20th Sunday OT year ’A’
"Leaving there, Jesus withdrew into the region of Tyr and Sidon. A Cannanean woman came along, from that region, and she cried out to Jesus ; ’Have pity on me, Lord, Son of David!’ My daughter is tormented by a devil’. But Jesus kept silent. The disciples came up to him and reproached him saying ’Send her away! She keeps on bothering us with her cries!’ The apostles are having a hard time putting up with this cry - it bothers them as they want to keep silent. However Jesus is touched in his very soul, this is the Dwelling Place of God’s deepest Mercy. We see with the Apostles how humanity is set before its responsibilities. Very quickly do we turn away from those cries which remind us of our own cries we don’t want to look at. If we listen to the Word of God this helps us to develop a greater knowledge of Jesus from the inside, helping us how to see how He lived. Jesus teaches us how to be more human, thus we can react in a better way in our lives. God wants our happiness, he wants to make us happy and this happiness is what this woman is looking for and Jesus understood this very well! She wants Jesus to look after herself and her daughter. Knowing how good Jesus is and how he welcomes the gift of God, she seeks a sign of this Goodness for her daughter. And so she cries out all the more : ’Have pity on me, Lord, son of David!“ ”Jesus replied : ’I haven’t been sent for the lost sheep of the House of Israel,’ But she came and fell before him saying to him : ’Lord, come and help me! ’ He relied ’It’s not good to take the bread of children and throw it to dogs.’ She replied ’Yes, Lord, but precisely, small dogs eat the crumbs which fall from their master’s table.’ Jesus had withdrawn into the region of Tyr and Sidon so as to teach his disciples on mission about the importance of taking rest. In this outer emptiness, we see what holds in our lives. Taking a look at Jesus gets us to envisage our own lives by following His Life. Jesus lives turned towards the father receive Ning everything in his daily life from Him. For Jesus received everything from him in his life, his whole existence. He welcomed everything that came along, he acted and reacted, took rest, sought out ’lost sheep’, rested, contemplated, was available to everything that came along. This unique encounter with the woman form Syro- Phoenician, mobilised both of them. This woman knows she is a daughter of Israel having no rights, yet she cries out with total confidence! This Gospel reveals to us Jesus’ tenderness and obedience. He is sent to the People of Israel. It is this Love revealed to this people which speaks of God’s tenderness for all. The Father’s will shall be made manifest to Jesus through his brothers . This is how he accomplishes his Mission as Saviour of the world. “Jesus replied ’Woman, great is your faith. May everything happen just as you wish it would!’ And at that very hour her daughter was healed.” Faced with this woman’s faith, Jesus melts. The foreigner’s daughter is healed. Jesus accomplishes this miracle of healing of her daughter, inviting her in this way to the table of God’s merciful Love as a child of the Father. Jesus received the mission to announce the good news of the Kingdom of God to people. He is on his way, in dialogue with the Father, attempting to knot true and fair relationships with other people, allowing peoples’ freedom to surge up. Jesus encounters this woman and enters into true dialogue. He allows her to express herself and tell him how much her daughters’ healing is so important to her. She speaks of what is essential to a human being and she has great faith. She situates herself in a human way, fully open to others and she is respectful. Jesus also desires to encounter each one of us, to become fully alive and answer our call. We are invited to the Wedding Feast of the Lamb. Jesus is the Bread of the children of God. Thanks to our faith may we have the power to become Bread for others. What beauty, what dignity bear God’s children - by our whole life we can bear fruits of love and compassion.