Word to the Wise
Wednesday, August 4, 2010 - St. John Vianney [The Cure of Ars]
[Jeremiah 31:1-7 and Matthew 15:21-28]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 he did not say a word in answer to her. His 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."
As we know, the story doesn't stop at the end of the quote! The lady's perseverance wins the day! But the question that arose because of her is the point of the story. It is not a matter of Jesus' power to heal. We already know that. It is a question of "mission!" To whom and for whom should Jesus use his power? Later, by extension, the community would be asking the same question. Should the gospel be preached to non-Jews? Must non-Jews become Jews to become Christians? Non-Jews, especially pagans, were called "dogs!" This is why Jesus says to the Canaanite woman, "It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs!" Her persistence in faith amazes Jesus and he grants her wish for healing for her daughter! This incident is not the only one in the gospels where the disciples/crowd around Jesus make it difficult for someone to come to him. That should be a sobering thought - that any one of us, or even the church, could be an obstacle to someone else's faith! Those who come in faith will discover that Jesus makes some strong demands. Why should we, his disciples, make it harder for them? Religious "smugness" is a terrible fault, but it can be found in any group of faithful Christian people. Jesus does not need us to be his bodyguard. He needs us to bring people to him! AMEN