Sunday 20 (Year A-2005): Bold Humility – Mt. 15,21-28

At first, Jesus ignores the poor woman in today’s reading from St. Matthew’s Gospel. Then he calls her a “dog”, or, to be more precise, a “puppy” (this is the meaning of the Greek original). This is hardly polite behavior, never mind racist and sexist.

Of course, Matthew is writing his Gospel for a Jewish audience, hoping to convince them that Jesus did indeed come to fulfill God’s promises to them, the “lost sheep of the House of Israel.” In calling her a puppy, Jesus is only reflecting what was said about the Gentiles by some Jewish writers of the time. Still, it’s not exactly a comforting turn of speech.

But what is even more remarkable than Jesus’ language, is the woman’s “bold humility.”

At most, she could only have heard about Jesus from what was a reasonable distance in those days. Jesus usually ministered in Galilee or Judea, which means he was normally between 50 and 200 miles away from where she lived (Tyre or Sidon). So her entrance and exit from the Gospel story unexpected, indeed it is like a whirlwind or tornado.

She comes apparently from nowhere, demands and gets what she wants and then disappears again. One can only suspect that something was driving her to this.

Perhaps indeed her great energy comes, on the one hand, from the desperate spiritual situation of her possessed daughter and, on the other, from that invincible, feminine, can-do genius! The very blackness of her situation elicited an even more hopeful determination. She would conform to no devil!

Hearing of Jesus and of his power over evil and sickness must only have fuelled her iron will all the more. One can imagine her running in search of him, interrogating any likely source of information as to his whereabouts – and refusing to take no for an answer!

When she first appears on the scene, she almost seems possessed herself, shouting after Jesus. The apostles are greatly embarrassed, “Jesus, give her anything to shut her up and make her go away.”

As if to ingratiate herself to Jesus, she addresses him in solemn and divine terms, “Lord, Son of David!” Lord speaks to his godhead; Son of David speaks to the fact that he is the long-awaited Messiah.

On top of that, she is prostrate on the ground before him. She is sparing nothing of what she can do or say to obtain the favor of Jesus, not for herself, but for her darling daughter. In other words, she is performing a labor of great love, a labor of great hope and, as we shall see in a moment, a labor of great faith.

The initial silence of Jesus and then the “puppy” reference he makes can only mean precisely what he himself implies by using them.

His divine mission was first of all to draw the Jews to faith in him; this was then to expand to all mankind with the Jews performing the function which the Church performs today.

If you take the Gospel as a whole, Jesus is very careful in his ministry to avoid any attempt, by the devil or by men, to divert him from the mission the Father had given him. Men, even Peter, were inclined to think in worldly way, and not always in the ways of faith. They wanted Jesus to conquer the world by revolution and force. But this would have been a betrayal of the Father’s will.

Yet whenever Jesus actually saw the presence of faith in someone –anyone!- he responded with great satisfaction and generosity. That is precisely what happens with this brave woman. Jesus may have called her a puppy, but when she showed the depth of her faith, he gave her a compliment which he gave to no-one else in the Gospel, “O woman, how great is your faith!”

I cannot help but add, of course, that these words to this woman surely echo the words Jesus must often have thought with regard to his Mother. Indeed, in the answer he gives to this woman, “let it be done for you as you wish”, we can hear the echo of Mary’s words, “let it be done to me according to your word.”

For Jesus did not ultimately come to favor one race or ethnicity, but to favor all men and women who would believe in him. It is such trusting faith which opens the floodgates of Christ’s heart to Jew and Gentile alike.

We can learn at least four lessons from this Canaanite woman.

A first lesson is the all-consuming care parents must have for the spiritual welfare of their children.

Dear parents, subject every other form of care you have for them to your responsibility and care for their relationship with God. Do not leave it to the school or the parish. It is above all your mission to draw them to God, and God will hold you responsible for this before any other service you give them.

What’s the use of giving them money, sports or academic opportunities, if their hearts and souls are empty of God and, in time, might well be filled with evils? God first, and all else will go well. God last, and all else will simply not go.

A second lesson is that we should never despair in times of darkness, whether it is one’s own, that of one’s son or daughter, husband or wife, or that of the world or even the Church itself.

As it was for this woman, so it must be for us: the worse the situation, the greater we must hope, trust, believe and search. The counsels of darkness are nothing but sweet treachery and we listen to them at our peril. Rather, while acknowledging the darkness, we must stir our memory of the light. Trust that memory and heed its counsels and the light will soon shine in your darkness and the darkness will not overcome it.

A third lesson is to seek out the Lord, the Son of David. Sitting at home and mouthing a half-hearted prayer is not enough. We should be like spiritual detectives, on the hunt for Jesus. It is true: We do not all have the energies or the resources to seek out the advice of famous spiritual men and women, nor visit the places of miracles.

But let us be honest. If we are in darkness, and are truly unhappy at being in it (alas, some are more than happy to be in it), we will not be content just to mumble a Hail Mary and hope for the best. We should be obsessed as was this woman to leave no stone unturned to find Jesus, to humble ourselves before him, and to beseech from him what we need with “great faith” and “bold humility”.

The sacraments, prayer in all its forms, Scripture, reading, almsgiving, fasting, works of charity: these are all ways we can seek him out with heartfelt sincerity and unstinting generosity.

A fourth lesson is possible, if we are willing to be open to it. Had this woman’s daughter not been possessed, we would never have known about her.

When Jesus’ friend Lazarus was dying, Jesus allowed him to die and explained it thus: “This sickness will not end in death but in God’s glory.”

The evils that befall us are not willed by God, but, once they happen, he takes them, and wants us to take them, as opportunities to show his glory. Our problems, our failures, our sicknesses of body, mind or heart can be our chance to experience the glory of God.

They can be instruments by which our faith becomes “great”, and by which we enter into a deep personal rapport with Jesus and with his glory. What seemed to be a change for the worse thus ushers in a life-changing encounter with Jesus, one that might even be worthy of the Gospel itself.

O, Christian, how great can be your faith in Jesus! Then, all will “be done for you as you wish”!

Msgr. Peter Magee

Sunday, August 14th, 2005:  Annunciation Parish, DC  - 10:00am & 11:30am