Great Is Your Faith!
Be It Done for You as You Desire
GOD’s love is universal and unconditional. Nothing can stop GOD from loving each and every person. The proof of this is that Jesus came among us so that all could have life and life to the full. The sad part of the experience is that some people reject GOD’s love and refuse to live the life which is offered to them. GOD continues to offer a reconciling hand to those who have turned away. Yet GOD will not and cannot force people to love. We, as believers in the One True GOD, are commissioned to model and share the love for others that we have experienced from our GOD. In that way, others might open themselves to the GOD Who loves. We, as disciples of the Lord Jesus, are called to go out to all the world, to all peoples, and to share the Good News of GOD’s love.
The universality of
GOD’s love runs through the readings today. Breaking from the traditional thought
of earlier prophets, Isaiah’s words today have GOD speaking about salvation reaching
out beyond the “Chosen People” to “the foreigners who join themselves to the LORD.”
The response for today’s psalm echoes the theme in the words, “O GOD, let all the
nations praise You!” St. Paul reminds the Gentiles that they are beneficiaries of
the truth passed down from the Jewish people, and he hopes that the Gentiles will
somehow enable the Jewish people to accept the full truth that comes from Jesus.
The Gospel relates the account of the Canaanite woman seeking healing for her daughter.
After challenging her, Jesus grants her request because of her faith.
Commentary: One of the great results of the
disastrous Sack of Jerusalem by the Babylonians and the exile of the Jews in Babylon
was the growing realization that Israel had been chosen to bring God’s healing not
only to her own people but to the peoples of the world. I shall lead them all to
my holy mountain, promises the LORD. In the gospel we will see this put into action
when Jesus is maneuvered into healing the Canaanite woman’s daughter, beyond the
bounds of Israel. What does this mean for us today? Our God is concerned for the
salvation of all peoples, and it is for us to bring the values of Christianity to
all nations. But our God is truly God of all nations, and we have no right to force
our own appreciation of God’s ways of acting onto other civilizations who understand
in their own way what we express by the Lordship of God, the salvation won by Christ’s
loving obedience, and spread by the Spirit of Christ. To fail to appreciate the
other great religions of the world is an act not of homage to the Christian God
but of failure to appreciate the divine omniscience and omnipotence.
Our Responsorial today
reiterates the theme of all nations rejoicing in the salvation by GOD. It portrays
a time when all people will live in harmony and equality because GOD is reigning
over all. The psalmist begins by asking for God's graciousness, blessing, and the
radiance of His presence to shine upon them. The purpose of this blessing is not
just personal but extends to a larger mission: the revelation of God's ways and
salvation to all nations.
Psalm 67 is a prayer
that captures the desire for God's blessings not just for personal benefit but with
the intention of being a source of testimony and revelation to the entire world.
The psalmist's vision extends beyond the borders of Israel, envisioning a global
recognition of God's ways and salvation, culminating in praise from all peoples.
Commentary: Paul is here really meditating
on, and distraught by, the failure of most of the Jews to respond to the salvation
promised to them in Christ. It is indeed a devastating puzzle that God should have
prepared his people for the completion of his Kingdom in Christ and that, despite
all this, they did not respond. But were the Jews especially unresponsive, especially
rebellious? Or are they just typical of us all? One of the reasons why the New Testament
makes such a meal of the failure of the Jews to respond is surely as a warning to
ourselves. We have been chosen. We have been buried into Christ’s death and now
live with Christ’s life, and yet our response is pretty lukewarm and spasmodic.
To use Paul’s dramatic image of the olive-tree of Israel, if the true branches can
be cut off to make room for the gentiles to be grafted in, then surely the grafted
branches can fail to take on the life of the vine. However, such is Paul’s conviction
of the power of Christ and the victorious Lordship of Christ that he never even
mentions hell or eternal punishment. He does not seem to envisage that anyone could
escape the saving power of Christ.
Commentary: This is an especially significant
scene in two ways. In Mark this scene is the only explicit encounter between Jesus
and a gentile – and a woman at that! At first Jesus is reluctant to do anything
for her, for his mission was primarily to Israel. He puts her off and is really
quite brusque to her. However, she wins through by her persistence and her determined
confidence in his powers: the disciples get fed up with her shrieking after them,
and ask Jesus to cure her daughter, which he does. We need to be persistent in our
prayers and in our efforts. God does not grant a casual request. Secondly, it shows
a lot about Jesus’ relationship to women and about his sense of humour: they seem
to tease each other with their repartee, just as he does with the Samaritan woman
in John, chapter 4.
In Matthew’s account the woman is far more reverent to Jesus. She calls
him ‘Lord’ three times and ‘son of David’ (an important title for Matthew, the Christian
Jew). She worships him, twice asking him to have pity on her (the formula used at
Mass, ‘Kyrie eleison’). Jesus, for his part, explicitly congratulates her on her
great faith, and cures the daughter because of her faith – a cure which Matthew
stresses was instantaneous
Reflection: Do you ever feel
"put-off" or ignored by the Lord? This passage (Matthew 15:21) describes
the only occasion in which Jesus ministered outside of Jewish territory. (Tyre and
Sidon were fifty miles north of Israel and still exist today in modern Lebanon.)
