Today’s Gospel (Mt 15:21-28) presents us with a unique example of faith in Jesus’s encounter with a Canaanite woman, a foreigner to the Jews. The scene unfolds as Jesus leaves God’s own holy land and enters pagan territory where he encounters the woman who comes to Jesus and calls out: “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon” (Mt 15:22b). The Lord, at first, seems not to hear her cry of pain or simply ignores her, which causes the intervention of the disciples, who want to get rid of her to avoid the trouble that she was causing: “she keeps calling out after us” (23c). Jesus’s seemingly indifference does not discourage the woman who persists in her plea for help. Her daughter is suffering and she won’t give up.

Why? Even though the woman is boldly assertive, she’s also insightful. She knows who Jesus is. She calls him “Lord, son of David,” which are two comprehensive titles: Jesus is Lord, which means he is intimately connected with God (the Father) and therefore is meant for all mankind. He is also the Son of David, who is the fulfillment of the Messianic hope that originated in the Jewish tradition. So, Jesus is both the universal and particular Savior—the woman understands that.

But in the short term, “…he did not answer her at all” (v. 23). Why doesn’t he talk with her? She is only asking the Messiah to fulfill his calling and expel the demons who torment her daughter and by extension all of God’s children. Jesus, however, refuses to acknowledge her presence, let alone honor her request.

At this point in his public ministry, Jesus has construed his identity and mission within the boundaries of Israel. Jesus is the fulfillment of the Messianic hope, who will gather all the Twelve tribes of Israel into one Kingdom again. So, he says, “I have been sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (v. 24.) Jesus is basically saying, “I am a Jew, you’re not; so your problem is no concern of mine.” Undaunted, she lays prostrate and says again, “Lord, help me” (v. 25).

Notice that by paying homage to Jesus, she is doing an action appropriate to God: she prostrates herself. Moreover, in her plea there is a subtle omission. When she addressed Jesus the first time, she called him, “Lord, Son of David,” which acknowledges his particular origins as a Jew and his connection to the

House of David. She knows that Jesus is stressing his Jewishness at the expense of the wider humanity. The result is that she was outside him and her pleas go unheard, which means her daughter will not be healed. So, this resourceful woman, who will do whatever takes for her daughter to be healed, drops the ‘Son of David’ and simply says, “Lord, help me.”

Jesus’ reply is troublesome to our contemporary ears: “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs” (v. 26). We can assume that the ‘children’ represent Israel and ‘dogs’ represent Gentiles. The harshness of this saying is soften a bit by the use of kynarion (“puppy”) in the original Greek, who were house dogs. Be that as it may, Jesus is clearly affirming the traditional Jewish approach to salvation history: namely, to the Jews first. Indeed, the Jews saw their vocation as being “a light of the nations” (Isaiah 42:6).

At this point the woman gives off one the best one-liners in Scripture: “Please Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters” (v. 27). By coming back with that zinger, she again is emphasizing Jesus’s universal outreach by calling him ‘Lord,’ the one who is meant for everyone. To be sure, salvation will come through the Jews; that’s why Jesus public ministry was nearly exclusively directed to Israel. It is through Israel that God offers an invitation to all the ends of the earth to turn to him, be saved, and worship him (Is 45:22-23). This is what the Canaanite woman was drawing from. She may not be a daughter of Israel, but she is eager for any food that Jesus has to offer.

Jesus is won over as he answered her, “O Woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish” (v. 28a). The title ‘woman’ that Jesus uses is not simply a description of her gender. When Jesus uses that term, say in reference to his Mother (cf. the Wedding Feast of Cana, the Crucifixion), it underscores the universal intrinsic worth of the feminine. The ‘O’ suggests a shock of recognition; today, we’d say ‘Wow! or ‘Awesome!’—you’ve given me a sudden revelation.
The pestering one, whom the disciples wanted to get rid of, is the bearer of a deeper truth. This is her great faith. Through her persistence and cleverness, she reminded Jesus of his true identity. He is a Jew. But, more importantly, he is Lord of the universe.

This wonderfully complex and rich Gospel story helps us to understand that we all need to be persistent in our faith journey. He can help us find our way through the uncertainty of our times when we may feel that we have lost our compass. Prayer will fortify our trust in Jesus. By nourishing our faith journey by

beginning and ending our day with prayer, by reflecting upon the Scripture, and by spending some Quiet time in wordless attentiveness, we can
stay the course. Staying connected with the Sacraments as much as can be prudently done will also nourish us. Thus fortified, we can also reach out with concrete gestures of charity towards our companion travelers, our neighbors— especially those who may worse off than we are.

Jesus is with us as well as the Holy Spirit, who He has reassured us will be with us every step on our journey. The Holy Spirit instills courage in our hearts when we need it the most. He gives our life and our Christian witness the power to stand up in the face of pandemic adversity. He helps us to overcome the skepticism toward God and indifference towards our brothers and sisters.

That’s why we join with the Canaanite woman and plead, “Lord, help me.”