“Mercy Upon All,” by Rev. Paul Berghout (@FatherPB)

 

“Mercy Upon All,” by Rev. Paul Berghout (@FatherPB)

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Lectionary: 118

Piety

Thus, says the LORD: Observe what is right, do what is just; for my salvation is about to come, my justice, about to be revealed.  Isaiah 56:1

For God delivered all to disobedience, that he might have mercy upon all.  Romans 11:32

But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.”  Then Jesus said to her in reply, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And the woman’s daughter was healed from that hour. Matthew 15:25-28

Study

Jesus puts Jews and gentiles under the same roof, and the first to get there is the Canaanite woman from our Gospel today.

You could say that the day the Gospel went to the dogs was the day it came to us. We are some of the “dogs” who have received the good news of the Gospel!

Jesus said “little dogs” or “puppies” in Greek, like Border Collie? In the book, The Intelligence of Dogs, neuropsychologist Stanley Coren, PhD, named the Border Collie and most clever dog, prized for its intelligence, instinct, and working ability.

The Canaanite woman lives in the region of Tyre, and Josephus, the first-century historian, referred to Tyre as enemy territory to Israel. She accepts that gentiles cannot expect—let alone any right to—the blessings that God has promised to Israel.

It is striking that the Canaanite woman had to face a purposeful insult from Jesus to test her ego. Such testing reflects a rabbinic formula for testing a prospective proselyte where they are initially refused or rebuffed to prove their seriousness.

For example, it’s possible to get hired at a company even if they’ve previously rejected you if you made their short-list. In large organizations, perhaps you won’t be considered for the same position you initially applied for, but your skills are quite likely useful elsewhere in the organization.

The spiritual and moral meaning of the testing by Jesus (St. John Chrysostom) is that the Canaanite woman signifies repentant souls. Incapable of boasting, contrite sinners lean wholly on God’s mercy.

Here is a true story of someone who was severely tested by rejection, and because he handled it so well with the support of his wife, God turned it into a blessing. 

The whole Boucher family gathered in their father’s hospital room. As each grown child approached his deathbed, Dad addressed that son or daughter with a few pithy words, a final farewell for each one. For one son, his pronouncement was, “You have more brains than heart!” For one daughter, he exclaimed, “You have more guts than brains!” When he came to John, he sighed and said, “Why didn’t you ever make anything of yourself? I am so disappointed in you.” His father’s dissatisfaction crushed John. And it wasn’t the first time that Dad had objected to John’s full time-work in Catholic lay ministry.

Dad died a few days later, and a miracle followed his passing. Within forty-eight hours of his death, John received five invitations to teach workshops in various parishes.  And within a year, he had a new job, with a $15,000 raise to help support our growing family. 

We believe that Dad had changed his mind about his son John. He had forgiven him for “throwing his life away” on Jesus and the Church. Now, Dad could see through the merciful eyes of Jesus. And almost every year since then, John has experienced some major physical, spiritual, emotional, or financial blessing on Dad’s birthday. Even better than all of this, God mended their relationship from beyond the grave. Now John can look back on this deathbed encounter without any resentment.

Jesus has helped John to forgive his father’s condemning frustration and many other perceived offenses as well. God has enabled John to embrace mercy as a way of life by both forgiving and being forgiven.

Three times Jesus rejected the Canaanite woman and His disciples rejected her once more. After her third rejection from Jesus, she came and did Jesus homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” A kneeling woman does not have far to fall. Only in a worshipful, hopeful approach to Jesus do we access the healing revealed in this story.

Do you know that the story related in today’s Gospel is the only time in the New Testament that an individual succeeds in a challenge with Jesus.  Remarkably, she is a Gentile woman.  Her nationality means that she lived as someone society marginalized, but who also as someone who had the faith, wisdom, and courage to challenge someone from whom she needs help – someone she calls “Lord.”

Action

The lesson is to turn a [quote] “negative status,” in the eyes of some, into something with a positive value. Perhaps the Canaanite woman belonged to a pack of dogs, as it were, but there are enough “scraps” of bread not just for the “children” (Jews) but also for the “dogs” (Gentiles like herself) under the table.

The lesson for us is to never give up in seeking healing in the way this woman wants Jesus to heal her daughter.

The woman’s remarks are ultimately praised by Jesus, who grants her request and heals her daughter long-distance, and through the mother as a third-party. Situations of conflict and suffering can become opportunities for transformation, for renewal and healing, and for witnessing God’s amazing grace.

The story of the Canaanite woman asks us to move deliberately beyond our comfort zones by welcoming into our midst, the stranger, or the different other. When Jesus opened himself up to mission to the whole world, he opened his church to the world. Now we are to open ourselves to the entire world in mission. 

Amen.

(Image credit:  https://twitter.com/MaryknollFrsBrs)