Woman of great faith

Wednesday, August 03, 2016 18th Week in
Ordinary Time 1st Reading: Jer 31: 1-7 Gospel: Matthew 15:21-28

Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. Now a Canaanite woman came from those borders and began to cry out, “Lord, Son of David, have pity on me! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” But Jesus did not answer her, not even a word. So his disciples approached him and said, “Send her away: see how she is shouting after us.”

Then Jesus said to her, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the nation of Israel.”

But the woman was already kneeling before Jesus and said, “Sir, help me!” Jesus answered, “It is not right to take the bread from the children and throw it to the little dogs.” The woman replied, “It is true, sir, but even the little dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master’s table.” Then Jesus said, “Woman, how great is your faith! Let it be as you wish.” And her daughter was healed at that moment.

D@iGITAL-EXPERIENCE (Daily Gospel in the
Assimilated Life
Experience)

Never mind if Jesus appeared harsh to the Canaanite woman who had asked him to cure her daughter.

Never mind if Jesus compared the Canaanite woman to pet dogs. Today’s Gospel is not about discrimination but about the faith of a woman who was not even a Jew but a Gentile. Her insistence must have struck the right strings in Jesus. After all, didn’t Jesus teach his followers to be insistent at prayer? We only need to revisit the Parable of the Persistent Widow (Luke 18:1-8).

The Canaanite woman’s story reveals two indispensable components of faith, namely, humility and hope. In humility she acknowledged that as a non-member of the Chosen people she did not deserve any intervention from Jesus. In hope she tried her luck on Jesus’ magnanimity. Faith and hope are two components of the faith of the woman proclaimed by Jesus as woman of great faith. So faith is not really that complicated! “If you have faith as small as the mustard seed, you can even command a tree to uproot itself, or order a mountain to move” (Luke 17:6).

The Canaanite woman heard Jesus comparing her to dogs but she focused on the essentials. She must have experienced lots of pain in her life and another one didn’t matter to her anymore. By persevering she was effectively declaring her faith that notwithstanding the apparent rebuff she got, Jesus was merciful and meek of heart. In the end she got not just crumbs falling from the children’s table but the platter reserved for significant guests. More than a miracle, she received the greatest compliment no pagan woman ever heard from Jesus. “Woman,” Jesus told her, “How great is your faith!” -(Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM, MMExM, MAPM, REB. Email:[email protected].

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