Wednesday, August 09, 2017 18th Week in Ordinary Time 1st Reading: Num 13:1-2, 25-14:1,26a-29a,34-35 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)
Today’s Gospel is not about discrimination but about faith. The seeming arrogance of Jesus towards the Canaanite woman actually highlights the power of one’s faith over God. Elsewhere in the Gospel Jesus says: “If you have faith as small as the mustard said, you can even command a tree to uproot itself, or order a mountain to move”. Yes, you can even command God if you have but a morsel of faith.
The frustrating situation ended to the Canaanite woman’s favor. She didn’t only obtain cure for her daughter but also won the greatest compliment from Jesus that she was a woman of great faith. On what basis did Jesus find her faith impressive? Well, he checked it out by making things difficult for her. He even came close to calling her a dog! Women are usually sensitive to words. But she swallowed her pride. It was her unwavering faith that impressed Jesus.
Hope and humility distinguished her faith. Hope sustained her despite Jesus’ disinterest in her case. Humility kept her resilient despite the embarrassing experience. She was not only a woman considered as second-class citizen by their culture; she was also a pagan considered by the Chosen people as an outsider. She knew she couldn’t have any access to the favors reserved to the Jews. Humbly acknowledging her status, she didn’t mind being compared to a little dog unworthy of the bread prepared for the children of the master. She would have been contented of the crumbs falling from the children’s table. Cure for her daughter would have been enough. But she got more. She was also declared a woman of great faith. In her story we see the power of faith at work. –(Atty.) Rev. Fr. Dan Domingo P. delos Angeles, Jr., DM
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