20th Sunday Canaanite Woman

 

This weekend’s Gospel is about perseverance in prayer, humility and faith.

In the Gospel, the Canaanite woman approached Jesus trusting Him to help her daughter. She said, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” Despite her cries, Jesus did not answer. It seems that Our Lord did not pay attention to her. However, because of her faith, she would not give up until Jesus helped her.

And then to make matters even worse, Our Blessed Lord said something, which appears to be harsh. He said, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Could it really be He was unconcerned for the woman’s daughter, because she was not a Jew? Or was He only expressing what the Jews were thinking at the time? Despite His words to His disciples, she came and knelt before Him saying, “Lord help me.” What great faith she had! What humility! What perseverance!

Jesus continued to pretend to not want to have anything to do with her, and said something, which sounds insulting, “It is not right to take the food of the children, and throw it to the dogs.” Was Our Lord really insulting her by calling her and the Canaanites, dogs? During the time of Jesus, the Jewish people looked down upon the Gentile people, who weren’t Jewish. They often referred to the Gentiles as dogs. Our Lord was stating, it’s not right to give to her (a non-Jew), what was meant for Jews. Jesus wanted her to know that He must first preach the Gospel to the Jews.

The Jews are God’s chosen people. Yet, Jesus was about to show all those who were present-- Jew and non-Jews are now accepted into His kingdom. She continued to persist in her pleading and she said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.”

Our Savior only pretended to not want anything to do with her, or the Canaanites, because those listening did not want anything to do with a woman, who is a non-Jew, from the land of Canaan. One of the reasons why Jesus didn’t reply to her immediately was to allow others to see her great faith and her humility, which many of the Jews didn’t have. He also wanted to use her as an example, to show others that not only was He concerned for the non-Jews, but they can even be an example for the Jews. Perhaps Jesus even wanted His Disciples to also intercede for her; instead they told Jesus to send her away.

Everything comes to a climax when Jesus exclaimed, “O woman, great is your faith! Be it done for you as you desire.” Our Lord rewarded her for her perseverance by complimenting her unshakable faith. How wonderful is the revelation of her great faith, perseverance, and trust--- many of the Jews didn’t have. Her persistence was answered by her daughter being healed and her persistence led to a deeper understanding of Jesus’ love for everyone, Jews and non-Jews.

The noble mothers who appear in the Gospels are always seeking the best for their children. They know how to appeal to Jesus for assistance and favors. Recall that it was the mother of James and John who approached Our Lord to seek the first seats in heaven. The woman in today’s Gospel is a perfect model of constancy in prayer, a model intended for all those who tire easily when praying to God.

You would be surprised at how many times women have told me, that they had been praying for their husbands their whole life, so that they would become Catholic. About 10 years ago, a woman told me she prayed for her husband everyday. She said three years before he died, after they had been married for nearly 60 years, he joyfully became Catholic.

When I was a young priest, I went to visit a dying man who was unconscious. His wife told me, that another priest baptized her husband the day before I came to visit. She said he had started to go through the OCIA process to become Catholic, but had to stop due to his cancer. She told me she prayed every from the day of her wedding, for over 50 years, that he would become Catholic. He became Catholic two days before He went to be with Jesus.

We are reminded of saints like St. Monica, who prayed many years for the conversion of her son, St. Augustine. She was so distressed because her son was living an impure life with multiple women and he believed in false doctrines of another religion.

Once when St. Monica approached a bishop asking what she could do to help her son to become practicing Catholic, the bishop told her, “Go your way, as sure as you live, it is impossible that the son of these tears should perish.” From then on-- she stayed as close as possible to her son, Augustine, and she prayed and fasted for his conversion. When he finally turned away from his loose living and false ideas, he was baptized Catholic, became a priest, a bishop, a canonized saint and even a doctor of the Church. St. Augustine would later write, “If I did not perish in error, it was due to the daily tears of my mother, who was so full of faith.”

Today, there are many parents greatly concerned about their children. A parent’s greatest fear is that their child may not go to heaven. And when they see their children no longer coming to Mass, beginning to live a life of sin, no longer thinking about God or caring about their own salvation, the tears of parents fall upon the pillow at night, so concerned for their loved ones.

Yet, the Canaanite woman in today’s Gospel, so concerned about her daughter and St. Monica, so worried about her son, and the holy women who prayed everyday for their husbands, invite all of us to keep persevering in prayer, to not give up, to trust and to believe God can-- and will touch the hearts of our family members, who have lost their way.

By our daily persevering prayer, our fasting, every time we attend Mass and receive Holy Communion, our rosaries, and because of our tears—God will answer, though He may pretend at the moment as though He is not listening.

However, in fact, He is helping not only our family members, but helping us to grow in our faith, teaching us to persevere, and is so pleased by our humility, as we come before the Lord on bended knees when we cry out, “Lord help me!”