Sunday August 17, 2008: Isaiah 56:1, 6-7; Romans 11:13-15, 29-32; Matthew 15:21-28

The story of the Canaanite woman in today’s gospel reminds me of the story of one of my favorite movies John Q starred by my all time favorite actor, Denzel Washington. John Q’s son needs an organ transplant and his insurance will not cover it. John Q doesn’t have the money to pay in order for the child to get on the list of those waiting for an organ. When all attempts to persuade the hospital failed, he decided to hold everyone in the hospital hostage. At some point, he is so desperate that he decides to take away his own life so that the son will live. The woman in today’s gospel was so desperate and was willing to take all insult in order for her daughter to be healed. She first was ignored, then was told she is an outsider and if that was not enough, Jesus Christ called her a “dog” a very negative association. This will not necessarily be our expectation of Jesus Christ. This Jesus looks mean and unkind towards this woman who is in great need. Some scholars have tried to argue that Jesus’ use of the word “dog” for her was not derogatory because the kind of dog Jesus was referring to was a pet. This kind of interpretation misses the point that Jesus Christ is trying to communicate in this encounter. This is a teaching moment for Jesus Christ. He uses this incident to teach the woman humility and persistence and to teach the apostles about faith and to introduce them to a universal mission.

When this woman called on Jesus, she was first ignored. Jesus Christ did not ignore her because he did not care about her. Jesus knew her heart and was going to minister to her. St. Augustine tells us that this woman was not ignored so that mercy will be denied but that desire will be enkindled and not only that but also so that humility will be praised. If Jesus Christ had immediately responded to her and give her what she wanted, her great value would have been diminished. Jesus Christ stretched her and pulled her from her safe zone. Her persistence shows her great desire. There is a difference between the actions of Jesus and that of the apostles who wanted to get rid of her. She was a nuisance to them. Jesus Christ on the other hand wanted to engage her and bring out the value in her, which is her great faith. While the poor need our handouts, they treasure most our engagement with them and entering into their world. I personally don’t just enjoy handing out money to beggars on the street. I try to engage them. Unlike the Canaanite woman in today’s gospel, sometimes the beggars walk away from me because they feel like if I am interrogating them. While I will want to help, I am not ready to feed their alcohol or drug addictions either. The woman in today’s gospel was very sincere about the help she needed. This encounter of need teaches humility. We can say this woman was a humble woman. She was willing to accept all insults for the sake of her daughter.

Jesus Christ credits this woman great faith. In last week gospel, Jesus Christ described Peter as man of “little faith.” In today’s gospel, “great faith” is credited to this woman. What the Jewish Peter did not have, the gentile woman had. This will not be the last time Jesus will credit a gentile with great faith and it will not be the last time he will refer to his closest Jewish followers as having little faith. This woman stands as a model of faith not only to the apostles who wanted to get rid of her but also to all of us Christians. It is unimaginable that a Canaanite woman would be set as a model by Jesus Christ for his disciples. Canaanites were enemies of Israel and in Exodus 23:23, God even called for the extermination of the Canaanites together with the Amorites, the Hittites, etc. Jews were not to associate with them in anyway. Here, Jesus Christ is not only associating with her, but he is presenting his faith to us as a model of true faith.

This woman is also an example of Jesus Christ’s outreach to the gentiles, his universal mission. Although Jesus Christ came for the “lost sheep of the house of Israel,” he understands his mission as having a more universal significance – Israel here being those that believe in him. The first reading of today echoes that sentiment. The saved are not only the people of the Old Israel but also the new Israel which will comprise of a lot of foreigners would also be saved if they keep the covenant of God. That Covenant now is Christ. It is not given in Sinai but it is given in the life, passion, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ and we enter into it through baptism. The story in today’s gospel comes between two feeding accounts. The first feeding account is in Matthew 14 where Jesus feeds 5000 and the second account is in Matthew 15 where Jesus Christ feeds 4000. Some scholars have argued that the second account and the first are a repetition of the same account. I do not accept this reading because the second account has a nuance that is not in the first account. The second account is a symbolic representation of the gentile mission. In the second account, the initiative to feed these 4000 is that of Jesus. Since Jesus Christ performed this miracle in Galilee and for Matthew Galilee is made up of Gentiles, it will be proper to understand this account of Jesus’ feeding of 4000 gentiles. These are the people that Jews were not to associate with. Jesus is opening up a new outreach to them. Since food sustains life, Jesus Christ is offering them not only earthly life but also is interested in their salvation. These outsiders, foreigners, the undeserved of salvation, etc. are being ministered to by Jesus Christ. He commands in Matthew 28:19 that as his apostles, we need to go out and minister to these people.

We all have people we consider outsiders. They are either outsiders because of their moral problems, religious affiliations, political leanings, ethnic background, color of their skin or choices. These outsiders may be family members, friends, co-workers or even members of our community. We do not treat them as one of us. Jesus Christ invites us to reach out to these “outsiders.” We have made them outsiders for too long. Jesus Christ made the woman in today’s gospel an outsider but he brought her right back in. Those people we have made outsiders, we are challenged by Jesus Christ today to go and bring them back inside.

