STRIP YOUR SELF-IMAGE AND ADORE THE LORD

 
First Reading: Is 56:1, 6-7
Second Reading: Rom 11:13-15, 29-32
Gospel: Mt 15:21-28

We are in the twentieth Sunday in ordinary time. Our God is a God for all people. Some of us have recognized Him as God, some are yet to come to this understanding and still some stumble to accept Him as God. Whatever may be, He is God for all kinds of people. For He has no favourites nor shows any partiality (Deut10:17/Rom 2:11). The readings of today are about our God’s relationship with people who do not share our faith. In the Gospel, we have a Canaanite woman who persistently begs Jesus to heal her daughter from the torments of the devil. In this scene Jesus is in the gentile land that too in the district of Tyre and Sidon who are considered to be low class people by the Jews because of their immoral lives and devious forms of worship. They are enemies to Jews because their lineage from Cain who killed Abel. Jesus has gone to this gentile land to calm down the curiosity of Herod who has heard about Jesus and suspected Him of as resurrected John the Baptist. Jesus was sent only to the lost sheep of Israel (Mt 15:24) to gather them together so that through them He may conquer the whole world. Thus, He hesitates to exhibit any of His powers in the gentile land. The Canaanite woman persistently begs Jesus to heal her daughter. At first Jesus maintains silence (Mt 15:23), then He tells about His mission as only to Jews (Mt 15:24) and then calls her as dog. Jesus calls her as dog when she was pleading to Him by prostrating herself infront of Him (Mt 15:25-26). This prostrating gesture of woman in front of Jesus was like dog begging for some food from the master’s table. The woman is not offended. She is not worried about her self-image. She is ready to sacrifice anything just to get her daughter healed. To profess her faith in Jesus, the Canaanite woman did not bother about her self-image. She allowed all the humiliations to take place provided they win Jesus’ mercy. This is a great lesson for us today. Do we give up our identity, status and respect in front of our God or approach Him with our self-image? Often, we try to maintain our image and identity in front of Jesus. We don’t try to be naked and truthful in front of Him. The humility of this Canaanite woman to accept her state as dog won the favour of Jesus. Her act of humility is a great challenge for us today. Grace is an oil which is poured out on the naked wound. If we cover our wounds and say we are good then there is no place for grace to be poured forth.

In a multi-cultural setting this reading may be misunderstood as allowance for non-Christians to remain in their religion and get favour from Jesus if they do some ascetic practices. No, the Canaanite woman in this passage professed her faith in Jesus. She clearly knew that Jesus is God. For she shouted, “Have mercy of me, Lord, Son of David” (Mt 15:22). We do not know whether she followed Jesus after this healing episode but we do know from other gentiles who received mercy from Jesus that they became believers and followed Jesus’s way (Cf. Jn 4:53). Either they become believers and get the grace or receive the grace to become believers. In the first reading we have prophecy about gentiles who would be granted to become part of God’s chosen people. To get this grant they ought to serve Yahweh and keep His ordinances (Is 56:6). Today most people of other faiths do receive blessings and graces from Jesus especially through the intercession of Mother Mary but they have responsibility to profess their faith in Jesus in the post grace period. In the second reading St. Paul tells that the Jews have become disobedient by rejecting Jesus so that they too may have recourse to God’s mercy. Being a gentile or a believer in other faith makes one to disobedient to Jesus but that only paves way to look for His mercy. For Jews, their election as God’s chosen people was considered as lofty privilege. And so, they approached God with their self-image. They expected salvation as their due justice from God. Now by refusing Jesus as saviour they have become disobedient to God. St. Paul tells that this disobedience of Jews have made them worthy to receive God’s mercy (Rom 11:31). It is good to have recourse to mercy of God than to justice of God. What happened to the Canaanite woman in the gospel is the out pouring of God’s mercy. As a beneficiary of this mercy she had to profess her faith in Jesus and follow Jesus’ way of life. But her words; “have mercy on me Lord”, shows that she was already a non-baptised believer in a time when there was not yet baptism for gentiles. Thus, being a member of other faith one is worthy to receive mercy from ever living God but that mercy is granted so that s/he may come to the knowledge of truth. Jesus is God not only for Christians but for entire creation. He is the only true God. As He has duty to care for entire creation, the beneficiaries of His mercy do have duty to adhere to His teaching of accepting Him in front of others (Mt 10:32-33).

For us Christians, the worshipping act of the Canaanite woman is a great example to be followed. We should not consider being a Christian as lofty privilege. If we do, then we end up like Jews who approached God with their self-image. Pope Francis says that adoration is the way to know God’s mercy. The magi adored infant Jesus (Mt 2:11), the disciples adored Jesus (Mt 14:33) and today the Canaanite woman adores Jesus (Mt 15:25). One’s self-image is destroyed when s/he prostrates before Him in adoration. Let us strip ourselves in front of the Lord. May our adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament lead us to the profound realization of His mercy in our lives.    

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