If you’re like
me, you might find today’s Gospel shocking.
A poor woman comes to Jesus to get help for her daughter whose possessed
by a demon. Initially, Jesus is unreceptive
to her pleadings in a very unkind way.
First, Jesus won’t even answer her or acknowledge her presence; then,
the disciples just want to get rid of her.
Is this the same Jesus who always hears the cry of the poor, who cures
the sick, who gives sight to the blind, who exemplifies God’s mercy and love?
Well, if we look at the details of what’s going on in Jesus’
interaction with the Canaanite woman, we can understand why he reacts the way
he does, seeing him grow through this interaction. Jesus and his disciples withdraw to an
out-of-the-way place in order to rest, to re-energize, to get away from people
who are always asking for a miracle or a healing. Jesus meets the Canaanite
woman in the boundary region of Galilee and Tyre-Sidon, where the Jewish
territory interfaces with the Gentile lands.
This was a place of tension and prejudice; the Jewish historian Josephus
called the people of this region Israel’s “bitterest enemies.” Many problem existed between the Jews and the
Gentiles of this region: ethnic tensions, religious misunderstandings,
conflicting economic interests, and fights over land.
The Jews of ancient Israel saw this Canaanite as an outcast
and an outsider, yet she has the courage and tenacity to cross the boundaries
that separated her from the Jews in order to ask Jesus for help in healing her
daughter. She calls Jesus Lord, a term
that only his disciples and followers use.
She cries out to him - “Have pity on me, have mercy on me, Lord, Son of
David.” After the disciples try to get
rid of her, Jesus announces that he was only sent for the lost sheep of
Israel. We need to remember that Matthew
was writing from a Jewish perspective to a primarily Jewish audience. Many of the Jewish followers of Jesus in the
first century after his death and resurrection still wondered if the salvation
brought by Jesus could be open to non-Jews. The Canaanite woman courageously kneels before
him in an act of submission, defiantly asking for his mercy even in the face of
the poor treatment she receives.
Shockingly, Jesus describes any help he would give her as the equivalent
of taking food out of the mouths of children and giving it to dogs. Through this Gospel passage, we see Jesus
struggling with the cultural and historical context of his Jewish faith that
looked down at the Canaanite people of this region. Also, I see Jesus struggling to understand
whether his proclamation of God’s kingdom and salvation violates the priority
given to the people of Israel if he extends this reign to the Gentiles. Jesus’ followers also struggled with this
same issue of including the Gentiles into the reign of God at the time
Matthew’s Gospel was written.
We struggle with similar issues today ourselves, don’t
we? Often, we can look down at people
who have views different from our own. Take the perspective of the street people
I served as a missionary in Canada, or the prisoners I visit at the state and
federal prisons here in Yazoo City. When
they read a Gospel story such as the one today, of how this Canaanite woman
begs for Jesus’ help with defiance and fortitude, I’m sure it resonates with
their daily struggles of surviving on the streets or trying to negotiate the
complexities of life in a prison. Before
I began my prison ministry as a priest, before I worked with the street people,
prostitutes, and heroin addicts up at the soup kitchen in Winnipeg, Canada as a
missionary, I had no idea what life was like for those segments of the
population. Last week, when I was at the
state prison here in Yazoo City, I told the prisoners that my interaction with
them really has affected my priesthood, that it’s helped to change my heart and
to see the Gospel from the perspective of a prisoner.
Look at the remarkable ending in today’s Gospel. In last week’s Gospel reading, Jesus
challenged Peter for his little faith when they were walking on the water. Yet, today, Jesus admires the great faith of
the Canaanite woman. Her faith was remarkable
in her persistence in the face of Jesus’ obstructions, in her crossing of
barriers that label her an outsider and outcast, as her reliance on Jesus’
power and her recognition of his divine authority over evil spirits and demons. In performing the miracle cure of her daughter,
Jesus overcomes barriers as well, growing in his view of his ministry, growing
in his understanding of who is included in God’s plan of salvation. In all honesty, I don’t think that Jesus was
born as an infant with full knowledge and full understanding of the vocation
for which he was chosen by God. As fully
human, Jesus grew in his understanding
of what his mission was all about, especially in the way it defied many of the
fixed notions prevalent in ancient Israel.
So, I think that today’s Gospel has a two-fold message for
us today. Jesus’ interaction with the
Canaanite woman and the way he changed through this encounter is a good example
for all of us. I remember that at the
end of my seminary training, one of the secretaries there gave me this
advice: “Listen. Listen to your parishioners. Listen with your heart. Listen before you speak.” It is so easy for us
to judge people, isn’t it? It’s easy to see things solely from our own
perspective, to not consider what another person is going through. We need to listen more and talk less, not
only with our brothers and sisters here on earth, but with God as well. Jesus listened and interacted to the
Canaanite woman; he then responded appropriately to her needs and great
faith. So, are we listening too?
Secondly, are we persistent in our search for God, just as
the Canaanite woman was tenacious and unyielding? Do we struggle with those issues of faith
that we don’t quite understand? Do we
look at those issues of faith that we are uncomfortable with, or do we just
stay with those issues of faith that make us feel good and that are easy to
comprehend? We need to be challenged by
our faith, we need to be pushed and prodded in order to grow. We can’t remain stagnant in our faith. Our journey as Christians in our modern world
is certainly not an easy road for us.
May we be persistent and determined on our journey, in the way we live
out our faith.
Oh, this is perhaps the best Homily you have written so far here at St. Mary's. I'm so glad I have it in writing, so I can read it over and over. It is very easy to be a "cafeteria" Catholic, and I work very hard not to be one. This Homily will help me so much. I read and read to learn more and more about our Catholicism. I know we'll never learn it all, but we can try, huh? Thank you, Bettye
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