The gospel today is a story of a Canaanite woman’s unwavering faith. We might think
Jesus was rather harsh in denying her request the first time! Many sayings of Jesus are
to evoke questions and lead his audience to greater truth about God and human
beings. Jesus was using a figure of speech common in his time that the Jews used to
call gentiles [according to some bible scholars, the dog reference is to a lapdog, a pet].
Jesus’s saying, ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel’, is a reference to Ezekiel 34,
that the messiah is the good shepherd, who would gather the lost sheep of Israel and
also the proverb, ‘food is for children’! It is important to note that Jesus was already in
pagan territory, Tyre and Sidon, intending to bring his good news to non-Jewish
people!Nonetheless, Jesus said that to reveal the depth of the woman’s faith and to
correct a wrong notion his disciples entertained that non-Jewish people do not deserve
divine mercy! Jesus showed that God’s mercy surpasses all human boundaries and
touches all who seek it; Jesus welcomed all kinds of people; his grace is with all who
care for change or transforming their lives in love. God is God of all; Christ shared our
humanity; no one is disposable; we the church show the healing, compassionate face
of Christ to the world and make our own the grief and joys of the world!
In order to give with love, to be an enriching and healing presence, one must go
through a certain dying; dying to prejudices, denouncing discrimination of all forms.
The world is going through difficult time in the pandemic. Many are suffering spiritually
and physically, as if life has come to a dead end! This is time for deeper conversion.
Sometimes faith can be a disappointing encounter with God, upsetting experience.
Why do I suffer more, the more I try to love God, we ask. We feel vulnerable; can we
speak of a faith like the woman in the gospel and put our complete trust in God.
Thomas Merton says that ‘faith is to know and accept that you are already loved-loved
by God, though unworthy or despite one’s unworthiness’! What the woman in the
gospel heard about Jesus was his love/compassion for the poor and sinner; she
approached him with that confidence in his love!
The story of the gentile woman shows that meaning of faith is how willing we are to
cooperate with the plans of God, even when feel like our prayers are unanswered.
Yesterday was the Feast of Assumption: in Mary’s yes to God, we have such an
example of faith. We call her mother of Church because she is a model of faith and
mother of love. Standing at the foot of the cross, she joined her suffering with the
suffering of humanity and entrusted that to the Son of God on the cross; we see the
broken humanity in the crucified one, waiting to be healed, raised up. Young Journalist
Madoc Cairns wrote: ‘I prayed for conversion, it hasn’t come to pass; prayed for
reconciliation and permanent estrangement remains. I feel abandoned by God as
Jesus felt. Jesus simply entered into our pain and heartbreak, saying to us you are
never alone in your suffering’! We the Church exist to witness faith in Christ in all life
situations and to live it in love. Jesus was looking in Israel for the kind of faith the
gentile woman had. He is searching in our hearts for such faith and love. Are we ready
to be channels of faith, agents of healing, justice and peace?