Chipi's Gospel Commentary: Sunday, 20th Week of Ordinary Time, Cycle A
Mt 15:21-28
Our Lord, at this point, was retreating from the Jewish authorities with growing antagonism to His teachings and His rising popularity. Evidently, His teachings is not yet complete as how we know it now but in spite of this hiatus from Jewish public eye, He does not waste time and chooses to spend it strengthening His select group of apprentices in various ways and means.
This Sunday's Gospel is both strange and instructive. Our Lord, as we know Him in a "summary" sense, would not be the type who would simply shrug any poor woman, a social category that would have evoked a "double compassion". As it is, our hearts would move already whenever we see someone suffering material poverty. In this case, being a Canaanite meant that she is not only poor materially but even spiritually, not being part of the favored people of God. Further, being a woman meant that she does not have a favorable position in society, as usual preference gravitates towards men. And yet, Our Lord seemingly rejected the simple, direct plea of the Canaanite woman.
It is true: Our Lord was first sent to the lost sheep of Israel. This was Our Lord's second response to the cries of the woman (the first response would be his "non-response" to the earlier pleas of the woman until His disciples begged Him to drive her away). It would have been unfair for Him to conveniently grant the wishes of someone who was not part of the intended audience of Our Lord. This is instructive in a sense that we should not go out there immediately, dealing with complete strangers or mere acquaintances, when those around us such as our family and relatives are not led to the light of Christ.
Now take look at the Canaanite woman. She did not give any objection to Our Lord's response. In fact, her silence reflects her agreement to what Jesus said. It like she was saying this, "Yes, Lord, it is true you have been sent to the lost sheep of Israel. So what now? Lord, help me." She did not give up, in spite of the fact that she would not have a good knowledge of Our Lord. She could have learned it from her neighbors or friends -- possibly pagan too -- who would have also learned it from others. In short, her knowledge of Our Lord was neither first-hand nor formal. Also, as mentioned earlier, her position as a poor Canaanite woman puts her at a disadvantage in a typical political negotiation of sorts. Doesn't she know that Jesus is retreating from Jewish authorities? Instead of thinking "selfishly", she should provide Jesus and His band a place of refuge in that foreign land. And yet, she is "pestering" Our Lord to do something for her. Most likely but highly speculative, since He is bound to return, Our Lord did not want to put everything at risk by dealing too conveniently with pagans. It would caused confusion even among His disciples. Although there was a growing antagonism with the Jewish authorities, the general Jewish crowd is still astonished and bewildered by Our Lord's teachings, a sign that they are still receptive to Him and His teachings. Imagine, a Jew dealing with a pagan woman, and then one wonders -- Is He really who is mentioned in the Scriptures???
However, as we read further, a very wonderful thing happened. Our Lord's third response was a more descriptive one, stating that it is not right to give children's bread to dogs. As it is, the poor Canaanite woman has so little dignity left and Our Lord pummels that further down, implicitly stating that she is not even human. What does Our Lord want to prove here?
First: Like the poor Canaanite woman, Our Lord wants us to respond directly. He wants dialogue. As God, He already knows what we need even way before we would have been able to articulate them ourselves. And it is through dialogue that Our Lord is able to raise us up from a lowly level of shame and disregard.
Second: Constant humility breeds perseverance and then comes grace. Remember how in another scene, the rich young [Jewish] man was talking to Our Lord? A perfect contrast to the poor pagan woman in today's Gospel! And yet, that rich young man walked away. Our Lord wants us to understand that for us to gain His graces, we have to empty ourselves to receive it. In a way, He "pushed" the woman to feel her nothingness in the face of true "completeness" in the person of Our Lord. All that was left was for the woman to still acknowledge Our Lord in the state of nothingness. That extra step is perseverance.
The poor Canaanite woman did all that. She responded to Our Lord directly. She never gave up in spite of being pushed down to nothingness. And her reward was great.
Faith is all these, not a typical one-shot declaration. Faith is not just acknowledging the greatness of God (the poor Canaanite woman did just that in the early parts), but also acknowledging our nothingness in front of God and recognizing that without Him, we are nothing. And these series of acknowledgments is also not a one-shot action. We have to constantly do this, without losing hope. Our Lord will choose when to give us the reward. What's important is that by doing this, we will be rewarded eventually.
