God's Word for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time A

Sunday, August 14, 2011

O woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish

20^th Sunday in Ordinary Time A

Isaiah 56:1.6-7, Ps.66:2-3. 5-6. 8. Romans 11:13-15. 29-32. Matthew 15:21-28

Have a care for justice. Act with integrity for my salvation will come.

Let the nations be glad and exult for you rule the world with justice.

God has imprisoned all men in their disobedience only to show mercy to all.

Woman you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.

Gospel Mt 15:21-28

At that time, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.
And behold, 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."
But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her.
Jesus' disciples came and asked him,
"Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us."
He said in reply,
"I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, "Lord, help me."
He said in reply,
"It is not right to take the food of the children
and throw it to the dogs."
She said, "Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps
that fall from the table of their masters."
Then Jesus said to her in reply,
"O woman, great is your faith!
Let it be done for you as you wish."
And the woman's daughter was healed from that hour.

Prayer from the heart 

In the previous passage Jesus has just told us that persons are not made unclean by what goes into them but by what comes out of their heart. Likewise they are not made holy by their status, by their race or caste, by their ordination, the dress they wear or by the religious practices they follow. Holiness and purity are a matter of the heart. Only God knows the heart. Often we are the last to know our own. It is what comes from our heart that reveals ‘who we are!’.

Now in this passage a pagan woman comes to Jesus. In her distress she calls out to him. She wants him to free her daughter from the grip of Satan. Jesus doesn’t say anything. We don’t know why. Only Jesus knows this. The disciples are embarrassed by her shouting after them and complain to Jesus. My ministry is to the Jews, he says. She is a pagan. She persists. He then says it is not right to give the bread meant for the children to housedogs. We don’t know the tone of voice Jesus used so we don’t know exactly what he said. She had called him ‘sir, Son of David’ addressing him as a Jew. Jews would call pagans ‘dogs’. From her reply we realize that Jesus has not closed the door on her completely. He loves her and wants her to grow spiritually. She does. By her response we see her persistence. Her humble faith touches Jesus.

He may have come only for the lost sheep of Israel but a prayer made from a heart full of humble and persistent faith can change all that. Jesus yields, breaks his own rule and ‘gives her the bread meant for the children’. It is our attitude, our heart, that shows whether we are the children or not, not our caste, position, or vestments. She was a pagan but she had the heart of ‘the children’.

Let us not see holiness in the Church as something attached to an office or to our status in the Church.  None of us are worthy of the mysteries of God, but our heart makes us fit or unfit in the house of God. You and I should concentrate on having a heart that is a ‘heart after My Own’ (1 Samuel 13:14). Such a heart has power to change the plans of God.

In this episode we see the power of a humble and persistent prayer full of trust in Jesus. It can always touch the heart of Jesus. The question is, are we persistent in our prayer? Do we have the urgency of the pagan woman? Is ours a real and humble prayer?  What about your prayer?

Father, give me a humble and contrite heart which trembles at your Word so that you may hear me.