Homily for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

Amazing Faith And Amazing Grace

Rev. Marcel Divine Emeka Okwara, CSsR

Homily for the Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time, Year A

St. Theresa of New Hope

Sunday, August 20, 2023

The biblical God is an electing God. He is a choosing God. Of all the people in the world, he chose Abraham and from him formed a great nation. Between two brothers, Esau and Jacob, God chose Jacob and not Esau. Among the twelve sons of Jacob, God chose Joseph and not his brothers. Of all the people in the ancient world, God chose Moses to be a great liberator of an enslaved people— Israel. Of all the nations of the world, God chose Israel and not Egypt, not Rome, and not Persia. Israel was chosen not because it was a great nation or the most upright nation. Israel’s election by Yahweh was purely by grace, an unmerited gift and choice of God so that it would be a vehicle for the salvation of all. 

With this in mind, let’s look at today’s Gospel passage. Matthew says that Jesus is in a pagan territory. He is traveling with his disciples when an unnamed Canaanite woman calls out, “Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David! My daughter is tormented by a demon.” This woman represents the yearning of all of us, the longing of the world for justice, mercy, healing, favor, break-through, peace, ease, freedom, safety, and the love of God. Like all of us, the Canaanite woman may have sought help elsewhere but didn’t get it. She may have been promised by other sources and other powers that her daughter will be well; but rather than get better, her daughter’s condition worsened. Seeing Jesus pass by, she senses correctly that this is where her daughter’s only hope of healing and deliverance lies. So, she begins to cry out for help. What is Jesus’ first response to her prayer? Silence! The Lord’s responses to this needy woman ranges from silence, to an indirect rebuke, and to an outright insult. When Jesus kept silent to the woman’s request, his disciples beckoned on Jesus to send her away. Responding Jesus says, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” In those words, the Lord reaffirmed the election of Israel. Once again, Israel is chosen and elected by God not because of their justice or the integrity of their heart (Deuteronomy 9:4-6). Israel was chosen for service. God wants to use them to reach out to the whole world. 

Although Jesus echoes the election of Israel and the very fact that he is primarily sent to them, this woman is not discouraged one bit. In fact, she doubles down. She moves closer to Jesus, worships him and pleads further, “Lord, help me.” Even after being told that it is not right to give to dogs the food meant for the children, she was not discouraged. She rolls with Jesus’ punches and responds with faith that pleases the Lord. With this, Jesus says to her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you wish.” And her troubled daughter was instantly healed and set free from demonic possession. But why did Jesus delay giving the Canaanite woman what she asked for? Why does God delay in answering prayers? Many preachers will say that Jesus is testing the woman to know her faith. As plausible as that answer appears, it is actually not true. The Gospels present Jesus as someone who has access to the minds of people. He knows the secret thoughts of people. So, he does not have to test the woman to know her faith. As the very incarnation of the God of Israel, he knows the minds, the hearts, and the dispositions of people. He already knew the faith of the Canaanite woman. Jesus tested the woman in order that she might just know how great her faith is. This was St. Augustine’s explanation for why God sometimes says no to our repeated prayer. And this is why perseverance in prayer is so strongly recommended in the Christian tradition. 

In my pastoral ministry, I have heard people say, “I never knew I had that courage until I was pushed to the wall.” “I never thought I was that strong until I was tested.” “I never knew how strong I was until I had to forgive someone who wasn’t remorseful and never apologized.” It was the great Reggae singer, Bob Marley who said, “You never know how strong you are until being strong is your only choice.” That’s the Canaanite woman. Jesus tested her, pushed her to the extreme wall in order that she might discover and know how great her faith is. Some of us would have given up asking if silence was the response given to us. If we don’t give up at the silence stage, some of us will give up at the indirect rebuke stage when Jesus declares that he was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. I can imagine many of us concluding at this point, “Well, I tried” or “This man is mean and unfair!” or “This man is discriminating against me; he is not a good person. He is not a prophet.” And those who were not put off at the second stage of indirect rebuke, may most likely frown and walk away at the final stage of insult. I can see the quick-tempered ones among us, the aggressive ones gearing up to throw their own insults and walking away. But not the Canaanite woman. She was stretched. Her faith was tested. In the end, she demonstrates the great faith she has. With her daughter under the captivity of Satan, she understands that the only choice she has is to stay strong in her faith. Eventually her persistence pays off. Does she deserve God’s grace? Not at all. But that’s all of us. None of us deserves the grace of God. Jennifer Hudson, in one of her songs captures this theme beautifully, “I am not perfect, but he loves me anyway.”