TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME
20 AUGUST 2023
We
know Jesus as the Good Shepherd, the healer of illnesses, the gentle giver of
mercy, and the Son of God who selflessly gave himself for the salvation of
all. For those reasons, the interaction
between Jesus and this Canaanite woman may be shocking. Jesus and his disciples are in the region of
Tyre and Sidon, deep within pagan territory.
The Canaanite woman calls Jesus Lord and Son of David and begs him to
heal her daughter who is tormented by a demon.
Jesus, the Good Shepherd, ignores her.
When his disciples ask him to send her away, he says that he is sent
only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.
When she does him homage and throws herself on the ground and asks for
help again, the Son of God calls her a dog.
He says that it is not right to take the food of children and throw it
to the dogs. But the woman comes up with
a great reply. “Please, Lord, for even
the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” Then, Jesus relents and heals her daughter.
In his
interaction with the Canaanite woman, Jesus is neither cruel nor uncaring. He is emphasizing the divine faithfulness. God had entered into a series of Covenants
with his people and promised to keep them.
We see those covenants displayed in the center aisle. The Covenant with Adam assures his
faithfulness, even when humans reject his love.
The Covenant with Noah promises that God’s care for creation. The Covenant with Abraham says that his descendants
will be as numerous as the stars in the sky and the sands on the seashore. The Covenant
with Moses is the central Covenant, establishing God’s permanent relationship
to his Chosen People. The final covenant
with David promises that the Messiah will come from his house.
Jesus is
reiterating God’s faithfulness to his Chosen People. They may have been the first people God has
chosen. But they are not the only
ones. God loves everyone, even the enemies
of his Chosen People. The prophet Isaiah
understands God’s love for everyone. In
today’s first reading from Isaiah, God’s Chosen People have just returned from
their exile in Babylon. Many have
intermarried with pagans. Isaiah
welcomes them to the rebuilt temple on Mount Zion, because they have come to
love the name of the Lord and have become his servants. They honor the sabbath and hold to the
covenant.
The Canaanites may have been bitter
enemies of God’s people. They may have
deserved to be treated like dogs. But
Jesus sees the deep faith of this woman and heals her daughter. He is already anticipating what he will tell
his disciples at the end of the Gospel of Saint Matthew after he had been
raised from the dead. He will tell them
to go out to all nations and proclaim the Good News. They are to welcome all in the name of the
Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
Jesus loves us, who have become his
disciples through the waters of Baptism.
But he does not love us exclusively.
He challenges us to reach out to those with whom we disagree and with
those who are not followers. Especially
in our divided and polarized society, moving out to others who are different
from us is extremely important and potentially healing.
In addition, the Canaanite woman
teaches us how to make prayers of petition.
She comes to Jesus with a deep faith.
In fact, her faith is deeper than the disciples who have been following
him. She teaches us to pray with
perseverance. Even when Jesus seems to ignore her, she keeps asking. She teaches us to be humble. In humility, she trusts the goodness of Jesus
and is open to whatever way he expresses his goodness and love. Our persistent prayer does not change God. God is always good and loving. It has the power to change us and to accept
the Lord’s goodness and love in the way he chooses to give it.
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