Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time A
Ever
wonder what a dog thinks?
Hey, these people I live with love me, feed
me,
provide
me with a warm, dry house,
pet
me, and take such good care of me…they must be gods!
And
ever wonder what a cat thinks?
Hey,
these people I live with love me, feed me,
provide
me with a warm, dry house,
pet
me, and take such good care of me…I must be a god!
In
this Sunday’s gospel, we find Jesus hounded
by
a persistent Canaanite mother
desperate
for her daughter’s liberation.
The
Lord’s pursuer is doubly an outsider:
a
woman in a man’s world;
a
pagan foreigner—a Gentile—approaching a righteous Jew.
The
simplest response—
and the one most of us, I think, would have expected—
and the one most of us, I think, would have expected—
would
have been for Jesus to just give her what she wants…
…and
get her off his case.
That
seems to be the approach his disciples favored.
How
Christ responds to her is quite startling, to say the least.
At
her first request, he makes no reply at all.
At
her second, he brushes her off as a dog.
You
must understand:
dogs
then did not hold the lofty status
they
currently enjoy in American culture—
where
they’re frequently equal to kids or grandkids.
There’s
no softening Jesus’ remark:
he’s
not affectionately calling her he “sweet little pup.”
In
Jewish law, dogs were considered unclean,
since
they scavenged for their food.
To
call someone a “dog” was an humiliating insult.
But
this woman will not be deterred by either silence or scorn.
A
third time she pleads—
and
this time, Jesus not only grants her wish, but sings her praises.
Last
week, after the scene on the stormy sea,
Jesus
called Peter a man of “little faith.”
(We
can only assume he was thinking much the same
about
all his cowering Apostles.)
Yet
now, just a few verses later,
he
tells this bold stranger: “O woman, great is your faith!”
What
is going on here?!?
What
if Jesus is acting so peculiarly this Sunday
because
he wants to make sure this woman—
and
all who would hear her story till the end of time—
might
realize he’s much more than a wonderworker on demand?
Maybe
Jesus holds back—even provokes and challenges—
in
order to purify her motives,
to
make clear what she really desires;
not
to drive the Canaanite mother away, but to draw her closer.
In other words: Maybe Jesus is just playing hard to get.
In other words: Maybe Jesus is just playing hard to get.
The
woman in the gospel had not studied the law and the prophets.
She
hadn’t witnessed Jesus curing the sick or raising the dead.
We
have no idea if she’s previously led a life of virtue or vice.
But
she had heard rumors—
incredible
stories circulating about this man—
and
they stirred something deep within her heart.
She
somehow felt that she could trust him—could believe in him—
and
he was going to take advantage of this openness.
The
Canaanite woman fully intended
to
obtain a cure for her daughter;
Jesus
fully intended to obtain something more:
to
draw this woman
I
remember being struck in high school
when
one of my teachers pointed out
that
many people play religion as if God were a slot machine:
if
I just do the right things, say the right prayers,
push
all the right buttons,
then
God will dole out what I’m asking—
like
some supernatural Pez dispenser.
Experience
has sadly taught me
that
that teacher was probably right—
assuming,
that is, that many people approach Christ
the
way they approach his Church:
Just give me what I want—
no fuss, no muss, no strings
attached.
My
friends,
the exchange between Jesus and the Canaanite woman
the exchange between Jesus and the Canaanite woman
ought
to make us see that what’s of greatest consequence
is
not how much we know about the Bible or our catechism
(although
such knowledge is a big help);
is
not whether we’ve received all our sacraments
(although
they are certainly vehicles of God’s grace);
is
not a question of giving to Church or charity
(although
such are surely godly deeds).
No,
what’s truly fundamental—but so commonly overlooked—
is
growing in a one-on-one relationship with Jesus Christ.
Do
you know Jesus in a living, personal way?
Do
you really love him?
Do
you trust him above anything and anyone else?
Jesus
knows best how to get through
to
each one of us, in every different circumstance:
sometimes,
that’s to answer us right away;
sometimes,
it’s to make us wait;
sometimes,
it’s to get us to plead and beg;
always,
it’s to try and draw us closer—
to
get us to put all our faith and hope in him.
So
don’t think like a cat—
believing
that everything revolves around you;
expecting
all good things to come as your due.
Instead,
curl up like a dog at the Divine Master’s feet—
the
Lord who unfailingly provides for you;
who
sometimes disciplines and denies you;
who
always, always loves you,
and
longs for you to love and trust him in return.
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