Breaking Open the Word

CLICK HERE FOR VIDEO to this reflection on YouTube

A special guest for our series this Sunday. Fr. Jesse Hiett, a diocesan priest from Springfield-Cape Girardeau, MO here in the United States.

His email: frhiett@semocatholic.org

Matthew 15:21-28

At that time, Jesus withdrew to the region of Tyre and Sidon. 
And behold, a Canaanite woman of that district came and called out,
"Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! 
My daughter is tormented by a demon." 
But Jesus did not say a word in answer to her. 
Jesus' disciples came and asked him,
"Send her away, for she keeps calling out after us."
He said in reply,
"I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel."
But the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, "Lord, help me." 
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." 
Then Jesus said to her in reply,
"O woman, great is your faith! 
Let it be done for you as you wish." 
And the woman's daughter was healed from that hour.

Transcript

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SPEAKER_00 0:04

It's great to be with all of you today. And here just a gospel reflection for the 20th Sunday of Ordinary Time. Two chess pieces meeting on an open chess board cannot occupy the same place. For those of you who play chess, you are very aware of that rule. One chess piece must be captured by the other. And so the game is set up today between the Canaanite woman and Jesus. We've watched as the woman attempts to capture Jesus' square. Have pity on me, Lord Son of David. His response is firm. And she tries another strategy, Lord help me, and this time falling down and paying him homage. But yet again, she is given another no. Jesus' response this time is it is not right to take the food, take the food from the children and throw it to the dogs. It is here that we miss something in our translation. And it's how Jesus is using the word dog. It's not dog in the derogatory sense. Rather, he speaks of a household pet, maybe even a puppy. And if you ever grew up with dogs, you know the kind of dog we're talking about. The dog that's always hanging around the dining room table, drooling on the floor, waiting for a morsel to fall. A little crumb. And here we see the remarkable move this Canaanite woman makes. Having begged for pity, having fallen to the floor in homage, she lowers herself even more in humility. The translation says, Please, Lord, but better yet, it should say, Yes, Lord. This woman agrees with her state in life, that as a Gentile, she stands outside the covenant given to Israel. But she refuses to give up. Adding, even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters. As if to say, even what little is available, even if it is a scrap or a crumb, is enough for her. As long as it falls from the hands of Jesus. Her humility is the move Jesus was drawing out of her all along. She knows what the psalmist knows. A simple truth. A day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere. She would rather be sitting under the table of the Lord rather than anywhere else. She might as well say, if all I am in your eyes is a little dog, then I will be happy with eating little crumbs. As long as they come from your table, Jesus. And in this moment she loses in order to win. Captured by Christ, but a winner nevertheless. If she wishes to be triumphant, she must humble herself, she must lose herself to Christ. It is God's strategy, after all, as Charles Peggy reflects in his poem, The Mystery of the Holy Innocence. He writes, We might as well admit that we're playing man and I at Loser wins. At least man is, because in my case, if I lose, I really lose. But in his case, when he loses, it's only then he wins. A strange sort of game. I am both his partner and his opponent. And he wants to win against me, which means he must lose. And I, his opponent, I want to make him win. But in this time we must let go, but in this game, we must let go of the square we tightly cling to, and let Jesus win us over. The game strategy you see is humility, recognizing our need for Christ, no matter how big or small, perfect or imperfect, put together or messed up, healthy or sick we may be. We feed this humility in the sacraments of Eucharist and reconciliation, as we read Scripture and as we spend time in prayer. Every time we come to the altar, we come as beggars. We don't come because we deserve a place at the table. We become because even the smallest crumb of Christ's mercy is more than we could ever earn. And yet Christ does not just give us crumbs. He gives of himself. And in the Eucharist, the one who captured the heart of the Canaanite woman comes to capture ours. Thank you. Have a blessed Sunday.