Our Lord, at this point, was retreating from the Jewish authorities with growing antagonism to His teachings and His rising popularity. Evidently, His teachings is not yet complete as how we know it now but in spite of this hiatus from Jewish public eye, He does not waste time and chooses to spend it strengthening His select group of apprentices in various ways and means.
This Sunday's Gospel is both strange and instructive. Our Lord, as we know Him in a "summary" sense, would not be the type who would simply shrug any poor woman, a social category that would have evoked a "double compassion". As it is, our hearts would move already whenever we see someone suffering material poverty. In this case, being a Canaanite meant that she is not only poor materially but even spiritually, not being part of the favored people of God. Further, being a woman meant that she does not have a favorable position in society, as usual preference gravitates towards men. And yet, Our Lord seemingly rejected the simple, direct plea of the Canaanite woman.
It is true: Our Lord was first sent to the lost sheep of Israel. This was Our Lord's second response to the cries of the woman (the first response would be his "non-response" to the earlier pleas of the woman until His disciples begged Him to drive her away). It would have been unfair for Him to conveniently grant the wishes of someone who was not part of the intended audience of Our Lord. This is instructive in a sense that we should not go out there immediately, dealing with complete strangers or mere acquaintances, when those around us such as our family and relatives are not led to the light of Christ.
Now take look at the Canaanite woman. She did not give any objection to Our Lord's response. In fact, her silence reflects her agreement to what Jesus said. It like she was saying this, "Yes, Lord, it is true you have been sent to the lost sheep of Israel. So what now? Lord, help me." She did not give up, in spite of the fact that she would not have a good knowledge of Our Lord. She could have learned it from her neighbors or friends -- possibly pagan too -- who would have also learned it from others. In short, her knowledge of Our Lord was neither first-hand nor formal. Also, as mentioned earlier, her position as a poor Canaanite woman puts her at a disadvantage in a typical political negotiation of sorts. Doesn't she know that Jesus is retreating from Jewish authorities? Instead of thinking "selfishly", she should provide Jesus and His band a place of refuge in that foreign land. And yet, she is "pestering" Our Lord to do something for her. Most likely but highly speculative, since He is bound to return, Our Lord did not want to put everything at risk by dealing too conveniently with pagans. It would caused confusion even among His disciples. Although there was a growing antagonism with the Jewish authorities, the general Jewish crowd is still astonished and bewildered by Our Lord's teachings, a sign that they are still receptive to Him and His teachings. Imagine, a Jew dealing with a pagan woman, and then one wonders -- Is He really who is mentioned in the Scriptures???
However, as we read further, a very wonderful thing happened. Our Lord's third response was a more descriptive one, stating that it is not right to give children's bread to dogs. As it is, the poor Canaanite woman has so little dignity left and Our Lord pummels that further down, implicitly stating that she is not even human. What does Our Lord want to prove here?
First: Like the poor Canaanite woman, Our Lord wants us to respond directly. He wants dialogue. As God, He already knows what we need even way before we would have been able to articulate them ourselves. And it is through dialogue that Our Lord is able to raise us up from a lowly level of shame and disregard.
Second: Constant humility breeds perseverance and then comes grace. Remember how in another scene, the rich young [Jewish] man was talking to Our Lord? A perfect contrast to the poor pagan woman in today's Gospel! And yet, that rich young man walked away. Our Lord wants us to understand that for us to gain His graces, we have to empty ourselves to receive it. In a way, He "pushed" the woman to feel her nothingness in the face of true "completeness" in the person of Our Lord. All that was left was for the woman to still acknowledge Our Lord in the state of nothingness. That extra step is perseverance.
The poor Canaanite woman did all that. She responded to Our Lord directly. She never gave up in spite of being pushed down to nothingness. And her reward was great.
Faith is all these, not a typical one-shot declaration. Faith is not just acknowledging the greatness of God (the poor Canaanite woman did just that in the early parts), but also acknowledging our nothingness in front of God and recognizing that without Him, we are nothing. And these series of acknowledgments is also not a one-shot action. We have to constantly do this, without losing hope. Our Lord will choose when to give us the reward. What's important is that by doing this, we will be rewarded eventually.
posted by Chipi Buenafe at
12:44 PM
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