Even Jesus was impressed by the foreign woman who pursued him for a healing for her daughter. As we know from reading the Gospels, Jesus had his hands full in daily dealings with his fellow Jews. In fact, he withdrew from Jewish territory into Tyre and Sidon precisely to get a respite from that often-thankless battle. No wonder he’s not anxious to respond when this Gentile comes running after him with her needs! Matthew calls her a “Canaanite,” the ancient name for the native Palestinians from whom Israel had taken the land. (Mark calls her a Syro-Phoenician, which is how she might have described herself.) “Canaanite” was a slur, not much different from how Jesus compares her to a dog begging for scraps. Displaying more love than pride, the woman argues that even a dog gets the scraps if it begs enough.
Jesus rewards her great faith. We can be sure that such faith will be rewarded in the many outsiders who cry out to God today for the compassion they are denied elsewhere.
Who are the 21st century’s “dogs,” demeaned and ignored by those in power? How does the Church respond to these lowly little ones?
(Reflection and questions by Alice Camille in Exploring the Sunday Readings)
Since the Sunday Gospel is the heart of the Gospel Weeklies, an important part of preparing to share the Gospel with children is to read and reflect on it in advance of your class session. The Gospel at Home and the Gospel for All Ages (see Gathering Rituals/Questions) are resources on our website that can help you do this. While these resources take a break in the summer months, we’ll be drawing our weekly reflections from Exploring the Sunday Readings.
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