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Dear St. Augustine's 'ohana,
This week, Lani and I attended the Episcopal Diocese of Hawai'i clergy conference, where we attended three days of workshops. The sessions focused on what divides people in today's society.
As we listened and discussed, I found myself thinking that we often get stuck thinking about problems, especially those that seem to have no solutions in sight. We spend time identifying issues, researching causes, and quantifying ill-effects. With microscopic precision, we analyze the details. But perhaps we miss the big picture.
This week's gospel story shows how Jesus got caught up in this human way of seeing and reacting to the world. A Canaanite woman seeks healing for her daughter, but her presence triggers memories of hateful encounters between Canaanites and Israelites. The disciples react, and Jesus dismisses the woman with an insult.
In the heat of the moment, her plea and her faith were invisible—lost in the details of conflict and the pain of past aggression and violence.
Then two miracles of healing occur. Jesus opens his Divine heart and expands his thinking beyond the conflict at hand. Then, the Canaanite woman, whose faith was hidden beneath religious rift, is suddenly visible to Jesus and her daughter is instantly healed.
How often do we become entangled in small thinking? How tiny do we make our view of the world with our focus on the details of the problems we face? Who and what are made invisible as a result?
Bishop Bob closed his pastoral letter yesterday with this: "Please be kind to one another. We all will need to show a special spirit of aloha in the days, weeks, months, and years ahead as the earth and people heal." We are called to kindness in the face of calamity, political rifts, and personal troubles. Opening our hearts in faith expands our vision, allowing us to see what was once invisible. Expanded hearts can produce miracles of kindness and the healing we so desperately need.
In faith, let us fully open ourselves to God's infinite vision of our lives. Let us live into the Divine expansion God offers us, even if we don't comprehend it. The miracle of an expanded heart is the ultimate gift of Christ.
Blessings,
Jennifer
P.S. You can read the full text of the Bishop's Pastoral Letter here.
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