A Gentile woman, a foreigner who was not a member of the Jewish people, puts Jesus
on the spot by pleading for his help. At first Jesus seemed to pay no attention
to her, and this made his disciples feel embarrassed. Jesus does this to test the
woman to awaken faith in her.
Jesus first tests
the woman's faith
What did Jesus mean by the expression "throwing bread to the dogs"? The Jews often spoke of the Gentiles with arrogance and insolence as "unclean dogs" since the Gentiles did not follow God's law and were excluded from God's covenant and favor with the people of Israel. For the Greeks the "dog" was a symbol of dishonor and was used to describe a shameless and audacious woman. There is another reference to "dogs" in Matthew's Gospel where Jesus says to his disciples, "Do not give to dogs what is holy" (Matthew 7:6). Jesus tests this woman's faith to see if she is earnest in receiving holy things from the hand of a holy God. Jesus, no doubt, spoke with a smile rather than with an insult because this woman immediately responds with wit and faith - "even the dogs eat the crumbs".
Seek the Lord Jesus
with expectant faith
Jesus praises a Gentile
woman for her faith and for her love. She made the misery of her child her own and
she was willing to suffer rebuff in order to obtain healing for her loved one. She
also had indomitable persistence. Her faith grew in contact with the person of Jesus.
She began with a request and she ended on her knees in worshipful prayer to the
living God. No one who ever sought Jesus with earnest faith - whether Jew or Gentile
- was refused his help. Do you seek the Lord Jesus with expectant faith?
The first Christian
community, sprouted as a lush sapling from the stump of Israel, confronted this
exclusivism. The Christians asked themselves: is salvation destined for all peoples,
or is it reserved for the children of Abraham? There was disagreement, misunderstanding,
bitter conflict, and it divided the Church (1 Cor 1:10-12; Gal 2:11-14). Some argued
that the Gospel was to be announced only to the Israelites. To substantiate their
argument, they referred to the behavior of Jesus during his public life. He had
carried out his mission within the borders of Palestine. They also recalled his
recommendation: "Do not visit pagan territories and do not enter a Samaritan
town. Go instead to the lost sheep of the people of Israel” (Mt 10:5-6).
Others cultivated
more open ideas. They were convinced that the Gospel was to be preached primarily
to the Jews, the first recipients of salvation (Mt 22:1-6). But they were also convinced
that the Gentiles were to be admitted to the banquet hall of the Kingdom of God
(Mt 22:8-10). Israel was the ‘firstborn’ of the Lord (Sir36:11), but not ‘the only
begotten’: God had always considered all nations to be his children (Jer 3:19).
The order of the Risen Lord was unequivocal: "Go therefore and make disciples
of all nations. Baptize them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the
Holy Spirit; and teach them to observe all that I have commanded you” (Mt 28:19-20).
Due to the short timeframe
(maybe only three years) of his public life, Jesus had limited his mission "to
the lost sheep of the house of Israel." However, he also gestured clearly that
his salvation was for all peoples. The episode narrated in the Gospel today is one
of the most significant and revealing in this regard.
One day a stranger
comes to Jesus. She comes from the region of Tyre and Sidon and ‘continues to cry
out’ (note the insistence of her prayer), begging for the healing of her daughter.
The text calls her a ‘Canaanite,’ thus belonging to an enemy nation, a dangerous
people that seduced Israel several times. It diverted Israel from the right faith
and led her to worship Baal and Astarte.
The disciples of Jesus
are Israelites educated in the most rigorous religious fundamentalism. They are
surprised by the nerve of this intrusive pagan who dares to speak to their Master.
They await his reaction: will he heed the current regulations that prohibit communication
with strangers, or—as he often did—will he break the traditional mold?
The evangelist relates
the dialogue between Jesus and the woman. He sounds almost delighted to emphasize
the increasingly harsh tone of the Master’s responses. In the face of the woman's
request for help, he takes a dismissive attitude: not worthy of a glance or even
a word (v. 23). Then the apostles, a little annoyed, intervene. They want to solve
the situation as soon as possible as it is likely to become embarrassing. They ask
him to send her away. ‘Listen to her,’ says our text, but it is not a correct translation.
‘Send her away!’ is their request.
Jesus seems to follow
their advice. He becomes more severe and says: "I was sent only to the lost
sheep of the nation of Israel" (v. 24). The image of the flock in disarray
frequently occurs in the Old Testament. "My sheep wander over the mountain
and high hills, and when they are scattered throughout the land, no one bothers
about them or looks for them” (Ezk 34:6), which is echoed by another prophet: "Like
sheep we had all gone astray, each following his own way” (Is 53:6). There is also
the promise of God: "I myself will care for my sheep and watch over them. I
will search for the lost and lead back the strays. I will bind up the injured and
strengthen the weak, but the fat and the strong will be eliminated. I will shepherd
my flock with justice” (Ezk 34:11:16).
