16 August 2020
Twentieth Sunday in Ordinary Time
Jesus praises the Canaanite woman for her response in asking for help for her daughter, saying “great is your faith!” (Mt. 15:28) What did she have faith in? In Jesus, certainly. In His desire to help her, most likely. But if she had faith He would help her, it was not because she trusted in the justice of her cause, but in His mercy.
When the woman first goes to Jesus, she does not say “Lord, grant me justice.” Rather, she calls out “Have pity on me!” (Mt. 15:22) Pity is not what you ask when you know that your cause is righteous. If a friend owes me money, I do not say “have pity and give me the money,” but rather “pay up.” When she makes her final appeal to Jesus, she does not cry out in righteous indignation, but notes that even dogs get table scraps—an appeal not to justice, but mercy.
The woman has faith not in herself or her cause, but in Jesus’ goodness. In reality, we are all the Canaanite woman: none of us truly deserves the gifts God gives us. Any time you think to yourself “God owes this to me,” ask yourself “where did the ‘me’ come from that God owes to begin with?” The more you see the sheer gratuity of everything God has given you, the more you will realize the depths of God’s generous mercy, and the more you will have the Canaanite woman’s faith in God’s goodness, asking for whatever you need.