“‘Lord, even the dogs under the table eat the children’s scraps.’ Then he said to her, ‘For saying this, you may go. The demon has gone out of your daughter.’”
In this passage Jesus does almost a Simon Cowell number on a Greek woman willing to do whatever it takes to help her daughter including being called names. Then Jesus makes amends by healing the daughter. Why would Jesus treat the woman like that?
As I reflected on this passage, I drew three important messages– perhaps lessons Jesus intended the episode to teach:
1. Making demands on behalf of the weak and afflicted requires risk-taking.
2. Authority figures must be open to requests from weak and despised.
3. Doing good demands persistence.
This woman reminded me of my mother who has spent a lifetime refusing to accept “no” when justice is at stake. I’ve never forgotten how she got me into my closed freshman university classes – a problem caused by a university error. Lower officials said in effect “so sad, too bad” but Mother persisted. We sat in the dean’s office until after 6 as the janitors cleaned. Finally the dean emerged, said no several more times and asked us to leave. Mother persisted. Finally an unhappy (and probably hungry) dean gave me my classes. Like the woman in today’s reading, Mother fought for justice for her child – willing to take the heat and do what it took. It’s an extremely important lesson for all of us.
Jesus’ initial response to the woman reminds me how easy it is for authority figures to reject requests from people because of their race, education, age, sex, income, sexual orientation etc. However unlike most powerful people, Jesus reverses course and grants the woman’s request. He doesn’t just walk away or tell his disciples to get rid of her. This should remind decision makers to LISTEN to petitioners with respect rather than ignoring them for an arbitrary reason.
Finally, this reading teaches that we must persist when we fight for justice. We can’t fold the first time someone says no. Jesus’ ultimate response to the woman gives us hope that we will win.
Eileen Wirth
I’m a retired Creighton journalism professor, active in St. John’s parish and a CLC member. In retirement, I write books about state and local history, including a history of the parish, and do volunteer PR consulting for groups like Habitat for Humanities, refugees etc. I love to read, work out, spend time with family and friends including those who can no longer get out much.
Writing reflections has deepened my faith by requiring me to engage deeply with Jesus through the Scriptures. In the many years I have been doing this, I’ve also formed friendships with regular readers nationally, most of whom I have never met. Hearing from readers and what I learn by writing make the hours I spend on each reflection well worth the effort.
