Last Sunday's Gospel

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BostonMyrtleBea

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Hi there. I hate to sound dumb, but I honestly did not get the Gospel this past Sunday. Can anyone explain it to me? All I remember is that a woman went up to Jesus and wanted her daughter to get help from him. I think he turned her down or something. Then the apostles told him she was following them. Then he had a discussion about dogs and scraps of food, etc… Then he praised her for her faith and Jesus helped her daughter.

I’m sorry, but I don’t have the specific verse.
 
It’s the story of the Canaanite woman.

Jesus was actually demonstrating to the Apostles how great her faith was.

Did you know that of the three times Jesus commended someone for having great faith, two of them were Gentiles?
 
Interesting about the three people he praised regarding faith. Didn’t know that.

I figured he was telling them she had faith, but I don’t really get the dog/food scraps part 😦 It seems critical because constantly following them didn’t seem the reason she had faith. ???

I’m searching the Internet… I think this might be the section:
Matthew 15:21-28
I found this: usccb.org/nab/bible/matthew/matthew15.htm
 
BostonMyrtleBea said:
Interesting about the three people he praised regarding faith. Didn’t know that.

I figured he was telling them she had faith, but I don’t really get the dog/food scraps part 😦 It seems critical because constantly following them didn’t seem the reason she had faith. ???

I’m searching the Internet… I think this might be the section:
Matthew 15:21-28
I found this: usccb.org/nab/bible/matthew/matthew15.htm
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That Jesus talked to a strange woman, a non-Jew at that, was amazing for the time, breaking a major taboo.

Jesus was saying to her that healing her daughter, the daughter of a gentile woman who talked to him, a Jew, would be the equivalent of taking food from the children of Israel (whom he was there to save) and giving it to dogs. What an insult! But she wasn’t deterred by the insult. She replied “Even dogs eat the scraps that fall from their masters table.” IOW, I’m content to take any scrap of mercy you let fall my way because I believe that even the smallest bit of your mercy will heal my daughter.
 
Phemie said:
That Jesus talked to a strange woman, a non-Jew at that, was amazing for the time, breaking a major taboo.

Jesus was saying to her that healing her daughter, the daughter of a gentile woman who talked to him, a Jew, would be the equivalent of taking food from the children of Israel (whom he was there to save) and giving it to dogs. What an insult! But she wasn’t deterred by the insult. She replied “Even dogs eat the scraps that fall from their masters table.” IOW, I’m content to take any scrap of mercy you let fall my way because I believe that even the smallest bit of your mercy will heal my daughter.
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Keep in mind that the dogs in question would have been family pets, not nasty wild curs. Jesus was underscoring the importance of the Abrahamic covenant, reiterating that his fulfillment of God’s promise to Israel came first. St. Paul comes back to the same idea in Romans. But by the generosity of God’s mercy, as you point out, none are excluded.
 
This simple story is so deep and multi-faceted there are many lessons Jesus is teaching. My $0.02:

To start with, the woman is not a Jew. In fact, most Jews of the time would consider Canaanites lowly and not fit for a Jew to even talk to and vice versa. This lowly woman approaches a Jew, why? Asking for something for herself? No, out of love for her daughter. She approaches Jesus with a humble heart trusting that he can do what no one else can. This is the way Jesus wants us to approach the Father, in humility and trust.

Notice that Jesus at first does not say anything. What is the reaction of his disciples? Do they advocate for her or do they try to send her away? Notice that Jesus never asks that she be removed, only the disciples. When we as Catholics see someone we deem “unworthy”, how do we react? Do we, like the disciples, want them to be sent away?

Our Canaanite persists and only pleads more intently. Jesus then tests her faith by pointing out that he has come only for the Jews and that they (Canaanites) are not fit to eat the spiritual food he brings. What a marvelous reply she gives! She does not argue that she has as much right as the Jews - she humbles herself and asks only for the scraps that fall to the dogs! Now, we now Jesus knew what she would say, for he is God. Can you just imagine the smile that comes across his face? Whose ears were meant to hear her words, Jesus’ or his disciples? How humbling was it for those who wanted to see her go to hear this deep profession of faith? What does it teach us about constantly going to the Father in prayer, even when the cause would seem hopeless? What does it say about faith and trust in Jesus?

And what does Jesus do? He says “Oh, Woman, great is your faith”. “Woman” is a term of deep endearment for a Jew (recall at the wedding feast of Cana this is how Jesus refers to Mary) and immediately cures her daughter. He does not give her the “scraps for the dogs” but sits her at the table.

What the story teaches in a nutshell to me is that no one can judge the faith or worth of another but God, and that no matter what the world would say to us or about us, all the Father asks is that we approach him with complete trust in faith and love.
 
He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” She said, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.” (Matthew 15:26-27)
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Jesus would never really insult someone who approached Him in sincerity. He is all love and charity.

