Did you ever notice how Our Lord was continually pursued by people looking for something—a miracle, a legal opinion, or words of wisdom and comfort. His enemies pursued him to ensnare and ridicule him. Today we hear of a Canaanite woman, a pagan, who pursues him desperately pleading for her suffering daughter who was tormented by a demon. In fact, she pursues him so doggedly that the apostles thought her a nuisance and wanted to be rid of her.
Surprisingly, Jesus says not a word to her. He seems to ignore her. Yet she would not be put off and kept calling after him. Jesus finally addresses her with words that are disconcerting “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Jesus was affirming that the Gospel was to be preached first to the Jews and later to the Gentiles. In essence, Jesus says to the woman: “Your time will come, but not now.”
Any of us would have gone away, offended, murmuring: “How could Jesus, supposed friend of the poor and afflicted treat me so?” This desperate mother is not discouraged by Our Lord’s seeming indifference She throws herself at the feet of Jesus pleading for his help.
Then comes the most disconcerting, even shocking response of Jesus who used the language typical of the Jewish world at the time: “It is not right to take the food of children (the Jews) and throw it to the dogs (the Gentiles).” At this point, anyone would have turned away infuriated! Not the Canaanite…she is steadfast and bold, twisting the Lord’s imagery to her advantage, saying in effect, “Yes, I grant you, bread for the children first…but dogs nevertheless get whatever falls under the table.”
This scene is one of the only two examples of Jesus losing an argument. In both cases, it was with a woman. The other case is at the wedding at Cana when Jesus could not say no to his mother.
Our Lord’s responses were not an absence of concern or compassion. Our Lord was testing the woman’s faith, “raising the bar” so to speak. Jesus who had tussled with her, rejoices and praises her great faith. At that moment, her daughter was healed.
St. Augustine admired the Canaanite woman. He dedicated three homilies to her and always mentions her when he speaks of “praying always.” He called her “the woman who conquered Jesus with her faith.” Perhaps she reminded him so much of his mother Monica who prayed for years in tears for his conversion.
The Canaanite woman is a model of unwavering faith and persistent, confident prayer. It’s easy to become discouraged when we face life’s difficult trials. Someone once said, “I’m pretty sure that my prayers go directly to God’s spam folder.” No way! Pope Francis reminded us: “The Lord does not turn away in the face of our needs and, if at times, he seems insensitive to our requests for help, it is in order to put to the test and to strengthen our faith.” We should heed the counsel of Isaiah: “O you, who are to remind the Lord, take no rest and give no rest to him.” (62:6).
Here’s an interesting prayer:
“Dear Lord, so far today, I am doing all right. I have not gossiped, lost my temper, been greedy, rude, selfish, or self-indulgent. I haven’t charged anything on my credit card. But I’ll be getting out of bed in a minute and think I will really need your help then.”
