By Father Paul Nord, O.S.B.
Sunday Scripture
First Reading: Isaiah 56:1, 6-7; Responsorial: Psalm 67:2-3, 5-6, 8; Second Reading: Romans 11:13-15, 29-32; Gospel: Matthew 15:21-28
In Isaiah 56:1, the Lord commands his people to act in righteousness, to do justice. The Lord’s words are urgent — his salvation is “about to come” and his justice is “about to be revealed.” The people should act with justice because the Lord always acts justly.
Isaiah 56:6-7 further emphasizes acting justly by keeping God’s commands. Righteousness is more important than being an Israelite, God’s chosen people. Even foreigners God promises to bring “to my holy mountain” if they keep the sabbath, love the Lord’s name and minister to him.
The last line is famous: “for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” This envisions all of humanity coming to Jerusalem (“my holy mountain”) — praying together to the Lord God. This prophecy has been realized in Christ Jesus.
In Romans 9-11, St. Paul laments that most of his fellow Israelites have not accepted Jesus as God’s Messiah. Paul ponders what this means within God’s plan of salvation for all humanity. Paul reflects upon God’s covenantal promises to the Israelites. He insists that God remains faithful to his promises. But Paul observes that a “remnant” of the Israelites have indeed accepted Jesus as Messiah, like Paul himself. Paul compares these Jesus-accepting Israelites of his time to those who remained faithful to God during the time of Elijah (11:2-10).
Paul sees how God’s plan of salvation now includes the Gentiles — all the nations of the world. Before Paul was converted by Christ, he would have rejected this possibility. The Christian community in Rome included both Jewish Christians and Gentile Christians. In today’s reading, Paul speaks directly to the Gentiles. He calls himself “an apostle to the Gentiles.” Paul’s self-understanding was that God sent him to proclaim Christ’s Gospel especially to non-Jewish peoples.
Many Gentiles accepted salvation in Christ through Paul’s missionary activity. Paul rejoices in having this ministry. He hopes that seeing Gentile disciples of Jesus might make his fellow Israelites jealous — motivating them to receive salvation also.
Paul rejoices that God has acted for reconciliation with all the peoples of the world. Paul earnestly desires to rejoice also in the salvation of all his fellow Israelites, more than the present remnant.
Paul concludes “a hardening has come upon Israel in part, until the full number of the Gentiles comes in” to God’s salvation (11:25). Paul believes that the rest of his fellow Israelites will receive salvation in Jesus eventually, in the fullness of time. Paul is confident of this because “the gifts and the call of God are irrevocable” (11:29).
The Gentiles should not fall into the sin of pride at the present situation. Although Paul considers his fellow Israelites to be disobedient to God’s offer of salvation in Jesus, the Gentiles were likewise disobedient to God in the past, although they are now saved by Jesus through God’s mercy. Paul trusts that his fellow Israelites will likewise receive God’s mercy when God’s plan reaches its fulfillment — the fullness of salvation. In his wisdom, God has permitted all to be disobedient, so that he might show his mercy to all.
In today’s Gospel, “Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon.” This is Gentile territory. Immediately before, Jesus had a strong disagreement with some Pharisees (15:1-20). This appears to motivate Jesus’ withdrawal from Jewish territory.
While Jesus is outside Israel, “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.’” It is remarkable that she calls Jesus by these two titles — “Lord” and “Son of David.” These show that she recognizes Jesus as a Messiah sent by God. Further, she knows about Jesus’ power to heal the sick and the possessed, like her daughter. Despite her pleading, Jesus is silent and does not respond.
To this point in Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus has mostly concentrated on announcing his Good News to his fellow Israelites. For example, in Matthew 10:5–6 Jesus sent his disciples on mission: “Do not go into pagan territory or enter a Samaritan town. Go rather to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” Jesus repeats this in today’s Gospel: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” This is the second time that Jesus declines to respond to the woman’s request for healing for her daughter.
But the woman was determined — she “came and did Jesus homage, saying, ‘Lord, help me.’” In plain language: the woman knelt before Jesus, begging him. It is a dramatic action. She is driven by desperation that her daughter be healed.
Jesus’ reply might confound us. He tells her: “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” We might feel insulted by such a response, but the woman is not. She adopts Jesus’ language in her reply: “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” She has let go of all pride. All that matters to her is that her daughter is healed.
Jesus’ response is emphatic: “O woman, great is your faith!” Jesus immediately heals the woman’s daughter. By not initially granting the woman’s request for healing, Jesus has given her an opportunity to demonstrate her deep faith through perseverance.
Jesus’ use of “meal table” imagery is important in interpreting his encounter with the Canaanite woman. Jesus repeatedly disagreed with the Pharisees about this question: “With whom should faithful Jews be willing to share a meal?”
In today’s Gospel, Jesus describes the Israelites as God’s children, and the Gentiles as not. This was the Pharisees’ mentality. But Jesus’ actions speak louder than his words. By healing the Canaanite woman’s daughter, Jesus shows her to be worthy of “the food of God’s table,” which previously belonged only to the Israelites, God’s children. The Canaanite woman throws herself at Jesus’ feet, trusting his merciful healing. Do we have the humility to follow her example?