José Ricardo Bezerra and Felipe Bezerra
We come to the 20th Sunday in Ordinary Time, and this Sunday’s Gospel takes us beyond the borders of Israel, to the pagan region of Tyre and Sidon, where a Canaanite woman comes to meet Jesus (Mt 15:21-28). In many places the Solemnity of the Assumption of Our Lady is transferred from 15 August to the Sunday. But in the cities and dioceses where the Solemnity is celebrated on 15 August itself, this is the Gospel the Church offers us. Although the Gospel of Mt 15:21-28 does not speak directly of the Assumption, the persevering faith of the Canaanite woman can inspire our confidence in prayer. The Church contemplates this attitude of trust in an eminent way in Mary, who, united to her Son, remains the spiritual Mother of the faithful and intercedes for them without ever replacing Christ.
At the centre of everything is a pagan woman who becomes, for many in Israel, an example of faith. She cries out, insists, prostrates herself before Jesus and does not give up, even in the face of Jesus’s silence, until she hears from him: “Woman, great is your faith.” (Mt 15:28). As always, we have chosen five points for your meditation and prayer, which we share on the podcast: https://youtu.be/UnPAI9my6Yk (with subtitles in your language). Take your Bible, open it to Matthew 15:21-28, read the passage slowly, and come back to pray with us.
1. “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me”
The Canaanite woman’s first cry is already a small profession of faith: “Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me” (Mt 15:22). In calling him “Lord,” she recognizes in Jesus a sovereign authority and turns to him with trust; in calling him ‘Son of David,’ she recognizes in him the Messiah awaited by Israel, whom Saint Matthew so emphasizes, from the very first page of his Gospel (cf. Mt 1:1) to the blind men of Jericho who cry out in the same way (cf. Mt 20:30-31) and the entry of Jesus into Jerusalem (cf. Mt 21:9). How this woman, from a pagan land, came to recognize this, the Gospel does not say. But it is for us an invitation to recognize, once more, that Jesus is true God and true man, like us in all things but sin, and that is why we can place our trust in him.
Notice that she asks for mercy on herself, and not only mercy on her daughter. Some commentators observe that, in saying ‘have mercy on me,’ the mother identifies deeply with her daughter’s suffering: her pain has become her own as well. She pleads for herself, on behalf of her daughter. And this “have mercy on me” ends up being the prayer of so many hearts, the very prayer of the Russian pilgrim: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner!”. When we recognize that we are worthy of mercy, the way we relate to God changes. Before God we cannot buy grace nor demand his mercy as though it were a debt. Everything we offer is already possible because grace itself precedes and sustains us. Saint Thomas recalls that friendship is born of something held in common, but with God our part is only to receive. When we understand that friendship with God is pure mercy, everything changes. Here is a question for your prayer: do you still think you must deserve God’s love, or have you already recognized that it is free, out of pure mercy? Two Sundays ago we meditated on how the Lord was filled with compassion before the crowd (cf. Mt 14:14); it is worth listening again to that episode.
2. “Jesus did not answer her a word”
Then comes a detail that troubles us: “But Jesus did not answer her a word.” (Mt 15:23). God’s silence often unsettles us. But when the Lord is silent, when he does not answer a word, this does not mean that he is not hearing us. On the contrary: he was listening so much that it was already bothering the apostles, as they themselves will say shortly afterward. We need not claim that Jesus was simply delaying a decision already made. Jesus’s silence must not be interpreted as indifference. In the dynamic of the account, he allows the perseverance and trust of that woman to be shown and recognized.
In our prayer too, silence teaches. Saint Augustine teaches that God sometimes delays so that we may grow in desire and in trust. Two passages illuminate this scene: the persistent widow before the judge, which the Lord tells precisely to say that we must pray always, without losing heart (cf. Lk 18:1-8), and the blind man of Jericho, who the more they told him to be quiet, the more he cried out: Son of David, have mercy on me (cf. Mk 10:46-52). Jesus’s silence is not absence; it is an invitation to insist and not to give up. Let us not be hasty: God knows our needs and teaches us to trust in him, even when the answer does not come in the time or the way we expected.
3. “Send this woman away…”: intercession
The disciples approach and ask: “Send this woman away, for she keeps crying out after us.” (Mt 15:23). The disciples’ words are ambiguous: they can be understood as a request that Jesus grant her plea and send her away. In the spiritual reading gathered by Saint Thomas Aquinas in the Catena Aurea, the mother asks mercy for herself because her daughter’s affliction has become her own. The narrative clearly shows that the woman intercedes for her daughter and perseveres personally before Jesus. As for the disciples, their words remain ambiguous: they may contain a request that Jesus grant her plea, but they may also reveal only their annoyance at her insistence.
Intercession is something normal, ordinary, part of the Christian life and of the life of the Church. Saint John Chrysostom highlights the value of intercession and shows that God willed to associate the prayer of the just with the salvation and reconciliation of others. The Church lives this trust in an eminent way in the Virgin Mary, whose spiritual motherhood unites her singularly to Christ and whose Assumption we celebrate in these days. To the Mother we turn with confidence, sure that her maternal intercession leads us to Christ and is always united to the will of her Son.
The Scriptures are full of great intercessors: Abraham intercedes for Sodom (cf. Gn 18:22-33), Moses for the people (cf. Ex 32:11-14). In the book of Job, God makes known that he will accept the prayer of the just on behalf of their friends: Go to my servant Job, he will pray for you, and for his sake I will accept his prayer (cf. Job 42:8). It is not that our prayer is worth nothing; it is that, recognizing our littleness, we also entrust our plea into the hands of those who already stand before God. The Saints who are in God’s presence intercede for us, for our God is not the God of the dead but of the living (cf. Mt 22:32), and we believe in the Communion of Saints (cf. CCC 956).
