Christ and the Canaanite Woman, Carracci 1595, Pinacoteca Stuard, Parma, Italy.

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“…..the woman came and did Jesus homage, saying, “Lord, help me.” He said in reply, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.”  Matthew 15:25-26.

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Did you hear the one about the Three Kings? Well, first of all, they weren’t kings, as Scripture calls them “Wise Men”. Also Scripture does not say how many there were, but from the number and quality of the gifts, tradition has converted them into Three Kings. Well, in fact, six men walked into the stable, the Three Kings, and a Franciscan, a Dominican and a Jesuit. The Three Kings laid down their treasures and knelt in adoration. The Franciscan stepped forward and said: “Ah the birds of the air and the lilies of the field rejoice that this Child of God has come among us, and he knelt in adoration. The Dominican stepped forward and proclaimed “Holy Wisdom is vindicated, the Word of God is made flesh, and he knelt in adoration. The Jesuit looked around, put his hand over Joseph’s shoulder and said: “Have you thought about a decent education for the lad?” I guess this is a Catholic ethnic joke. There are many others. In England, for example, if an English joke begins “An Englishman, Scotsman and an Irishman walk into a pub” you know the poor Irishman is almost always going to be the butt of the joke, sometimes the Scotsman, but never the Englishman. I looked this phenomenon up, and sure enough it is fairly widespread. See some of it here. I don’t know how long this highly un-p.c. narrative has been going on, but I would not be surprised if it were even present in Jesus’ day. He almost cracks an ethnic joke in today’s gospel: “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs” he says to the Canaanite (that is to say, non-Jewish, Gentile) woman asking for her daughter to be healed, but likened to a dog! It’s almost as if he had said “A rabbi and a dog walk into a kibbutz…” (though most Jewish jokes seem to be aimed at themselves). Of course he does the decent thing by the woman, but this passage from the gospels has always caused trouble. Jesus was a child of his time, and just as human as you and me, and the poor Canaanite woman is the butt; the “food for the children” is Jesus’ message of hope and trust as the Jewish Messiah, aimed at the Jewish community, not the surrounding Gentile people, to whom she belonged. But she, possibly unlike some of us, doesn’t take offense at the “joke” but responds defiantly and wins Jesus’ help. So the focus in today’s readings is the relationship between the God’s Chosen People and everyone else, those who live in the world of Gentiles, namely, most of us. So most of us could place ourselves in the Canaanite woman’s shoes and request a favor of Jesus in the politest terms and possibly receive the same answer… But how would we respond in fact?

Possibly 3,500 years ago, God entered human history, in the 12th chapter of Genesis, approaching Abram/Abraham. It was, I believe, to establish a solid moral foundation amid the horror of that time (child sacrifice in Canaan, for example). The old man Abram responded positively and the Hebrew covenant was created. Over the centuries God slowly revealed not only who God and what the law of the righteous are, but also to promise the eventual arrival of The One who would demonstrate just how superior God’s law is and, more importantly, how to live it in daily life. Jesus, The One, clearly did not succeed even with his own people, resulting in the most violent rejection imaginable. But with the arrival of God’s Holy Spirit at Pentecost, things began to change, and one of the most divisive challenges in the early church was whether or not to admit the Gentiles. Yes of course Gentiles could become Jewish, but that would mean massive challenges in the individuals, from dietary laws to circumcision. Guided by the Spirit, these obstacles were removed (all recorded in the Acts of the Apostles), and so the teachings of Jesus became open to any and all who would listen. And millions have since that time. Today’s first reading from Isaiah talks of the Gentiles in a rather calm way, stating that they will “hold to my covenant, them I will bring to my holy mountain and make joyful in my house of prayer” all in the future “for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.” Many years were to pass before that came to be, but it did after the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:2-35), supported by Peter’s experience related in Acts 10 and 11, which abolished the dietary laws stemming from Leviticus among other things, and allowing the baptism of uncircumcised Gentiles, the first of whom was the Roman soldier (a hated occupation in Jewish eyes, symbolic of Jewish oppression) named Cornelius. With the acceptance of these adaptations, which must have taken some time as they were so broad, the stage was set for the early Christian church to grow beyond all expectations. Hence Isaiah’s prophecy was fulfilled, Jesus’ acceptance of the Gentile woman, possibly reluctantly, and the grudging acceptance of these changes by the Council of Jerusalem saw Gentiles admitted. As a result, of course, the Jewish founders of the Christian church were expelled forever from the synagogue and probably shunned by the Jewish community for associating with the Gentiles. So such decisions were not taken lightly but did mean the new religion was open to everyone no matter who they were. And this remains true to this day. We are the benefactors of that early controversy, meaning the invitation to live the life filled with God’s Holy Spirit is open to each of us. That is to say a life filled with happiness, satisfaction, hope and acceptance, trusting fully in a God of love. The challenges and pain of human life can be overcome with that same trust and hope of the Canaanite woman, one who represents all of us. And Jesus will respond perhaps even with some humor. All we have to do is ask with faith and trust in the Lord.

The Miracles of St. Francis Xavier, Rubens c.1618, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, Austria.

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