Our pastor had a different take on this in his homily. He said that Jesus was using humor to elicit a response of faith from her, knowing that she would appreciate the humor and respond in kind. It was like friendly banter that ended in the woman’s great display of faith, and Jesus’ great display of mercy.
 
Our pastor also said that -far from being rude - Jesus was engaging the woman in banter in order for her to express the depths of her faith.

She was a woman, a non-Jew, and a Canaanite, so basically had “3 strikes” against her, yet Jesus spoke with her - a cultural no-no.
 
Gee, my bishop had a whole other take on this, telling us that biblical scholars agree that this particular story is historical otherwise it wouldn’t be in the book because it’s not a flattering picture of Jesus.

Then again he also said that Jesus was just starting to realize that he had come for more than the Jews.
 
BostonMyrtleBea said:
Interesting about the three people he praised regarding faith. Didn’t know that.

I figured he was telling them she had faith, but I don’t really get the dog/food scraps part 😦 It seems critical because constantly following them didn’t seem the reason she had faith. ???

I’m searching the Internet… I think this might be the section:
Matthew 15:21-28
I found this: usccb.org/nab/bible/matthew/matthew15.htm
Click to expand...
Code:
In the link, it does say that dogs was a Jewish term for Gentiles or non-Jews.
 
Thanks to all for the information! I did read from the link that the dogs were gentiles, but I guess I didn’t really get why that was such a bad thing.

Also, it seems that there is a difference on Jesus’ response - either he really not want to help her b/c he was focused on the Jews or did he cause that discussion to open the eyes of the desciples.

Interesting. Thanks for clearing the major points of this discussion for me!
 
The following may give you some further light on the subject. It is from the Commentary in the Douay-Rheims Bible, Haydock edition:
Ver. 22. It is probable that woman first cried out before the door, and assembled a crowd, and then went into the house. Have mercy on me. The great faith of the Chanaanæan woman is justly extolled. She believed him to be God, whom she calls her Lord, and him a man, whom she styles the Son of David. She lays no stress upon her own merits, but supplicates for the mercy of God; neither does she say, have mercy on my daughter, but have mercy on me. … To move him to compassion, she lays all her grief and sorrow before him in these afflicting words: my daughter is grievously afflicted by a devil. (Glossa.)
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Ver. 23. He answered her not. It must not be supposed that our Saviour refused to hear the woman through any contempt, but only to shew that his mission was in the first instance to the Jews; or to induce her to ask with greater earnestness, so as to deserve more ample assistance. (Denis the Carthusian)
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Ver. 26-27. And to cast it to the dogs; i.e. to Gentiles, sometimes so called by the Jews. (Witham) — The diminutive word Kunarios, or whelp, is used in both these verses in the Septuagint. Our Lord crosses the wishes of the Chanaanæan, not that he intended to reject her, but that he might bring to light the hidden and secret treasure of her virtue. Let us admire not only the greatness of her faith, but likewise the profoundness of her humility; for when our Saviour called the Jews children, so far from being envious of another’s praise, she readily answers, and gives them the title of lords; and when Christ likened her to a dog, she presently acknowledges the meanness of her condition. (St. Chrysostom, hom. liii.) He refused at first to listen to her petition, says the same saint, to instruct us with what faith, humility, and perseverance we ought to pray. To make his servants more sensible of his mercy, and more eager to obtain it, he often appears to pay no attention to their prayers, till he had exercised them in the virtues of humility and patience. Ask, and you shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened to you. (Haydock)
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Ver. 28. Be it done. In the beginning God said, Let there be light, and there was light; here Jesus Christ says, let it be done, &c. and her daughter was healed from that hour. So powerful with God is earnest and fervent prayer. (St. Chrysostom, hom. liii.)
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My parochial vicar noted that even today in the Middle East, dogs are classified as the lowest form of animal. It is an insult to call someone a dog. Dogs do not hold the same regard in that culture as they do here.

He said that we should be shocked as to how Jesus handled the situation. But, it also shows us persistence on the part of the woman. She followed Jesus, even though he ignored her. She pled with him, even though the only ones who paid atatention (negatively) were the Apostles. She must have recognized in the depths of her soul that Jesus had holiness. Plus, in order to recognize that holiness, she must have had some degree of it herself because she prostrated before Him. Even non-Jews fell down in worship before a deity (as evidenced by the Greeks’ mistaking Barnabas for Zeus).

He then proceeded to insult her and demean her, but, that didn’t deter her at all. In the end, she gave Jesus a retort that was a testament to her faith.

Now, there are other instances where he recognizes the faith of non-Jews: the centurian (from whom we get the prayer, "Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof…), the Samaritan woman at the well, and the Samaritan leper (one of the 10 who was healed).
 
Another resource I use to study the gospel readings, in addition to COPLAND3’s great site, is the following website:
wordonfire.org/

Fr. Barron has very good sermons posted each week.
 
You might want to take a look the short Bible study I prepared for this by going to the link below:
 
I have enjoyed reading the different interpretations. God bless you all!🙂
 
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