4. “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel”
Jesus answers: “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Mt 15:24). Would Jesus be failing to tell the truth, since he came for all? By no means. Jesus’s historical mission is directed first to Israel, the people of the promise; after the Resurrection, the Gospel will be proclaimed to all nations (cf. Mt 28:19). The very fact that he is in pagan territory, in Tyre and Sidon, is already an anticipation of that universal mission, as was also the passage through the region of the Gadarenes (cf. Mt 8:28-34). We cannot isolate a single verse from the whole of the Word of God: Scripture is read in its unity. Later, Peter and Paul will recognize that the Gospel had to be proclaimed to the Gentiles as well (cf. Acts 10; Acts 15).
Faced with Jesus’s reply, the woman came and prostrated herself before him, saying: “Lord, help me” (Mt 15:25). That “prostrating herself” is a gesture of deep reverence and supplication, recognizing in him the one who can help her, in harmony with the “Lord” she had confessed at the beginning. And here is the good news for us: Jesus was also sent to us, who are not of the “house of Israel” according to the flesh, but are the new People of God, the Church, born not of descent by blood but of faith (cf. Rom 9:6-8; Jn 1:12-13). The Gospel, which the apostles brought to the Gentiles, has reached us as well.
5. “Woman, great is your faith”
At last comes Jesus’s praise: “Woman, great is your faith; let it be done for you as you wish!” (Mt 15:28). The contrast is strong with the little faith of Peter, who two Sundays ago, walking on the water, began to sink and heard from Jesus: “O man of little faith, why did you doubt?” (Mt 14:31). A pagan woman here shows the great faith that, at that moment, was lacking in the first of the apostles.
How did this woman grow in faith? First, through perseverance and insistence in prayer, that praying always without losing heart of which the Lord speaks (cf. Lk 18:1). Then, through the humility that recognizes its own place. Jesus had told her that it was not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs, and she answers: it is true, Lord, but the little dogs also eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table (cf. Mt 15:26-27). She does not enter into a proud dispute with Jesus. She accepts the image he presents and, with humility and intelligence, shows that even the crumbs from the children’s table are enough to help her daughter. Jesus then reveals the greatness of her faith and grants the healing. Humility is truth: to say I do not deserve is not self-abasement, it is to recognize that grace is pure mercy. To mind comes the parable of the rich man and poor Lazarus, in which the dogs licked the sores of the beggar at the rich man’s door (cf. Lk 16:19-21): there too the little and despised one is the one closest to the heart of God.
We may suppose that the healing took place at a distance, as in the case of the centurion, whom Jesus praised for his faith (cf. Mt 8:10-13), for the Gospel says that, at that very hour, the daughter was healed, without showing the girl present. What remains for our life is a great lesson in humility: not to try to buy the mercy or the grace of God by alleging our merits, like the Pharisee who boasted in the Temple (cf. Lk 18:11-12). When we humbly recognize our need and trust in the mercy of God, we learn to ask with perseverance, leaving our plea in the hands of his wisdom and his will. In the case of the Canaanite woman, Jesus confirmed her faith and granted the healing: “Let it be done for you as you wish” (Mt 15:28).
This is also the invitation to permanent conversion, which belongs not only to the season of Lent or Advent, but to every day. The perseverance of the Canaanite woman reminds us that conversion does not end after the first spiritual advances. Saint Teresa of Jesus warns, in speaking of the Mansions, that it is possible to settle down along the way and to confuse a certain progress with arrival at maturity. Faith must remain humble, vigilant, and open to grace. Let us not be content with a lukewarm Christian life, but let us ask for the persevering and humble faith of the Canaanite woman.
Until next week!
Shalom!
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Podcast video: https://youtu.be/UnPAI9my6Yk with subtitles you select in your own language.
Steps of Lectio Divina
Lectio Divina is the prayerful reading of the Word of God. Set aside a time of silence, invoke the Holy Spirit, and go calmly through these steps, praying with this Gospel yourself.
1. Reading (Lectio). What does the text say?
Read the passage attentively, noticing who acts, what Jesus does and says, and how the woman responds. Gospel of Our Lord Jesus Christ according to Saint Matthew (Mt 15:21-28):
“At that time, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and began to cry: ‘Lord, Son of David, have mercy on me! My daughter is cruelly tormented by a demon!’ But Jesus did not answer her a word. Then the disciples approached and asked: ‘Send this woman away, for she keeps crying out after us!’ Jesus answered: ‘I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.’ But she came and prostrated herself before him, saying: ‘Lord, help me!’ Jesus answered: ‘It is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the little dogs.’ But she said: ‘It is true, Lord! Yet the little dogs also eat the crumbs that fall from their masters’ table.’ Then Jesus said to her: ‘Woman, how great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you desire!’ And at that very hour her daughter was healed.” (Mt 15:21-28)
2. Meditation (Meditatio). What does the text say to me?
Let a word touch your heart. Where do I need to insist in prayer and not give up? Before God’s silence, do I still trust? Do I recognize that everything is pure mercy, or do I still want to deserve it?
3. Prayer (Oratio). What do I say to God from the text?
Answer the Lord in your own words: make the Canaanite woman’s prayer your own, Lord, have mercy on me; present the people for whom you intercede and ask, through the intercession of Mary, for the grace of a persevering faith.
4. Contemplation (Contemplatio). What new gaze does God give me?
Remain in silence before Jesus, who lets himself be won over by the humble faith of this woman, and receive the gaze of mercy that he casts upon your life too.
5. Action (Actio). To what is the Lord calling me today?
Choose a concrete gesture: a persevering prayer for someone, an act of humility that acknowledges your place before God, or one more step in the conversion you had been postponing.
