August 16, 2020 – 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time

Jesus has just performed two miracles – the multiplication of the loaves and His walking on water. As a result, Jesus encountered the aggression of the Pharisees, and so he fled north from Galilee. On His way, He, a Jew, encountered a Canaanite woman, a pagan, heading south. Jews had nothing to do with Canaanites.
Jesus’ harsh treatment of this woman, whose daughter is tormented by a demon, is shocking. She cries out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David.” Jesus ignores her. He passes by at a brisk pace- as any Jew would have done. The silence must have seemed very cold. She must have only been able to catch up to the Apostles. The Apostles aren’t concerned about her daughter; they just prefer that she would go away: “Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us.” That’s like saying: “Get her off our backs.” Jesus turns down their request: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.”
This invites another response from the woman, who prostrates herself before Jesus, crying out: “Lord, help me.” Again, Jesus seems to give a harsh, unexpected response: “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” The implication is that the Jews are the sheep and the children, and the pagans are the dogs. It must have been hard for the woman to be called a “dog.”
What is Jesus doing? Is He just having a bad day? No. There’s a method to his “madness.” While the Apostles are only interested in getting rid of this woman, Jesus is interested in bringing her to faith. He wants to increase her desire. If Jesus had simply granted her first request, she would have gone on her way and maybe her daughter would have been healed, but she would not have come to faith. This woman would have died and faded into history, but now her faith is forever remembered. In her first request, she called only with her voice. In her second request, she uses her whole body, prostrating herself, speaking simply: “Lord, help me.”
But when this request is denied and she is called a dog, does she give up? No. She humbles herself. She admits she is a pagan, and deserves nothing, but says, “Lord, even the dogs are allowed to eat the crumbs from their lords’ tables.” She admits her littleness and confesses the greatness of Jesus and the Jews. This woman is a genius. She understands this truth – this divine secret: in order to “win”- that is, to get what she wants, she must allow herself to be defeated by Jesus. She “wins” by submitting her voice; her body; her soul to Jesus in humble adoration. Unlike the Pharisees who were bent on lording their authority over others, including Jesus, this needy woman continues to acknowledge Jesus with the formula, Kyrie. She surrenders everything to Jesus so that her daughter would get well. Like a dog, she comes hungry with desire to the Master for “crumbs,” but to her, those crumbs signify her daughter’s life. For that she will surrender everything. She seems to say, “If you are the Lord, then you must be the loving Lord of all – the high and the low; the included and excluded; the sheep and the dogs; the chosen people and the pagans.” Jesus says, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done as you desire.” Her daughter is cured, and she herself acknowledges the Lordship of Christ. What can we learn from this episode? First, parents are reminded that they must be prepared to sacrifice everything to save their children. Second, we are reminded of the need to persevere in prayer. We often wonder why God doesn’t immediately hear and answer us. Sometimes He is trying to increase our desire for Him and simultaneously increase our humility, our surrender. The Lord often brings us to faith, not by giving us everything immediately or easily, but by making us strive for what it truly good. Seeing our desire for Him and our response of faith, He gives freely and generously. Third, we learn that He is Lord – the Lord of Love and Compassion; of the rich and poor; of the Chosen and the pagan. The harshness is forgotten amid the healing balm of His Mercy. The Canaanite woman learned this, and so, Jesus said to her, “Great is your faith! Be it done as you desire.” May we follow her example, so that He will say the same also to us.
It is also important for us to learn from the context of this passage in St. Matthew’s Gospel. Jesus has been engaged in an ongoing debate with the Pharisees about external observance of the law versus loving God with one’s heart. It appears that Jesus’ disciples too have not yet learned this lesson either. They were annoyed with this pagan, Canaanite woman and only let her speak to Jesus to relieve their own problem. In contrast to their little faith, which we saw last week when they panicked amid the storm at sea, the faith of the Canaanite woman was great, and it was this faith that saved her. The Gospel is not for a select few, but for everyone upon the face of the earth.
To that end, I would like every person to think about inviting someone you know who is not Catholic to attend Mass or to consider signing up for the RCIA (Rite of Christian Initiation for Adults). There is no reason why a parish as large as ours should not have more than a handful of candidates. A simple invitation goes along way. Similarly, there are many Catholics, especially the young, who have lapsed in their faith or claim no religious affiliation; invite them to come home.
Yes, this parish, this church, is to be a house of prayer for all peoples. Finally, during this time of pandemic, while we have continued to livestream Masses, our Mass attendance has been poor compared to other parishes. If you haven’t been to Mass for a while, make a concrete plan to attend – to build up the good habit again. Furthermore, with the school year approaching, if you haven’t been socially distancing or wearing masks (and from social media, I am aware that is true for a sizable number of our families), if you are considering attending Mass, please consider what steps you and your family should take to keep everyone in the assembly safe, especially the elderly and vulnerable who, with their great faith, continue to come to Mass.
In the end, God desires us – all of us – to gather together as His family – the more, the better, as he says through the prophet Isaiah: I will bring them to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer; their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar, for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples. Fr. Fernandes