Matthew 15:21-28 the Canaanite Woman

SUNDAY, AUGUST 14

MATTHEW 15:21-28

TWENTIETH SUNDAY IN ORDINARY TIME

1. (Isaiah 56:1, 6-7; Psalm 67; Romans 11:13-15, 29-32)

  

The Assumption of Mary is the subject of the mural in the west saucer dome, above the centre aisle, Baltimore Cathedral.

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Raymond  . . .
To:
Sent: Sun, 14 August, 2011 9:47:50
Subject: "Woman, you have great faith."Homily by Fr. Raymond  

• The third reading, the Gospel continues on the same theme with the story of the Canaanite woman pleading for a cure for her daughter.  We might consider this story as one part of a Diptych; one story of a pair of stories which complement each other and underline and amplify the meaning of each other.
• The other story of the pair is also a story of a Mother pleading on behalf of her children. The Mother in this case is Our Blessed Lady herself, and that is very providential for us today as we are on the eve of the great feast of Our Lady’s  Bodily Assumption into heaven.
• We can recall how, at the marriage feast of Cana, Our Heavenly Mother was moved with compassion for the new bride and groom when the wine ran out for the feast and how she turned to Jesus with those wonderful and deeply mystical words on her lips:  “They have no wine!”.  Just like the distraught mother in today’s Gospel story, she received a rather off-putting reply.  To Mary Jesus said “My hour has not yet come” and to the Mother of today’s gospel he said: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”  To Mary he says that her request is out of time, and to the Canaanite Mother he says that her request is out of place.  Both requests were therefore inappropriate in one way or another.
• Mary’s reaction is to presume that she has been heard and she directs the servants to “Do whatever he tells you”.   She knew her Son and she knew the influence she had on him. She knew he would not refuse her.  But the poor Canaanite woman!  How was she to respond?  She responded with the only thing that her love for her daughter could do:  she responded with her repeated cries for his pity and with her utter humility: “Even the house dogs can eat of the scraps that fall from the master’s table.” And above all she responded with her faith in him.  “Woman”, Jesus said, “you have great faith. Let your wish be granted.  
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• This woman then, just like you and me, could, by her faith and humility and her persistence, wield a power over Jesus that can be paralleled to the power and influence of Mary his mother.  It may not be as great a power and influence, of course, but the comparing of these  two stories shows that it is just as real.