COLD PIZZA AND MIRACLES

Jesus, teach me to appreciate leftovers -- even cold pizza! Amen.

A woman whose people Jesus hadn't taught yet begged Jesus to save her sick little girl. "I was sent only to help the chosen ones of God," Jesus told her. "Lord, even dogs eat the leftovers from their masters' tables," she answered. Jesus saw how much faith she had, and He healed her daughter.

The words "cold pizza" are wonderful to a lot of kids. There's nothing they like better to eat than the last slice of pizza from last night's dinner -- not even heated up!

Of course, if a grownup said, "Let's have leftovers," most kids would say, "Ew! Yuck!" Cold pizza sounds yummy, but the word "leftovers" doesn't.

People in Jesus' time, though, appreciated even leftovers. They were very poor, so whatever food they could get, they ate. That's why leftovers are used as an example in this week's Gospel (Matthew 15:21-28).

The woman in the Gospel story wasn't Jewish. Jesus was Jewish, so He had started out working with just His own people, the ones He knew best. But this woman wanted His help, too.

She pointed out that leftovers can be fine -- that, if Jesus was teaching and doing miracles for so many other people, He could spare a little "leftover help" for her and her sick child.

Jesus' help was like cold pizza: left over, but still worth having. Helping a woman He wouldn't have thought of helping before also made Jesus see that He shouldn't just share His "leftovers" with people who weren't Jewish. Everyone, Jewish or not, deserved all the help He could give!

08/14/08