If you felt uncomfortable about today’s gospel, you’re not alone. Despite our love for puppies, no one would like to be called a puppy or a dog, ...or would you? And don’t think that when Jews call a foreigner ‘a dog’ they imply an adorable puppy, like your pet dog; they actually mean wild dogs that feed on carcass. Given the chance, we’ll want a do-over of Jesus’ words in the gospel (where He seemed to have used expression similar to the N-word). Hard to imagine Jesus refusing help to someone because of race. And to add salt to injury, calling the woman and her people “dogs.” I feel unfit to apologize for Jesus, either with today’s choice words or Him calling the Pharisees hypocrites, white-washed tombs or vipers.
Only when considered as a human equal would the words of Jesus in today’s gospel appear callous, indifferent and insulting. While Jews called Gentiles “dogs,” Jesus used the word kynarion, which is the Greek for household dog or puppy—regarded as man’s best friend—in His statement: “It is not right to take the food of children and throw it to dogs.” Rather than understand it as an insult, the woman heard, for the first time, that Jews and Gentiles can co-exist in the same house. She capitalized on the statement as an invitation into the Household of God. Consider that the passage—Mtt 15:1-20—that immediately precedes today’s passage has Jesus condemning the Pharisees who were offered gifts of the kingdom—the food of children—but rejected it. Having been offered and rejected, the spiritual value contained in the food is made open to real people of faith who would avail themselves of this food. The woman represents all those of Gentile descent (i.e., all of us) who would not only qualify for the scraps but are veritably invited to dine with the children in the Kingdom Table. It becomes rather a privilege to be “God’s household dog” because through Christ, we have been adopted into God’s family. Jesus gives the first signal that Gentiles are part of God’s household and belong to His plan of salvation. Faith, not blood, becomes the yardstick of inclusion; hence, He affirms the great faith of the woman and grants her the food of the children—namely, answer to her prayers. Recall that last Sunday He, in contrast, called Peter, the rock—“a man of little faith” (14:31).
We draw vital lessons from today’s gospel discourse. We often demand things from God, and get angry when we’re not getting our preferred answers. Some deny Him existence to prove theirs—as if it adds or removes anything from God whether or not we believe in Him. But we can’t survive outside His love. By attending to the woman’s need and healing her daughter, Jesus shows that God’s love extends to even those we may think do not deserve it. We may feel entitled to God’s gifts and want to usurp His blessings or prescribe to Him how much blessings are allowed to others. Yet, God affords no one the right to claim exclusive possession of Christ and His saving work. In the US, you may have heard of self-acclaimed Christians who foolishly think and say that Catholics aren’t Christians. Perhaps, Luther, Calvin or Zwingli told them so. They believe that they alone possess the yardstick of inclusion as Christians. And for some, the yardstick of inclusion is color, language, race, and country of birth. To all who think that way, Isaiah has this line from today’s first reading: “God’s house will be a house of prayer for all peoples.”
We are invited today to unlock in each of us love, mercy and compassion, recognizing that each of us is, in ways we can’t imagine, a ‘perfect fit’ of the purpose for which God made us. When we ask God to bless our home, our family, our country, we shouldn’t forget to add other families, the poor, the immigrant, and those we endemically reject and call names. God bless America: but also Canada, Mexico, Haiti, Russia, Syria and Iran. Or you’ll have a hard time explaining to God why you think He shouldn’t bless them.
Fr. Chukwudi Jo Okonkwo