20th Sunday in Ordinary time
Isaiah 56:1, 6-7 Romans 11:13-15, 29-32 Matthew 15:21-28
Once again in our Gospel Reading we see Jesus trying to get some time to himself. He ‘withdrew’ from the crowds with some of his disciples to continue to instruct them and to spend some in prayer with the Father. But, as always he has been followed by those who need help. The Canaanite woman does not stand on ceremony!! Her approach to Jesus seems rude and intrusive and at first it seems that Jesus is unhappy with her approach. But she does provide the Lord with opportunity to stress some of the important aspects of his Mission.
Jesus emphasises that a disciple is someone with Faith. He tells the Canaanite woman that she has ‘great faith’ in contrast with what we heard in last Sunday’s Gospel reading when He addresses Peter as a ‘man of little faith’. Peter, with his ‘little faith’, began to sink but the Canaanite woman was unsinkable! Three great qualities shine out in the greatness of her faith: perseverance, humility and humour.
Her persistence was remarkable. She would remind us of the woman, in one of Jesus’ parables, who wears down the judge with her persistence. This woman has, first of all, to break through the ‘red tape’ of the apostles in order to get to Jesus. Her daughter at home is sorely demented and that is all that is on her mind. She is going to break through the bureaucracy and get to Jesus at all costs. There was, of course, politics, difficult for us to understand, involved in allowing a Canaanite woman to speak with Jesus, a Jew. But she has only one thing to say to him: ‘Lord, help me.’ The second admirable thing about her is her Humility. She kneels before Jesus and makes her simple request. It seems that, at first, Jesus did not answer her a word. We have all experienced that feeling in prayer: God hasn’t heard me! Perhaps God uses that ‘tactic’ to bring us to deepen our prayer and rely more and more on our Faith! Again the reference that Jesus makes to throwing bread to dogs, seems to us harsh and insulting to this woman. But she has another great quality, a sense of Humour.
She turns the potentially insulting situation around by her quick remark – ‘even dogs will eat the scraps that fall from the table!’ Good humour is always a sign of strong character and openness to the views of others. We must have a sense of humour with God. Otherwise, we cannot let ourselves go and be totally in God’s care. If we are caught up only in very serious business of self, we will never be able to relax with God. We need a sense of humour especially when we are talking to God about our faults.
So, what seemed like an awkward situation for the disciples and for Jesus turns into a wonderful opportunity for Jesus to teach them something about how to relate to him, how to pray. The incident comes to a wonderful conclusion. ‘Woman, you have great Faith. Let your wish be granted’. It is as if the power of God that she was seeking was to be found in her own heart. Her great Faith discovers the presence and power of God in her Heart. This Canaanite Woman is a model for all disciples in her Faith, her Perseverance and her Humility. And, unlike Peter, she is unsinkable!