Luke 14: 1; 7-11 (Saturday, November 3, 2007)

Jesus Christ invites us in the gospel of today to be people of humility. If we exult ourselves, we would be humbled, if we humble ourselves, we will be exalted. As we strive to live good Christian lives, some times if we are not careful we develop a “holier than thou” attitude in which we become not only spiritually proud, but we also become judgmental of other people. One of the easiest ways in which the devil causes righteous people to fall is through pride. I know some gifted people who abandoned the Church because they felt they should be made bishops or monsignors. What about people who are so much gifted by the Holy Spirit and because of lack of humility left the Church to found their own churches where they shall obtain all the titles of honors? Jesus invites us to be always cautious of pride because it can cause us a great deal of embarrassment and can even destroy our spiritual lives.

Prayer:
Lord Jesus Christ, you humbled yourself and even took on the nature of a slave, even though you were God. Please give to us the spirit of humility that we will live humble lives in service of you and your people.

Mathew 25: 14-30 (Sunday, September 2, 2007)

In today’s readings, we are invited to become humble persons. One of the things we learn from these readings is that humility leads to greatness. Humility is the pathway to exaltation. When Jesus exhorts his followers in the gospel of today, “whoever humbles himself will be exalted,” he is not making an empty statement but this is truly what he believes and it plays out in his life. Jesus Christ is the primary model of humility for the Christian people. St. Paul rightly describes him thus in Philippians 2:6, “though he was in the form of God, did not regard equality with God something to be grasped. … he humbled himself, becoming obedient to death, even death on the cross. Because of this, God greatly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name.” Jesus Christ in Matthew 11: 29 tells us, “learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart.”

Jesus’ humility guaranteed his exaltation. Here, he stands in great contrast with Lucifer the angel of light who failed in humility. St. John Simachus tells us that humility is the only virtue that the devil cannot imitate. If pride made angels into demons, humility makes demons into angels. There is the story of Satan appearing to one of the desert monks. He kept appearing to him in the form of an angel of light giving him messages and trying to make him feel so special and proud. This monk continued living his life of simplicity and humility. After some time, the devil getting frustrated said to him, “all that you do, I can do; but the only thing you do that I cannot do is your humility.” The monk was able to resist the devil because of his humility.

If we are humble people, not only that God helps us to resist the temptation of pride, but he brings us forgiveness. Humble people are able to look at themselves and says, I have really made wrong choices. People who are not humble would always look for ways to justify away their mistakes. They always look for people to blame for their mistakes. In 1 Kings 21, Ahab wanted Naboth to sell him his vineyard. Naboth refused. This caused Ahab great pain that he refused to eat. His wife Jezebel accused Naboth of cursing God and king and had him stoned to death. After that, she convinced Ahab to take possession of Naboth’s vineyard. When Ahab went to take possession of the vineyard, the Lord sent Prophet Elijah to prophecy to him. The Lord said, “In the place where the dogs licked up the blood of Naboth, the dogs shall lick up your blood too. I am bringing evil upon you. I will destroy you and will cut off every male in Ahabs line, whether slave or freeman, in Israel.” When Ahab heard this, he tore his gaments and put on sackcloth over his bare flesh as a sign of his repentance. When the Lord saw this, he said, “since he has humbled himself before me, I will not bring the evil in his time.”

What we really need as a country is humility. We are quick to proclaim how great a nation. We boast about our military might and our power to subdue all nations. Our lack of humility will not let us confess that we made a mistake with Iraq. What we need today is the humility of Ahab to recognize that we have really sinned and that our sin if not repented of, will lead to our destruction. We as a nation need to mourn of our national sins. We need to do a national fast and penance. The religious right that is quick to support and defend the war with the bible need to recognize that we have sinned and have failed God in the power he has given to us as a nation. We cannot separate the things that are going on in our nation today from our social sins. Our economy is in big trouble; natural and man made disasters everywhere; everyday our fine soldiers are exposed to more and more risks in Iraq. God is inviting us as a nation to humble ourselves. 2Chronicles 7:14 tells us, “if my people, upon whom my name has been pronounced, humble themselves and pray, and seek my presence and turn from their evil ways, I will hear them from heaven and pardon their sins and revive their land.” God wants to restore our nation but we must humble ourselves, acknowledge our sinfulness and pray. Talking politics is not enough; congress would not help us either. Reviving our country is a spiritual battle and it must start from the grassroots. The question today is how we at St. Margaret Mary can bring about this spiritual revival. It is not enough to come to church on Sunday and to even say to me at the end of the Mass, “nice homily Father.” I want to see people who want to change our nation come forward with ideas on how we can first revive Parkersburg, then the whole of Wood county, the state of West Virginia and the whole country. We can have a day of prayer and fasting across different Christian denominations. But that change must start here at St. Margaret Mary Church.

We can never become the people that God wants us to be if we fail to live out radically the virtue of humility. We are told in the book of James 4:10 that if you humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, the lord will lift you up. Your humility will cause you to find favor with God. What is greater than being favorable in the eyes of God? When you are favorable in the eyes of God, he will pour abundantly his graces and blessings. It means, you will become a special person. God found favor in the Blessed Virgin Mary and she was called the Blessed one. God found favor in Abraham and he was blessed.

Let us today begin a process of becoming humble people, so that God will bless us and bless our land. This will mean doing such little things as adults respecting the opinions of younger people and taking corrections from them and younger people trusting in the wisdom of older people; this will mean seeking forgiveness from those you have hurt or who have hurt you; this means making yourself available to others who need your help; this also means working actively to bring about a change in the national policies of our country.
It is by doing these things, that we will truly be people of humility – becoming the people God has called us to be.