traditional and rigid religiosity caught in little things. Jesus’ teaching about God’s love took religion to a different level. Jesus proclaimed and enacted loving your neighbor as yourself. The traditional teaching was focused in learning the law by heart without feeling it. Jesus’ proposal of a teaching about liberation was about live by experiencing God’s love in our lives and the impact on others’ life. Another characteristic of Jesus’ teaching has to do with theory and practice. In other words if we don’t practice what we teach… Theory overlaps practice. Many religions fall into this problem: a lot about doctrine, many rules, many rites but lack of practice. In Jesus’ teaching “the heart goes out”. Our hearts are open and transform lives. Later in the reading we learned that people were healed just touching the fringe of his cloak. This is what we can consider a miracle. The quality of Jesus teaching is what leads to the miracle because it goes directly to the heart. Jesus’ compassion touched the souls and hearts of the multitude, and still touches our hearts and transforms lives today. What is the quality of our teaching in this time and age? Our efforts are really focused in sharing and experiencing steadfast love with one and another? We can add more characteristics to Jesus’ teaching in relation with compassionate love but I want to highlight one more, Jesus’ teaching about healing. Healing and practice towards liberation of the heart. Jesus’ approach is holistic, healing of the soul, mind and body. The gospel states that the sick were brought in mats from different cities. The mat is a symbol of disability, lack of movement and dependency. Jesus’ teaching has the power to transform each life leaving the mat behind. The multitude was oppressed at every level, socially and politically. The multitude was stuck in a huge mat. Jesus message: liberate us, makes us stand in our feet and heals us. Today, we receive an invitation to practice Jesus’ teachings in our lives and move into action. It doesn't matter how many times we try, what matters is the attempt to do it. As the Hindu was not stop to help the scorpion, he did it because it was in his nature. He did it with devotion and determination. Each one of us has talents and gifts, it is part of our nature, we need to put them into action to make a difference in our lives but also in the lives of others. Jesus’ message is not exclusive, it is inclusive for all Christians. All of us are called to share and cherish the responsibility to build God’s Kingdom here and now. We can only accomplish that if we carry out this message to our communities and every person we know. Let’s be reminded that our teaching should be sustained with the same characteristics of Jesus’ teaching. A teaching that offers: liberation, action and healing.