In today's gospel, Matthew 15: 21-28, a Canaanite woman, a non-Jew, approaches Jesus and begs Him to heal her daughter who is possessed by a demon. Jesus ignores her. When she persists, He says to her: "I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel." Again, she approached Him and says: "Lord, help me." He replies: "It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs." the woman is not deterred by that remark and says to Jesus: "Please, lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters." Even Jesus' disciples were against this woman and asked Jesus to "send her away; for she keeps calling after us. However, Jesus is amazed by the faith of this foreigner and says to her: "O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish." And Matthew tells us that "the woman's daughter was healed from that hour."
O my God! I probably would have walked again dejected and hurt and angry. Not this woman! No way was she going to take a "no"! Her daughter was suffering tremendously at the hands of Satan. "No, you are not one of us," was unacceptable to this Canaanite mother.
Jesus was well aware of the Jews attitude toward strangers and, in fact, their animosity toward Canaanites! Was He actually teaching His disciples how to treat strangers, namely, that they, too, were part of the redemptive process and recipients of God's generosity, compassion and love, just as they were! Is it possible that, all along, Jesus actually intended to respond positively to this woman's request but led her along as a way of breaking through his disciples' belief that they alone were privy to God's merciful love?
Do you, do I, think that we are better than others, more deserving of God's mercy and that there are people who deserve to be sent away from "the Table of the Lord"? Do you, do I, believe that it is right for us to exclude others, to be indifferent toward others, to ignore their needs for help?
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