TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
(Isaiah 56:1, 6-7; Romans 11:11-15, 29-32; Matthew 15:21-28)
The Gospel we just heard is one of the most fascinating in the lectionary. It presents Jesus as attentive to people’s requests. Even more striking is how the Canaanite woman displays a blend of courage and humility. Unfortunately, many focus on Jesus’ comment about non-Jews when they hear the story. Listening to Jesus speak of Gentiles as “little dogs,” they question the Lord’s goodness. Let’s clear up this misconception first. Then we will be able to see more clearly the wonderful love Jesus has for all.
Scholars tell us two things about the comment. First, Jesus
refers to Gentiles with the diminutive “little dogs,” which suggests affection.
Furthermore, in the first century Jews regularly called pagans “dogs.” It can
be compared to Americans calling their children "kids." In any case,
the Canaanite woman doesn't take offense. Rather, she uses it to strengthen her
request of Jesus.
Jesus has come to the region of Tyre and Sidon to rest. Lately, his mission has been difficult. For
the most part, the Jews are not accepting his message. Also, the Pharisees and
scribes keep harassing him. Jesus seeks a break from the crowds seeking him out
for healing. Then the mother of the demon-possessed Gentile girl confronts him.
But it isn't just to regain his strength that he initially
rejects the Canaanite woman's request. As he tells his disciples, he has been
sent to bring back "the lost sheep of the house of Israel." (Here Jesus
again uses an animal name to refer to people.) This is no small matter. Jesus
does not want his mission to Jews to be confused with that of his disciples to all
the nations once the Kingdom of God has been established. This will happen when he is ascended into
heaven and the Holy Spirit sent into the world.
However, the woman's faith moves him to change his mind. The
Canaanite calls him "Lord" and prostrates herself before him to
acknowledge his divine origin. Then Jesus realizes that a person's ethnicity is
not as important as her beliefs. He is willing to grant the Canaanite woman’s
request because she has demonstrated a firm belief in God's mercy. Through this
change of plan, Jesus is initiating the preaching to the nations anticipated by
the prophet in the first reading and carried out in the ministry of Saint Paul
in the second.
There is a story that can help us understand the dynamic
here. During World War II, an American soldier was killed in the French
countryside. The dead man's comrades took the corpse to a church and asked for
permission to bury him in the parish cemetery. The pastor asked if the dead
soldier was a Catholic. They replied that he was a was Protestant. The priest
informed them that he could not allow it because the cemetery was reserved only
for deceased Catholics. So, the soldiers sadly buried their friend just outside
the stone wall of the cemetery.
The next day they returned to say a final prayer at the
grave of their friend before leaving the area. But they couldn't find it. They
searched thoroughly, but to no avail. Then they went back to the rectory to ask
the priest if he knew what had happened to their comrade's remains. The priest
told them that he wasn't been able to sleep that night because he had refused
their request. So he got up in the middle of the night, went to the cemetery,
took down the stone wall, and rebuilt it to include the dead soldier's grave!
We are not saying that the rules insisting only Catholics be
buried in Catholic cemeteries are unjust. Much less are we saying that Jesus'
initial reasons for not casting the demon out of the Canaanite woman's daughter
were frivolous. But love sometimes compels us to reach beyond our limits and
the rules that govern our daily activity. God's love, agape, extends to
those we barely know, to those we don’t know at all, to those who may be sinful
and to those who are suffering. This is
the will of God the Father. This is our legacy from Jesus, the Lord.
