20th Sunday in Ordinary Time
We are now at the mid point of August and soon the schools around will be reopening for the new school year. Time is flying by. Our Gospel reading for this Sunday is all about the faith of the Canaanite woman whose daughter was being tormented by a devil, but when you read the story we realize it is really about the great faith that she has and it was that faith in Jesus that cured her daughter even though she had to be persistent in dealing with the Lord. The woman in this Sundays Gospel story is not satisfied with just tears though. Her daughter “is tormented by a demon.” Parents among us know what that might feel like and how fiercely we would spring into action if a “cure” was before us for our own sick child. She cries out and asks Jesus for help and perseveres even when the disciples try to send her away and Jesus Himself rebuffs her! Jesus relents because her faith is great. The message of today’s readings is all about FAITH life can be a bit of a pickle with good and bad things within it, but a life lived with faith will see all the various obstacles being removed.
The woman of this Sundays gospel is a clear sign to all of us that God’s salvation was meant for all people and all nations – not just for the Jews. Jesus encounter with the Canaanite woman shows a change in his human understanding of God’s plan for humanity. How does this change take place? By the woman’s persistence and unwillingness to accept a narrow and restrictive view of God. She realized birth and religious origins cannot hold back the outpouring of God’s love on all people where and who ever they are. If we make God too small and puny in love we have not heard the gospel. She proves to be one of the most remarkable people in the Gospels. She digs in, takes Jesus on, and proves herself to be the wordsmith He is and even better. She hits Him right between the eyes with her famous reply, “Lord, even dogs get the crumbs that fall from their owner’s table.” But she doesn’t want crumbs. She wants the whole loaf – her child’s cure. His irritability and even bad manners indicate Jesus was strung out. His nerves must have been as tight as an overstretched rubber band. The heat was 100 plus degrees. This Canaanite was the first Gentile of record whom He had dealt so aggressively with.
Still, confronted by this courageous woman and, unlike us. He cools down. It is an admission of bad manners on His part. He honors the woman by learning from her. Besides, Christ was charmed out of His sandals by her reply. He may well have broken out into laughter at Himself and given her a high five. Score Canaanite woman 5 and Christ 0. Wit is still prized in the Middle East by both Jews and Arabs the ability to match riddle with riddle, to cap one wise saying with another, to match insult with insult, and to turn raw insult into a compliment. Christ cured her child. He also salutes her Great faith She was also great for a second reason. She was the only one in any Gospel who had beaten Him in public debate. Would our faith be as persistent as the faith of the Canaanite woman in this Sundays Gospel? Only you can answer that one for yourself and I hope that your faith is persistent like the Canaanite woman whose daughter Jesus Cured because faith moves mountains but as the saying goes we need to keep on climbing!!
Fullerton T 