Tuesday of the
Twelfth Week in Ordinary Time
(Genesis 13:2.5-18; Matthew 7:6.12-14)
The movie The
Fugitive received much acclaim as an action drama. It showed a physician who is wrongly convicted
of murdering his wife. The doctor escapes
police custody but is pursued by a deft marshal. He is able to escape arrest until he uncovers
the real murderer. In the last scene the
marshal takes the physician, who has not yet been officially exonerated, into
custody. Rather than handcuff him, however,
he allows the doctor to freely ride to the courthouse. The marshal’s graciousness resembles Jesus’
in a scene from Matthew’s gospel. When
he realizes a Canaanite woman has real faith, Jesus alters the warning he makes
in today’s passage about giving what is holy to the dogs.
Of course, Jesus is not literally talking about dogs when
he admonishes his disciples. Dogs are heathens
who do not believe in God, the all-loving Father. Jews of the first century regularly saw Gentiles
as “dogs.” Hence, Jesus is telling his
disciples to be wary about teaching them religious doctrine. The Canaanite woman, who is a Gentile,
appears later in the gospel. She asks
Jesus to exorcise the demon possessing her daughter. Jesus responds with an unbecoming statement echoing
what he says today about giving what is holy to dogs. However, when the woman demonstrates that she
believes, Jesus changes his assessment and grants her request.
Our Lord always gives good example. If he is mistaken about someone, he does not
have to save face by trying to hide his error.
Perhaps he would be more careful about the image he uses the next time
he preaches about teaching Gentiles. In any
case, he would not want us to deride anyone by calling them “dogs.” And when we misjudge someone publicly, he
would want us to apologize for our mistake.
