The Canannite woman seeking Jesus’ help was persistent even though she was of a different social class
The woman in the Gospel passage for the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time is meant to be our teacher and guide in the walk of faith. If you’re wondering what it means to be a disciple of Jesus, this woman gives an incredibly important lesson in following him.
In our walk of faith, we have experienced both hospitality and welcome, and also suspicion and rejection. Many of us have been called names or, even more painfully, have watched people in our lives walk away from a faith that is so dear to us. What has been our reaction in these most difficult times?
The woman who is our teacher in the Gospel gives us an example of what to do when we experience those difficulties. To be called a dog is certainly an insult at the time of Jesus. She seems to be a person who is desperate and has something wrong with her. In her culture, she might be thought to be as worthless as a dog. What we notice is her unwillingness to allow that status and society to keep her out of relationship with Jesus. It is almost as if she says to Jesus, so what? What if I am a dog and approach you? What if I have courage and the audacity to ask for what I need even from someone who is above my class or my status? Should you look at me with disdain or with love? Should you dismiss me or take me seriously? Is your heart open to love me, even though I am not in your same social class?
I believe this is a lesson for us and not for Jesus. His love was without condition and without end. The major goal of Jesus‘ public life was to set an example, radiate God’s love and teach those who are following Him to act as He acted. If it was a necessary lesson to be taught in the time of Jesus, it is just as important to be taught now. As we examine our own lives, how do we treat people who we believe are not on the same social status as we are?
We might start with a quick and easy answer, and the one we become so familiar with in religious circles. We are to treat each other as equals, no matter what the size of our bank account, the job that we have, the neighborhood that we live in or the color of our skin. We know that we’re supposed to treat each other as brothers and sisters. That’s the example that Jesus set for us without any confusion. He even loved the ones who nailed Him to the cross. Why do we attempt to portion out our love according to the worthiness that we see in another person?
The difficulty with the way that we live in our current society is that we are for the most part separated from people who are unlike us. Our housing patterns, social gathering areas and even the churches that we worship in are segregated by social status. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. acknowledge that much about churches when he said that the most segregated hour in America is on Sunday morning. Look around our churches when worshiping and we will likely see very few people who are unlike ourselves, in a variety of ways. Would it cause a stir if a homeless person put his or her own bags of all their possessions on the back pew and laid in the pew and fell asleep? Would they be welcome in our places of worship? Who or what stirs fear in our heart when we see them? Is it what we know about them limited to what they’re wearing, the color of their skin or the music that they’re listening to?
Have we done anything to earn the love of God and the gifts in life that we’ve been given? Who deserves our love, generosity, forgiveness and hospitality?
