Sunday, August 20, 2023

TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

(Isaiah 56:6-7; Romans 11:11-15.29-32; Matthew 15:21-28)

The gospel today seems particularly appropriate for our time. It indicates the reason for many people abandoning faith in Jesus. The storyline is short but fascinating. It describes an encounter between a Canaanite (non-Jewish) woman and Jesus. It seems that Jesus insults her. But a careful reading reveals how she takes no offense and even draws closer to Jesus after his comment.

The great defender of the faith C.S. Lewis wrote a striking essay titled "God in the Dock." He says that in ancient times human beings always recognized themselves as guilty of sin. They, therefore, asked God for forgiveness. He goes on to say that in modern times the situation has been reversed. Humans accuse God of the tragedies and natural catastrophes that people suffer. As a result, the Church has to defend God from His accusers.  The first thing many see in today’s gospel is Jesus making a racist remark.

There is undoubtedly a new sensitivity in recent times. Today men and women take as offensive nicknames that a hundred years ago were considered terms of affection or respect.  A man must be careful to whom he calls a younger man, “Sonny.”  In Major League Baseball, the Cleveland team dropped its nickname "Indians" because some indigenous said that it was offensive. To many contemporaries Jesus using the term "little dogs" in reference to the situation of Canaanite's daughter seems like an outrage.

Jesus can be readily defended. He never calls the girl a "dog." He only compares his situation with the person who has food for the family, not for the pets. However, Jesus does not require defense. As the woman acknowledges, he is the “Lord” who would do nothing wrong. It's not that his deeds are good because he does them. Rather it is that he is God, the supreme good, in whom there is no evil.

The Canaanite does not denounce Jesus. She doesn't even see his words as offensive. Rather, she shows us the proper disposition toward God when she prostrates herself before Jesus in adoration. Recognizing him as “Lord,” she then reiterates the urgency that he help his daughter. With these acts she shows the world how to acknowledge Jesus with both gesture and word.

Last Sunday we heard Jesus in the gospel call Peter a man of "little faith." He now tells the Canaanite woman that she has "much faith." In this case we should imitate the woman and not Saint Peter. As the woman asks that Jesus cast out the demons that harass her daughter, we want to ask him to cast out the demons that pollute our time. That is, we want to ask you to remove not only the growing lack of faith but also the self-centeredness that allows people to do whatever they like.

There is a famous novel that begins with the words: "It was the best of times; it was the worst of times." This can be said of any time and certainly of today. There is always a lack of faith in Jesus making times bad. But Jesus is always close to us turning bad times into good.