The Lord has only
made commitments to the Israelites. He should be concerned only with them. Presenting
himself as a shepherd of Israel, Jesus declares that he intends to fulfill the prophecies,
and the woman understands. She knows that she is not of the chosen people. She is
conscious of not belonging to the ‘flock of the Lord’ and not having any right to
salvation. However, she relies on the goodwill and free intervention of God. Bowing
down to Jesus, she begs: "Lord, help me!"
In response, she receives
an insult: "It is not right to take the bread from the children and throw it
to puppies” (v. 26). The Israelites are the sheep; the Gentiles are the dogs. The
use of the diminutive mitigates, but not by much, the harshness of the offense.
Throughout the ancient Middle East, ‘dog’ was the cruelest insult. It was the nickname
with which the Jews called the pagans. A raw image is taken in various New Testament
texts: "Do not give what is holy to the dogs or throw your pearls before pigs”
(Mt 7:6). "Outside are the dogs!" (Rev 22:15). "Beware of dogs"
(Phil 3:2). It was used to emphasize the absolute incompatibility between the pagan
life and the evangelical choice.
On the lips of Jesus,
this expression surprises us, especially if we consider that the Canaanite woman
turned to him with great respect. Three times she called him ‘Lord’—the title with
which Christians profess their faith in the Risen One—and once the ‘Son of David,’
which equates to recognizing him as the Messiah. It seems that, like all his countrymen,
he also holds disgust for foreigners. But is it so? The conclusion of the story
enlightens us. "Woman—says Jesus—how great is your faith.” It is praise that
has never been addressed to an Israelite woman.
Now everything becomes
clear. That which precedes—the provocation, the contempt for the pagans, the reference
to their impurity and unworthiness—was but a clever posture. Jesus wanted his disciples
to alter radically the way they dealt with foreigners. He ‘played the part’ of the
integral and pure Israelite to show how ridiculous and senseless the separatist
mentality cultivated by his people was. While the ‘flock of sheep’ kept themselves
away from the shepherd who wanted to gather them (Mt 23:37), the ‘dogs’ approached
him and obtained salvation because of their great faith.
The message is as
timely as ever. The Church is called to be a sign that all discrimination related
to gender, membership of a race, or a people or an institution are a thing of the
past. Paul declares: “In Christ Jesus, all of you are sons and daughters of God
through faith. All of you who were given to Christ through baptism, have put on
Christ. Here there is no longer any difference between Jew or Greek, or between
slave or freed, or between man and woman; but all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
And because you belong to Christ, you are of Abraham’s race and you are to inherit
God’s promise" (Gal 3:26-29).
The Canaanite woman—the
pagan, the infidel—is singled out as a model of the true believer. She knows she
does not deserve anything, believes that only by the Word of Christ can she freely
arrive at salvation. She implores and receives it as a gift.
Lord Jesus, your love
and mercy knows no bounds. May I trust you always and pursue you with indomitable
persistence as this woman did. Increase my faith in your saving power and deliver
me from all evil and harm.
Daily Quote from the
Early Church Fathers: The Mother of the Gentiles, by Epiphanius the
Latin (late 5th century)
"After our Lord
departed from the Jews, he came into the regions of Tyre and Sidon. He left the
Jews behind and came to the Gentiles. Those whom he had left behind remained in
ruin; those to whom he came obtained salvation in their alienation. And a woman
came out of that territory and cried, saying to him, 'Have pity on me, O Lord, Son
of David!' O great mystery! The Lord came out from the Jews, and the woman came
out from her Gentile territory. He left the Jews behind, and the woman left behind
idolatry and an impious lifestyle. What they had lost, she found. The one whom they
had denied in the law, she professed through her faith. This woman is the mother
of the Gentiles, and she knew Christ through faith. Thus on behalf of her daughter
(the Gentile people) she entreated the Lord. The daughter had been led astray by
idolatry and sin and was severely possessed by a demon." (excerpt from INTERPRETATION
OF THE GOSPELS 58)
IS YOUR CATHOLIC CHURCH
CATHOLIC?
“My house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”—Isaiah 56:7
Is your church filled with members who are young and old, black and white, male and female, poor and rich, U.S. citizens and internationals?
Nevertheless, where are the men and the young? We need these members of the body of Christ (see 1 Cor 12:21ff).
What can we do to
be truly catholic? Live a more austere life in solidarity with the poor. Challenge a man
to follow Jesus. Be Catholic in the true sense of the word.
Prayer: Father, may I help
make my church representative of the Body of Christ. “Woman, you have great faith!
Your wish will come to pass.” —Mt 15:28. Praise the risen Jesus, the only Way to the Father!
(Jn 14:6) Praise the risen Jesus, Who baptizes us in the Spirit!
(Mk 1:8)
The personal action
for today: What is my understanding of the Truth? Do I limit my concern for
others by my misunderstanding the universal compassion and love of GOD? Am I able
to be authentic to the Truth at the same time allow GOD to work in the lives of
all people whom Jesus came to save? Is there some aspect of my dealing with others
that I must change to reflect the attitude of the Master-Teacher Who came that all
might have life? To whom might I reach out in a more understanding and compassionate
way today? This week?