Today's Gospel at Mass: Scraps for the Dogs

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stjosephtomasi

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Did anyone hear the Gospel at Mass today?

A woman asked Jesus to heal her daughter and He replied that the food on the table is for the children, not for the dogs.

Wow!!! Seems harsh! There must be an explanation for this analogy.
 
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stjosephtomasi:
Did anyone hear the Gospel at Mass today?

A woman asked Jesus to heal her daughter and He replied that the food on the table is for the children, not for the dogs.

Wow!!! Seems harsh! There must be an explanation for this analogy.
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He knew that she would pursue the issue further and that He would be able to demonstrate the power of faith. It’s similar to how He knew Lazarus would die and that he would be able to show the power of God by allowing him to die instead of healing him.
 
The children are the People of Israel. The dogs are Gentiles. Our Lord was simply using Judaic nomenclature (remember, St. Matthew wrote to a predominantly Jewish audience) and He complimented on the woman for her faith when she said that even the dogs get the scraps that fall from their Master. (Implies that the Gospel of Christ is for everyone, not just the Jews)
 
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stjosephtomasi:
Did anyone hear the Gospel at Mass today?

A woman asked Jesus to heal her daughter and He replied that the food on the table is for the children, not for the dogs.

Wow!!! Seems harsh! There must be an explanation for this analogy.
Click to expand...
Actually by reading scripture closely you will see that Christ was harsh in many things he said, did and demanded of his followers. The idea of the gentle Jesus meek and mild is a relatively recent idea. No, Christ was from all accounts a powerful, charismatic figure who demanded a lot from hos followers, and did not pull any punches in dealing with the people. He spoke the truth and let the chips fall where they would.
 
I have been told by any number of people who know, that the Greek word used here was more like “pet puppies” than like (feral, dirty, etc) dogs.
So, yes, it was a hard saying, but Christ was not calling her a bad name! He was saying that the children (Jews) were to receive the Gospel before the Gentiles were.
He softened it as much as He could, without making it be untrue…
 
these are all very good replies to my question.

if Jesus were here today and used that language, the response would more likely be: “are you calling me a dog?”
 
I absolutely despised this one teacher I had back in Catholic school and there are numerous things that I think wrong that she taught but she had an interesting answer to this one that might make sense. She said that the woman reminded Jesus that he was here to save all people in the worlkd and not just the Jews. It was actually more thought out than that. One of the few times I respected the horrible teacher that I once had.
 
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