5 August 2020
Wednesday of the Eighteenth Week in Ordinary Time
Normally, in today’s Gospel, attention is drawn to Jesus’ response to this woman especially in how he can appear to be cold or distant in the face of her pleas until she finally wears him down in the end. But instead of focusing on this final part of the dialogue, today let us contemplate how this Canaanite woman teaches us how to pray. First, in recognizing her own unworthiness and her deep need for Jesus. Jesus praised the simple prayer of the tax collector in Luke who prayed for mercy out of his recognition of being a sinner. This woman is an example of a similar attitude. She not an Israelite, she is not promised a share in the Messiah’s promise (as far as she knows) and she has nowhere else to turn in trying to save her daughter. She is unworthy to approach Jesus (a woman and not of the family of Israel) and she needs him deeply for he is the only one who can help her daughter now. She expresses this reality clearly throughout the reading – Lord I am not worthy, and Lord I need you. Secondly, she is clear about who Jesus is, he is Lord, Messiah, and God. She never names Jesus personally, only by his title as Lord – a divine claim. Knowing who Jesus is, gives her hope, boldness, and confidence in making her request. He is someone who can help her and no matter how unworthy she is (even being willing to be considered a dog) she knows Jesus as Lord can help her and might even desire to help her. Her perseverance and her boldness is grounded in knowing who Jesus is, that He can help her, and that she needs him for there is nowhere else to go. These traits of these woman’s encounter with Jesus are essential traits for one’s prayer life: recognition of our unworthiness, our need for God, that Jesus is God, and that he can and does desire to help us. Let us pray for the grace to let our prayer be touched by these traits revealed in today’s Gospel.