All-Embracing Love

The word  “we”  and  “ours”  have two translations in the  Pilipino  language, which have far-reaching consequences in human relationships. The word  “we”  can mean  “tayo”  or  “kami.” If I say  “tayo”  – you are  included. When I say  “Kami”  it means “we” but  you are not included. Same with  “Atin”  meaning “ours”  including you, and  “Amin” –  excluding you.

As children we have  barkada  (gangs), which are often exclusive. We have certain exclusiveness among the people we go around with. We told people, who wanted to join us,  “Kami-kami lang ‘yan.” (It’s only among ourselves. You are not included.)

This carries to our adulthood in fraternities, the street gang memberships, social clubs, and exclusive neighborhood associations. You need a gate pass to go through the neighborhood, “para sa amin lang ‘yan”  (for ours only).

The first Christians were Jews, and some of them believed that only Jews could be Christians.

Today’s Gospel was preached in the early Church to correct this attitude of exclusiveness.

The  Canaanite woman  is non-Jewish. Yet Jesus made a miracle in her favor because of  her great faith. And so for us, whatever our sinfulness and our religious situation, we can obtain anything from Christ  if we have enough faith.

So to better appreciate the Gospel passage, let us look at the  characters  involved. First, let us look at the  disciples and the Jews  in general, secondly, the  Canaanite woman, and, finally,  Jesus.

First, the  disciples,  who were  Jews – with their religious background, they considered themselves as the  “chosen people” of God.  The  non-Jews were excluded from the mercy of God, from salvation.

The reason why the people at the synagogue in Nazareth tried to kill Jesus was because Jesus insinuated that God chose the pagans over the Jews for his miracles  by giving the examples of the widow of Zarephath, and Naaman, the Syrian.

Today’s Gospel passage is another significant event by which Jesus shows that God’s love and mercy is all embracing. No one is outside the embrace of God’s love.

Secondly, we look at the  Canaanite woman. The Canaanites were the  enemies of the Jews since the time of Abraham in the Old Testament. There was a conflict between Jews and Canaanites.

The Jews were the chosen people of God, and the  Canaanites were the sinful people to be exterminated.

But the Canaanite woman  had love. She made the misery of her child her own. It was  a mother’s love,  which drove her to approach this Jewish stranger, made her accept his silent rejection and yet still continued her appeal. It was her  love, which made her  see the compassion beyond the harsh words of Jesus. The driving force of this woman’s heart was love; and  there is nothing stronger and nothing nearer to God than love.

In addition, the Canaanite woman was a  woman of strong faith. Her faith grew with contact with Jesus. She began by calling Jesus  “Son of David,”  a political title. She came asking a favor from a powerful wonder-worker, from a great and powerful man. She ends by calling him  Lord.

Some people do not really  believe in prayer. They have only the feeling that  something might just possibly happen, and they do not want to miss a chance.

With this woman, Jesus was not just a possible helper. He was her only hope. This woman had the only supremely effective quality in prayer – she was deadly serious.

Prayer for her was no ritual; it was  the outpouring of the passionate heart, which cannot take “no” for an answer.

Finally we turn to  Jesus. Jesus had retired to the pagan territory of Tyre and Sidon, when the Canaanite woman approached him. It seems that  Jesus went to this pagan territory to meet this pagan woman.

Although Jesus’ initial reaction to her pleas was harsh, and quite inconsistent with the kind and compassionate Jesus we know, but consistent with the typical Jewish attitude:

First, he ignored her saying “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel,”  (Matt.  15:24) then rejected her by saying, “It is not right to take the food of the children and throw it to the dogs.”  (Matt.  15:26)

But the pagan woman has  unshakable faith.  She was ignored and humiliated. Yet, under this almost cruel treatment she remained firm and unshakable.

True faith overcomes all difficulties and puts up with everything.

Some Scripture scholars noted that the word Jesus used for “dog” was not the pejorative word translated as  Askal  (street dog), but an endearing word translated as  “tuta”  (a  puppy  or  pet dog), thereby encouraging the woman to cleverly retort saying, “Please, Lord, for even the dogs eat the scraps that fall from the table of their masters.”

Jesus then turned around and praised the strong faith of the woman, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done as you wish,”

What can we learn from today’s Gospel reading? Among others, two things: first,  God’s saving love is inclusive. It seeks to  embrace all peoples,  all races, of all situations. People have a tendency to be exclusive, keeping out certain groups of people, like a  sealed bottle of perfume  that keeps all the fragrance inside.

God’s love is like an open bottle of perfume that seeks to diffuse its fragrance far and wide. We must learn to be like God in our love and caring for others. Jesus invites us to receive him in the Eucharist. He yearns to unite to himself all who will accept him in faith.

If others are good enough for Jesus, they should be good enough for us.

Before receiving Jesus together, we will be invited to  offer each other the sign of peace. We should offer this sign with sincerity even if we do not know the person next to us. This sign of peace is a seal and a pledge of the fellowship and unity, which are found in our common reception of the Body of Christ.

Secondly, we can learn about  faith  and  perseverance in prayer from the Canaanite woman.

We must  not be discouraged  in our prayer, when God does not give us what we want.

We know that  God is not a grudging giver that any favor has to be wrestled out of His hand by novenas and magic formulas of prayer. God loves and cares for us, and always wants to give us what is good for us.

When we don’t immediately get a “Yes” to our prayers, it may not just be because  we are asking for the wrong thing, but sometimes  God wants our faith to grow stronger.

He wants us to  show our trust in Him  in spite of the delay. He doesn’t mind when we make “kulit,” especially when our pestering is driven by our love and concern for others.

Let us close with this inscription found on the cellar walls of a bombed-out house in Cologne, Germany during the Second World War. Fugitive Jews, who used the basement to hide from the Nazis, had apparently written it there. The inscription read:

“I believe in the sun even when it is not shining.

I believe in love even when I feel it not.

I believe in God even when he is silent.”