Mums Move Us On.
Go into any ward at the Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne and the ache of a mother's love for her child is almost tangible. It wraps itself tightly around you from the moment you walk through the door. The sense of fear, desperation, hope, grief and protection never leaves you. So ferocious is that sense of love that it becomes a deep part of you. It becomes part of your DNA. As you leave the hospital you have been revamped and restyled. You just don’t know it yet. But you will and you are all the better for it. You are transformed, made more compassionate, made more understanding. You say less, you listen more, you weep louder. You are nudged forward into being someone else.
Every colour, every moment, every experience is heightened, pierces you and enriches you. The world is a more vivid, vibrant place. Life becomes passionate and urgent. And this is because of those Mums who are at the bedside.
Today’s first story of healing is all about such a Mum.
Much is made about this woman being an outsider. Much might be made of her nimble mind and her retorts but perhaps the most potent, important and lovely thing about this woman is the simple fact that she is Mum. A desperate, relentless, loving Mum and just as Our Lord’s divinity is on full display in the feeding of the 5000, his baptism and the transfiguration, so too in this story, Jesus’ full humanity is on display.
In both healing stories in the gospel, The Master restores humanity to the fullness of life and communion with the creator who loves them and wants them to be restored. But in the first story, the Mother nudges The Master along. This Mum caused Jesus to reconsider what his ministry is all about and who it is all about.
Notice that though she is insistent, she is nonetheless humble. She does not dispute Jesus’ “preferential option for the Jews.” She does not arrogantly demand to be served first. She’ll settle for leftovers. So in her debate, she teaches us much about humility.
She also has something to teach us about who is included and what might be achieved if we were jolted out of our complacency and had the tenacity to go on asking, to go on searching.
That’s the great thing about Mums. Being responsible for another human being takes you out of yourself. Motherhood makes you think about someone other than yourself. Mums get it. They know the pain when their child is hurting and they know the joy of every triumph. They know the intimacy for 9 months longer than any man ever will. What great gifts they bring to our faith community, to one another and to the world.
On a deeper level, this woman has helped Jesus break new boundaries in his proclamation and ministry. Perhaps she will help us to open new boundaries in our proclamation and ministry.
And just as the Syrophoenician woman moved Jesus on, so did another woman at a wedding at Cana when the guests had run out of wine.
Our Lord’s first response to His Mother appeared to be a no, but Our Lady’s determined perseverance turned it into the ‘Yes’ that launched his public ministry. When you read that charming story in John 2, it’s almost as if Mother Mary is saying. “Well son, today is not about you, it’s about the happy couple. Think of someone else for a change.”
With both of these women, their faith ignored the obstacles and just kept on going.
The Syrophoenician woman entrusts the destiny of her daughter to the man who stands before her. To believe in someone is to trust them, to entrust something of value to them, and even to entrust one’s very self to them is sublime. Her desire for her daughter’s salvation and her trust propels her to pursue The Master, to seek him tirelessly until she obtains what she believes he can provide.
Every mother who at this moment is in a ward at the Royal Children's Hospital is entrusting the most precious thing they have to the staff. They hand over the future of their child. In doing so they are moved on, transformed and even though it does feel like it, they are transfigured and become even more beautiful.
You and I need such people to help move us on, to help us pause and consider. And sometime this week you might like to reflect on those who have moved you on. Nudged you forward, and challenged you to look, think, reflect and act differently.
Sure, like the woman in the gospel, they can be downright annoying, not just because they challenge us, nag us and confront us, but because at the deepest level, we know they’re right and they leave us no option but to stir us out of our complacency and sloth, to break new territory in the places and actions where we know we must be and the people we must love.
When we can do this, when we can step out of ourselves in courage and faith, when we are open to going even further, demons are banished and good-quality wine flows. And that’s when the party begins.