Mt 15:21-28
These verses of our Gospel today focus
on the great faith and humility of a Canaanite woman, who acknowledges her
inferiority as opposed to the Jews. She is convinced that Jesus is the Messiah,
a Jewish King, Son of David, capable of healing her daughter from demon
possession. That is why she calls “Have pity on me Lord, son of David”.
It looks funny to see Jesus denying help
to someone calling out to Him. He says: It is not right to take the food of the
children and to throw it to the dogs. Even the apostles wanted her to be sent
away because she was causing too much noise. This Canaanite woman must have
been hurt so much by the seemingly indifferent attitude of Jesus and the very
harsh words of the disciples. But in our passage we see her trying and trying
again, begging the Lord, pestering the Lord to cure her daughter to the point
that the Lord Himself ignored her, and finally even insulted her by calling her
a housedog; a pappy. I think that there are certain things about this woman
which we must note:
First, this woman had great love for her
daughter. In this sense she made the misery of her child her own. She is a
pagan but in her heart there was that love for her child which reflects God’s
love for His children. It was love that made her able to approach Jesus, and to
accept the silence and humiliation. Most people at this
point would give up and accept defeat. But not our Canaanite sister. Her
courage and her refusal to take no for an answer final.
Second, this woman had courageous faith.
Though she was a pagan, her faith enabled her to look at Jesus as a great and
powerful man of God. Given her position as a foreigner and as a woman, it took
phenomenal courage and faith on her part to decide to approach this Jewish company
of Jesus and his disciples and to ask for help.
Third, this woman had a determined
persistence. She rejected discouragement. She came to Jesus because Jesus was
not just a possible helper; He was her only hope. She came with a passionate
hope, a clamant sense of need and a refusal to be discouraged. For her, prayer
was not a ritual form but an outpouring of the passionate desire of her soul and
she felt that she could not and must not take no for an answer no matter what.
Fourth, this woman had her eyes and mind
focused on her goal. When Jesus spoke to her in a language that demeaned her and
her people, she did not lose her cool but kept her eyes on the goal of her
mission. She wanted a cure for her daughter. She did not mind the silent
treatment which would have discouraged most people: the rejection, the insult
and the resistance from Jesus’ disciples and even Jesus Himself because of her
constant focus on her need.
This gospel has few good lessons for us on
this Sunday. From the attitude of Jesus towards this woman, we learn that if
something unexpected is going on in your life right now, or if you are
experiencing some bumps in the road or even a complete roadblock, try to look a
little more closely. It is quite possible you will find Jesus there calling out
for deeper faith and love. This gospel tells us that whenever we fill like God
is not on our side, then at that moment he is calling us for strong and
persistent faith. Sometimes we feels as if God is not answering our prayers.
Sometimes we feels as if he is not even interested in us. Know that at that
moment he is more determined to deepen our faith.
From the attitude of the woman, we are called
to be willing to risk everything in order to express our faith to God and our
love for others mindless of what other people would say. We are called to
swallow our pride so that others may receive a favor or may live. This woman
disregarded he personality as a human being and accepted the humiliation so that
her daughter may be cured. Today, let us ask the Lord for the grace to be
persistent in prayer, the grace to be trusting in God in our helplessness and
the grace to break the boundaries of our love.
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