Dear Brothers and Sisters,
The Canaanite woman is a goy, a pagan, who leaves her land and her people and encounters Jesus Christ who heads north into Lebanon. Their encounter is arranged by our Father (Matthew 15: 21-28). No power on earth can stop them. The humble ones, like her, are better at receiving the mercy of God, unlike the religious leaders in the prior gospel who totally reject Christ, as we often do. She breaks all traditions by going out and so does he. What is it that draws them together? He is looking for the lost sheep. She comes literally screaming for help.
The original language says that ‘she does not cease to scream.’ She was like a dog running after him and barking. She sees in him the eternal Source of Mercy. Her pain for her daughter leads her to transcend her paganism and her land. Suffering endured with greatness of soul always raises us above ourselves.
She does not hesitate to call him, “Lord, Son of David.” It is not a politically correct thing for her to say. Her only business is to search for him and to formulate her needs in the strongest possible terms. How could he not be moved by her intensity and her theological precision? How could he fail to hear the request of a mother for her daughter when he was here to show others the compassion of the Father? The girl is not even seen or heard from.
Jesus did not answer her one word. His response is total silence. What was she thinking? Was I too loud, or too quiet, too demanding or….Don’t fill God’s silence with a thousand words; it is a work of grace. Does his silence lead you to be silent interiorly?
The apostles say, “Give this woman what she wants and tell her to stop shouting.” In other words, get her off my back! She is too much. They’re frustrated. Jesus has a better strategy and the education of his disciples in faith and mission is always his theme.
She changes her tactic and cries out, “Lord, help me,” and prostrates herself, makes a total surrender and a deep reverent prostration. It is a total act of self surrender and adoration. Grace does not flow upwards but down to those who are humble. Do you pray like this woman?
“It is not right to throw the bread of the children to the little dogs,” Jesus says. She is not fazed in the least by these words. She does not walk away, she is not silent, she does not argue. She agrees in a very creative way. She uses his metaphor and changes it. It is almost like she is teaching him.
She responds, “Yes, Lord, for even the little dogs eat the little crumbs that fall from the master’s table.” Even the little dogs eat, she says. She calls herself a dog in search of a master. She plays an amazing trump card. She wins because she adores and submits to him. It is the third time she called him, Lord. If he is really Lord of all you can help my daughter. She became like a house dog; she is indeed his dog. No one could have expected her playfulness. In every Mass, in every Eucharist, there are always crumbs that fall from the master’s table for each one of us.
“O woman, great is your faith!” It is the only time in the gospels that “O” is used as an approval. What a reversal from his rejection, his silence, the sharp dialogue between them, now he says, “O woman!” Maybe it is a lament that he does not see this kind of faith in the Pharisees or his apostles or the crowds. “O” represents the strongest kind of communion between two people who before were at cross purposes. Jesus is telling her because you have loved me so much and shown it by your actions, I will do whatever you desire.
“O” shapes the mouth into a kiss. It is the Father’s desire to kiss you, and all of mankind, “O that you would kiss me!” We could say: “Behold, you are beautiful, my love, how beautiful you are, my princess, my bride.” The Lord says the same to you! Let us ask that we have the same faith as this Canaanite woman.