[A] Canaanite woman of that district came and called out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon” (Mt 15:22).

I wrote about the encounter of Jesus and the Canaanite woman on August 9. Our Sunday reading for today takes up Matthew’s account again. Today I would like to go a little deeper. In Jesus’ encounter with the Canaanite woman, Jesus revealed through three responses, some of the darker sides of our fallen, human nature. But in his fourth, he also identified the way to resist these three sinful tendencies.

When the Canaanite woman called out to the Son of David to have pity on her, Jesus first responded with Silence. His silence can represent the indifference we feel toward those not like us. We ignore their very presence, as if they don’t exist. In the early nineties, while I was in the novitiate with the Franciscans of Holy Name Province, we toured an impoverished inner-city area in Philadelphia. One of the local friars pointed up to the elevated tracks as the commuter train headed past us toward the heart of the city. He shared how the majority of those commuting into the city had no idea of the need, pain, and struggles of those down here below, like the homeless mother and her three young children that I had met. Are we aware of those in need around us, or do we ride that same Elevated Train of Indifference?

The disciples approached Jesus and asked that he send the woman away. Jesus replied: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt 15:24). Jesus’ response can represent the dangers of tribalism and nationalism, and how it can taint our perception regarding how we perceive those outside of our group. Those we consider as not one of us, we see as less than human. A Lakota elder, Fire Hawk, who became like family to me in my early twenties shared how in his youth, he thought about being a priest. He voiced his interest, and was told that it was not possible because he was an Indian, and after receiving one too many baths in which he was scrubbed down in bleach and water, to wash the red out, he gave up on the idea. If we are aware of those in need around us, do we not help because someone has a different national, religious, political, racial, ethnic, or gender identity?

The woman increased her boldness and walked directly up to Jesus and did him homage and asked him directly for help. Jesus’ third response:  “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs” (Mt 15:26). In this derogatory statement, Jesus’ third response can reveal the power of our words and symbols that we use to belittle, demean, and dehumanize. When we place labels on others and begin to believe them, we begin to see others as less than human. Not only do we refuse to help the other, we make them the enemy that must be put in their place. This path can lead to the horrific scenes witnessed in Charlottesville last week. Before we slip into the defensive posture that it can’t happen here. Let us remember, two years ago, April 18, 2015, in our community of Jupiter, three white teens were out “Guat-hunting”, their phrase, looking for Guatemalans to rob. That night they found a Guatemalan young man, 18 year-old Onesimo Marcelino Lopez-Ramos, a son and brother. After their encounter, Onesimo was bludgeoned to death with a rock. Are we aware that our attitudes matter, our words matter and our actions matter?

The Canaanite woman retorted, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps
that fall from the table of their masters.” Jesus’ responded: “O Woman, great is your faith” (Mt 15:28)! This final statement can reveal to us that there is an antidote to indifference, tribalism, and dehumanization and that is the love expressed by the Canaanite woman for her daughter. She crossed social boundaries, side-stepped indifference, refused to be sent away, risked ridicule, and possible abuse and death, because she would not be denied until her daughter was healed. She did not get defensive, did not fight back, because she did not think of herself. She thought only of the welfare of her daughter.

What is Jesus saying to us? We are to see each other as human beings, as sacred beings created in his image and likeness by the same God and Father of us all. Jesus demands that we meet darkness with light, and hate with love, and that in everyone we encounter, we reach out to them with that same love and mercy he bestows on us. We are to will the good of the other as other, no matter who they are. This day I invite you to choose faith, hope, and the greatest of these, love, to meet the needs of those who are hurting in our midst.

Let us examine our conscience as we prepare to receive Jesus, truly present in the Eucharist. May he shine the light of love in the darkest, most wounded areas of our souls to reveal to us what demons we need exorcised. May he heal and strengthen us for the mission he has prepared for us. As we receive Jesus today and place him on our tongue, may we go forward with a commitment to use our tongue to form words of encouragement, empowerment, affirmation, and prayer. May St Peter Catholic Church and all our homes, in the words of Isaiah, “be called a house of prayer for all peoples.”

Link for today’s readings: Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, August 20, 2017

http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/082017.cfm