HEAR HER LISTENING

Wednesday of the 18th Week in Ordinary Time
Mt 15:21-28

Nancy Astor, though born in the United States, was the first woman to belong to the British House of Commons. Majority of the British parliament were hostile to her when she became its member in 1919. The reason for the unfriendly attitude of her colleagues towards her was not her being an American but her regularly interrupting other speakers. It was her way of making her presence felt in the House. She always had something to say, especially on issues involving women’s rights. Once rebuked for her unceasing interventions, she objected saying, “But I have been listening for hours before interrupting!” A fellow legislator whispered to her, “Yes, Nancy, we have all heard you listening.”

Today, we hear another woman listening and making her presence felt. She is a Canaanite; therefore, not a Jew. She is a pagan; therefore, unclean according to Semitic standard. She is, however, the only person in the Gospels who has the wit to outwit Jesus.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus is leaving Jewish territory. He withdraws from His opponents who keep on criticizing Him for allowing His disciples to break many Jewish traditions, violating laws about clean and unclean. Yet here comes a Canaanite, a pagan, and a woman who suddenly appears in front of Him, pleading for the healing of her daughter. If Jesus is trying to escape from His problem with the “clean”, He now comes face to face with the same question in larger form. This is not a lesson for Jesus. This lesson is for you and me.

It is not right to consider some people outside our pastoral concern. Jesus came to save all men and women, Jews and Gentiles alike, circumcised and uncircumcised, clean and unclean. The early Christians had to learn this early, as the first council they convoked was to resolve the issue regarding imposing ritual cleanliness by circumcision upon the Gentile converts. That was the Council of Jerusalem whose proceedings can be read in the Acts of the Apostles. The Gospel today seems to be written in support of their discernment: If we believe that Jesus Christ died for everyone, then no one is a dog. No one should be excluded from the all-embracing reach of God’s love.

The Canaanite woman in the Gospel today is very important for us who, in one way or another, serve God. She is the voice of God that questions us. She interrupts us from our rhetoric about service and love of God. She has been listening for years already. Have we heard her listening?