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TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME


cappie

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In today's Gospel we hear the story of a Canaanite woman who comes to Jesus seeking healing for her daughter. "Canaanite" signified "pagan" to the Jews of Jesus' time. The area of Tyre and Sidon, on the Mediterranean coast northwest of the Jewish region was where those called pagans traditionally lived.

The woman was obviously desperate. Jews  would barely speak to the Samaritans! Besides that, women did not ordinarily speak to strange men. Yes, she was desperate, desperate to find some help for her daughter. 

Obviously, this woman knew something about Judaism, and about Jesus. "Sir, Son of David, take pity on me. ." "Take pity on me" is a cry of the afflicted often found in Scripture, especially in the Psalms. And in using the title "Son of David," she recognizes Jesus as the Messiah. No doubt his fame had spread as far as Tyre and Sidon, but perhaps, too, her recognition was divinely inspired 

The cry of the Canaanite woman was not welcome. At first, Jesus did not answer her. And his disciples urged him to " Give her what she wants,’ they said, ‘because she is shouting after us." Even Jesus seemingly tries to brush her off. " It is not fair to take the children’s food and throw it to the house-dogs." But this woman is not easily discouraged. " Even house-dogs can eat the scraps that fall from their master’s table" she answers.

" Woman, you have great faith!  Let your wish be granted." Here lies the key to the whole story. It is her faith that makes the difference. "You have great faith" -- compare this to the words we heard addressed to the apostle Peter in last week's Gospel: "You of little faith, why did you doubt?" Peter was a Jew, Jesus' friend, and one of the chosen twelve; yet this Canaanite woman had shown greater faith than Peter. And her faith is rewarded.

There are certain implications that could be drawn from the story of the Canaanite woman and her faith. You might ask, for instance, who are the Canaanites among us today? Who might a modern Christian want to see Jesus send away? Who would we modern Christians not welcome into our fellowship? And what message do we send, knowingly or unknowingly, to "the others," the Canaanites in our world?

We humans keep on drawing circles where only "me and mine" belong. The circles, some people think, will keep us safe. The circles will keep "them" out -- whoever they may be.

But the funny thing is, God keeps drawing bigger circles. God's circles are not meant to keep out anyone. God's circles are meant to invite people in. And isn't that a good thing for us all? If that were not the case, we might risk finding ourselves on the outside. " Foreigners who have attached themselves to the Lord to serve him and to love his name and be his servants... these I will bring to my holy mountain. I will make them joyful in my house of prayer....for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples." God invites the people of all nations to God's holy mountain and it certainly is not the place of Christians to ask God to send any of them away.

One other implication in this story is the importance of faith. "Woman, you have great faith." The Canaanite woman claims her place in the kingdom based on faith. In fact, the kingdom of God depends exactly on this kind of faith, rather than the particular family or ethnic group to which we belong or the socio-economic status we might have attained. " Sir, Son of David, take pity on me," was the cry of this pagan woman whose prayer was heard and whose faith was rewarded. We echo her prayer today: Lord Jesus Christ, Son of David, Son of the Living God, have mercy on us. Amen.

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