Have Pity on Me

Today’s gospel is about the Canaanite woman who asks Jesus to have pity on her and tells him that her daughter is tormented by a demon. When she cries out to Jesus the first time he ignores her. And the next time he responds by saying, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.” (Matthew 15:26)

I never understood this gospel or why Jesus would speak to her this way. She is begging him to have pity on her. She acknowledges who he is, Son of David. But he ignores her pleas. So I am going to share with you an explanation of this gospel that helped me to understand it.

“The Canaanite woman is asking for the impossible, that the Son of David would help her. She is treated like a dog! But instead of running away, like a dog, whose master throws a fit, she bows down before him and begs for the fallen scraps. She is a woman of great faith. She does not bow down to offense, or turn around and walk away. She turns the other cheek. She bears the infirmities of the world to cure the infirmity her daughter bears, for she loves her more than the world! She will not allow her daughter to suffer any longer. She will suffer for her. She is a woman on a mission and she would prefer to die for her daughter rather than return empty handed to her dying daughter. Jesus perfectly understands this woman. She is living what he is living! The Canaanite is experiencing what the Lord asks from us: purification, conversion and imitation.” (Fr. Alfonse Nazarro)

This gospel also illustrates the power of persistent prayer. Often times we feel that God doesn’t hear our pleas; he doesn’t say a word in answer to our prayers, the same as Jesus did to the woman. We may feel all alone and as more burdens are placed on us, we wonder where God is. But we must always remain hopeful.  “For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor present things, nor future things, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39)