Homily

Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time – Persistence in faith

All three Scripture readings today, speak of the universality of the Kingdom of God in contrast with the ancient Jewish belief that salvation should come first to the Jews and then to all other people. The first reading makes it clear that God invites all people to come and share in the promises He made to Israel. In today’s Gospel story, by healing the daughter of a Gentile woman, Jesus undoubtedly demonstrates that salvation was meant for the Gentiles as well as for the Jews. 

The context of the miracle: Jesus’ encounter with the Canaanite woman took place outside Jewish territory. Tyre and Sidon were two coastal cities, twenty-five and fifty miles north of Galilee in the present-day Lebanon. The woman in today’s miracle belonged to the old Canaanite stock of the Syro-Phoenician race. The Canaanites were the ancestral enemies of the Jews and were regarded as idolaters and, therefore, as ritually unclean.  But this woman expressed a gallant and audacious faith, springing from an unconquerable hope, until Jesus healed her daughter.  

Persistence in faith: This is a unique story. We cannot think of any other story where Jesus seems so harsh with someone seeking for help. It is also the only one I can think of where someone got the better of Jesus in a debate. I guess the main part of this story that most people remember is Jesus saying to her “it is not right to take the food of the children (the Jews) and throw it to the dogs” (meaning Gentiles). You know, referring to someone as dog in those days, as well as today, would be an insult. Dog was an unclean animal for the Jews. The important thing to notice is still, the woman didn’t turn and walk away angry. She was humble enough to accept Jesus’ remark and turn it to her advantage in order to gain his help to heal her daughter. 

The greatness of this woman's Faith consists in: a) her willingness to cross the barrier of racism; b) her refusal to be put off or ignored because of her position in life and c) her humility in admitting that she did not deserve the Master’s attention and time.

Salvation is for all: In this gospel passage, healing is not the primary focus of the story. It is the conversation between Jesus and the woman that caught the attention of the disciples and now our attention. Through it all, Jesus was preparing his disciples to understand his future command ‘to go into the whole world and preach the Good News until the end of the world.’

Messages for life: 1) God accepts everyone and therefore we all are members of God’s family. What we proclaim in the Creed, “One, Holy Catholic and Apostolic Church” reminds us that even though we may be from different parts of the country or of the world or from different states of life, yet we are all here together today at this Mass, the Sacrament of unity and love. God accepts us for who we are, His children, trying to further our relationship with God. That brings us to the awareness of feeling one with all our brothers and sisters.

During a women’ guild prayer service, the leader asked the members to pray for their intentions. They prayed for the usual requests for sick people, for good weather, for everyone’s family etc. The somber mood was broken when the last intention was said. A woman stood up and said, "My granddaughter turned 16 this week and received her driver’s license. Let us pray for us all."

2) In the story of the Canaanite woman we find another lesson for ourselves. We need to persist in prayer with trusting confidence. How many times have we prayed earnestly for something, something very dear to us, and God seems to have ignored us. We turn on our heels and walk away, angry, promising we will quit praying or going to Church or thinking God just doesn’t care about us. Jesus has on other occasions in the Gospels also has insisted on the importance of perseverance in prayer and not giving up. 

Christ himself has told us to ask him for our needs: "Ask and you shall receive." Asking with fervor and perseverance proves that we have the "great faith” and trust in God who wants to grant us what we really need rather than what we want here and now. Let us trust in God always and never give up.