Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Especially for twenty-first century sensibilities, Jesus’s actions in today’s Gospel are challenging. From a fairly straightforward perspective, the Lord’s behavior towards the Canaanite woman seems rude if not outright insulting. First, Jesus ignores the woman; then, he offers an excuse by saying that he “was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”; finally, when he says, “It is not right to take the food of the children [i.e., the Israelites] and throw it to the dogs,” his words demean the Canaanite people. Is Jesus simply that callous? Even if this is a test of faith, does he not go too far?
In this line of questioning, however, it is helpful to remember exactly who this Jesus is who is interacting with the woman in such a way. This Jesus is the same who takes away the sins of the world, including those of this woman (John 1:29); the same who mercifully refuses to stone the woman caught in adultery, but rather calls her to go and sin no more (John 8:2–11); the same whom Zechariah acclaims as both “a light for revelation to the Gentiles and glory for your people Israel” (Luke 2:32). He is the same who knows even the number of hairs on this woman’s head (Matt 10:30); as God, he alone knows how to use this seemingly harsh exchange to call forth a response of faith and humility from her heart. Thus, mysteriously, Jesus’s encounter with this woman enacts the prophecy of Isaiah from today’s first reading, in which “all peoples” are called to the Lord’s house.
What, then, is required of us? Humility and faith like that of this Canaanite woman, who does not cease to approach the Lord in the face of difficulties and challenges. In our own trials, let us pray to be like her, so that we may merit the same commendation as she: “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.”